Don’t be fooled into thinking that anyone can hang wallpaper. If you do, you may end up all wrapped up in the very paper you are trying to put on your walls. There is an art to hanging wallpaper and anyone who has attempted this project knows it is not a matter of simply slapping it on the wall.
One of the things you will learn, as I did, is that wallpaper does not always want to cooperate and stick to the wall. Most of the wallpaper you buy today is pre-pasted which means all you are supposed to have to do is get it wet to activate the glue and it will stick to your wall. Does this always work? No, it does not.
Often, you will begin applying the wallpaper to the wall working your way towards the last of the paper and turn around to find the first part peeling away from your wall. This has happened to me and it is frustrating to say the least.
So back you go to press this side down and when you think it is going to stick, you are noticing out of the corner of your eye the other side is falling. You need about four more hands and as you run from one side to the other trying to get it to stick, you are about ready to rip it all off the wall and forget it.
But, if you really love the look of wallpaper and you have spent time choosing just the right one for your room, you want to get the wallpaper on the wall. Here is a trick I have learned that will save on your nerves and keep your wallpaper up at the same time.
Get a container of pre-mixed adhesive for wallpaper. You can buy this at your local hardware store or usually a home improvement store. Thin it just enough that it will not drip off when you put it on the back of your wallpaper. You can use a roller or a paint brush to apply it to the paper.
This will allow the paper to stick the first time and you will not get a surprise when you are smoothing out the last part of the wallpaper and stand back to look at the result. Yes, the first part will still be attached to the wall. Plan on buying enough wallpaper so you will have extra, because sometimes the temptation to rip it all down just takes over. But you will start over. After all, you are not going to admit that you have been bested by something as simple as hanging wallpaper, right?