Wallpaper 101

This was my first time tackling wallpaper by myself. I am so happy I picked York Wallcoverings Egret Damask in sky blue. I hope you find this information helpful prior to ordering your next wallpaper.

Types of Wallpaper

There are 3 basic types of wallpaper: prepasted, non prepasted, and peel &stick.

• Prepasted
  • comes with a prepaste coating on the back of the paper.
  • activate paste with water
  • more ideal for long term
• Peel and Stick
  • no paste required
  • renter friendly
  • perfect for those wanting a temporary design update
• Nonprepasted
  • does not have adhesive on the back
  • add adhesive to the paper or wall according to wallpaper guidelines
  • more ideal for long term
  • Example: grasscloth

My wallpaper from York was surestrip prepasted. Even though I described two of these as long-term, removing wallpaper over time is much easier than it used to be 20 years ago.

Match Type

There are three types of pattern repeat or pattern match. There is straight match, drop match, and random match. Use the guide below as a reference for match type or pattern repeat before you purchase your wallpaper.

All of the following images and details can be found at York Wallcoverings.

How much to order?

This answer will vary depending on a number of things. Now that you know what type of pattern match your wallpaper has that will help you calculate how many rolls you will need to order.

Example of how I calculated my room:

Measure all the walls in your room that will need wallpaper.

• Wall one: 14ft 2in
• Wall two: 13ft 8in
• Wall three: 14ft 2 in
• Wall four: 5ft (this wall would have a floor to ceiling wardrobe on most of the wall)
• The sum of all four walls is 47 ft
• The height of my ceiling is 8ft or 96 inches.

Next, multiply your ceiling height by sum of all four walls in feet: 47×8=376 sq ft

Then, under the wallpaper descriptions look at product dimensions where it will tell you the overall square footage the rolls will cover. One double roll (two singles) of wallpaper would cover 27 in x 27 ft = 60.75 sq ft.

Divide your total square footage of the room by your wallpaper coverage: 376/60.75=6.18 (technically I need a little more than 6 rolls). My wallpaper was only sold a double roll (2 singles) and in increments of two. I ordered 8 double rolls of wallpaper. This would give me extra. I ended up using 7 rolls. I did scrap two full pieces from my 6th roll during the installation process. I highly recommend ordering a little bit extra in the same order.

TIP: You want to make sure all your wallpaper has the same run number. If you need to order more, just make sure you get the same run number for exact color match.  

Wallpaper Wall Prep

First, I protected my floors by using painters tape and tarp/cut trash bags around the room. If you are using peel and stick wallpaper you can skip this step.

Remove anything from the walls and cover electrical outlets. (I removed those later when I started applying the wallpaper).

Then, I applied joint compound on my walls using a 14 inch mud pan, 14 inch taping knife, and 2 inch joint knife. Be sure to wear a good mask and open any windows and doors to help. When you scoop the joint compound in your mud pan you may have to work out some bubbles in the joint compound with your large taping knife. You just need a skim coat on top of the wall to take away the texture.

Here is a video to show you exactly how I applied it to the wall and smoothed it out.

After the mud dried (about 12 hours), I sanded all the walls by hand with 120 Grit sanding blocks until they were smooth and flat. This was a very dusty process. I highly recommend having a wet/dry vac and even a speciality sander connection for this purpose like this one. I am definitely investing in this next time I wallpaper.

TIP: You can skip the mudding step and just sand down your texture on your walls. This will be very dusty too. Your goal is to have a smooth and flat surface for the wallpaper. I have not tested out this method. When I sanded some of the textured walls by hand, I was not having good results. I’d recommend an orbital sander for this route.

Vacuum after all the sanding. I also cleaned all the walls with a wet sponge/towel and water. Lots of little debris will be stuck on your walls. You don’t want to put the wallpaper on top of this. Make sure you give the walls a thorough cleaning.

Primer, cutting and layout

Next, I primed the walls. I primed my walls two times with this primer specifically for new drywall and wallpaper.

Prior to applying my first strip, I marked every 27 inches (depending on the width of your strips) around the room to decide the best place to start. Pay close attention to windows and doorways. I went around the room starting by my door and measured 27 inches to find the best starting place. You are trying to avoid wasting this pricey wallpaper.

You need a large open and clean space to measure and cut your wallpaper. I used my kitchen counter top. I measured out 8ft using painters tape and my tape measure. Then I marked the pattern repeat marks at 25.25inches. I unrolled the first roll all the way down with extra 2-4 inches at the top and bottom. The first piece will start how your pattern will be placed on the wall. Then I cut the end, and rolled out a second piece on top carefully aligning the pattern up exactly with the first. Then, I continued this for 8 strips. I stopped here because I would be running into a window on my 9th strip and didn’t want to waste cutting out a whole section. I labeled all of the my strips 1-8 so I knew which order I cut them. I also put painters tape at the pattern repeat sections to help me line up the pattern. I stopped doing this once I got the hang of it. Remember, I’m working with a straight match pattern.

If you are using a drop match wallpaper, I highly recommend that you create use two rolls at a time creating an odd and and even roll. Numbering will definitely be helpful with this.

After all my wallpaper was cut, I attempted to use my sprayer I ordered off Amazon but I couldn’t get it to work. So, I wet the back of my wallpaper using a sponge. I tried using the bath tub route but it wasn’t my favorite as it became overly saturated in my opinion. The wallpaper would slip like crazy and create a huge mess on the floor.

After you wet all the wallpaper adequately, you’ll want to carefully fold in your pieces to the middle. This is called booking. Let them hang out for 2-3 minutes or refer to your wallpaper guidelines provided.

I carefully applied the wallpaper starting at the top and worked my way down. I used this tool set from Amazon to help with this step. I used the red spreader working my way from the middle of the top, down and out. I continued this all the way down the paper. I used my level laser to help make sure I was lining up the sheet straight. (this isn’t necessary but was really nice to have). I trimmed the top and the bottom with a straight edge after everything was lined up. Then I cleaned the whole piece on the wall with a clean sponge and water. You don’t want any of the wallpaper paste on the front of the wallpaper. I continued these steps and I made my way around the room. The windows were the trickiest parts for me.

The final look is better than I could have imagined. It still gives a calm, serene feel but still manages to be light and bright. This will not be my last time wallpapering! This was my first wallpapering job by myself that was part of the Fall 2022 One Room Challenge.

I hope you found this overview helpful! Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions about the process! I promise you’ve got this!