Easy Wallpaper Installation and Removal Guide

Before you Begin

Prep the wall: Make sure the walls are clean and dry. Loose paint, mildew, and uneven surfaces can cause issues with your new wallpaper.

If you’ve just painted, wait for about a month to let the pain fully cure.

We recommend laying a primer down before installing wallpaper, and letting it dry for 24 hours.

If you can, unroll the wallpaper the night before. This will help the wallpaper to flatten out and make installation easier.

Putting it On

See this video for help installing.

What you need: A level, a sharp utility knife, squeegee (supplied by us), tape measure, and pencil.

Remember, your wall needs to be clean! Wipe it with a damp cloth with a touch of dish soap. Dry it thoroughly. It’s best to do this the day before, so the walls are fully dry.

1: Check to make sure your ceiling is level. If it is, skip to step 3. If it isn’t, don’t worry. Just follow step 2. We recommend following step 2 even if your ceiling seems level.

2: Measure 19” from the far left wall, and make a pencil mark. Turn your level horizontal until it’s perfectly level, and make more marks up and down the wall. You now have a perfectly straight horizontal line to follow. You’re going to line up your first sheet against these marks.

3: Line your first sheet up against the ceiling. Peel the backing down, approximately 12”.

4: Apply the top of the wallpaper about half an inch above the top of the wall, so it’s sticking to the ceiling. Don’t worry – we’ll trim it off later. Pay the most attention to lining the right side of the wallpaper to the marks you made on the wall. Have a partner make sure they’re lined up before you stick the top of the wallpaper to the wall & ceiling.

5: If you lay it down at the top and notice that the wallpaper is not lining up to the marks on the wall, take it off and try again. It’s important that the wallpaper is perfectly straight when you lay down the top 12”.

6: Once you’re sure it’s straight, start burnishing the wallpaper down with the squeegee. We recommend starting in the center and burnishing out and down on each side. The left hand side will be overlapping the corner of the wall. That’s OK, as it’ll get trimmed off later.

- 1. Reach under and gradually pull more liner off as you squeegee from the center, outwards and slightly down.

- 2. Pull the wallpaper tightly as you make your way to the bottom, and firmly burnish the wallpaper into the crack where the wall and baseboard meet.

9: Butt your next sheet up to the left, using the same process. You don’t need to mark the wall this time, because you’re lining each sheet against the last one. Make sure to match the image up carefully.

10: For electrical outlets and switches, unscrew and remove the covers first. Lay the wallpaper over, and cut a hole around the outlet or switch. Punch a small hole where the screw holes are (you should be able to tell where they are through the wallpaper), and then screw the plates back on.

See video. If you want wallpaper to cover the plate, apply a small piece to the plate when it’s off the wall. Make sure the paper is larger than the plate. Fold the extra paper carefully around the edges and burnish it down. Cut a small rectangle out of the hole in the plate. Make a cut in each edge of the rectangle, from the hole to each edge of the plate. Fold that around the plate.

11: For obstacles that don’t have plates, place the wallpaper over as best you can, burnishing it down along the top of the obstacle, and carefully cut along the top. The, carefully cut along the sides, burnishing the wallpaper as you go. The cut along the bottom, as close to the obstacle as possible.

12: At the very end, cut around all edges – the ceiling, the corners, and the baseboard with the utility knife. Change the blade often so that it remains sharp.

Taking it off

Start at the top and gently and slowly pull from the top down. If you’re having trouble, use a hair dryer to warm up the surface before pulling.