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Writer's pictureMolly Reed

How to DIY Wallpaper




When we were renovating our powder room I new I wanted to do something fun with the small space. After the tile was laid and the beaded board installed and painted I was happy with what the room looked like but wanted it to have a little more pizazz.


Turns out choosing the right pizazz via wallpaper can be quite tricky! There are SO MANY options for wallpaper these days: removable, lining, textured, printed, bold, geometric, self adhesive, foil...the list goes on!



I knew I wanted a bold pattern and I knew I wanted to do it myself so I started scouring the internet for the right paper. We checked out Serena and Lilly, Amazon, Wayfair, and Spoonflower. The options were endless. We ordered a bunch of samples (which I highly recommend) and nothing was quite right. I also realized that every swatch that I really loved was really expensive- and we were on a budget! We ended up choosing William & Morris Pimpernel Vintage Smooth Prepasted wallpaper from Spoonflower.



Spoonflower takes the guess work out of ordering. You put in the dimensions of your room and they let you know exactly how many rolls of paper you'll need. Having gone with a bold print and only seeing the sample size I was a little nervous when it arrived but it was gorgeous!


The first step in DIY Wallpapering is gathering all the supplies you need. Because I got pre pasted wallpaper I knew as soon as I started to wet it I would need to move along quickly so being prepared and organized was important.


DIY Wallpaper Supply List

-Wall paper

-Straight Edge

-Plastic scraper

-Measuring Tape

-Level

-Pencil

-Exacto Knife/Box Cutter (make sure the blade is new and super sharp)

-Paint roller and paint tray filled with water

-Scissors

-Plastic sheet

-Sponge

-Towels

-Trash bags

-Step ladder

-2 people


I should start by saying that you should always follow the manufacturers instructions but here's what we did! Get your walls prepped. This means, removing outlet covers and smoothing out/dusting all wall surfaces. Then you're ready to go!


1. Lay out the plastic sheet so that you don't get any glue on your floors

2. Start by laying a strip of wallpaper with the pre-pasted side facing up. Use the roller brush to brush water evenly over the entire strip. It shouldn't be super wet but you should apply enough water that the glue is activated.

3. Once you've wet the strip fold each end into the center and let it sit for 5 minutes to continue activating the glue. Once this is done carefully carry it to the wall and unfold the top half.

4. Line up the top of the wallpaper with where you want it and slowly stick the rest of the strip on the wall, smoothing out any air bubbles as you go. Unfold the bottom half and paste to wall.

5. Cut off any excess paper at the bottom once the glue has dried.







Et Voila! A totally fresh space on a budget!


Tip:

Go slowly! It's important that any patterns you have are perfectly aligned and all bubbles are smoothed out. When you're sitting on the loo you'll be looking at your handy work- so make it nice!













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