When you begin your wallpapering project, always start by papering a wall that does not have doors nor windows. Always begin at a inconspicuous corner, working away from the window.
Always mark a vertical line on the wall, using a plumb line, as walls and wall papers are half the time not true or square, so they cannot be relied upon as a guide.
Hanging Wallpaper around switches
- 1. First of all, TURN OFF electricity in the house.
- 2. When you get to a light switch make two diagonal cuts across the centre of the faceplate. Press the paper around the faceplate and trim off access with scissors or a utility knife, making sure you don’t accidentally cut too deep and damage the wall beneath (take special care if you have a drywall).
- 3. Loosen the faceplate then tuck the paper behind it, re-install faceplate the Wait for the adhesive to dry. Then you can turn back on the electricity.
- 4. Use the same method for wall sockets: cut the wallpaper to butt against the mounting box, then cut the diagonals with scissors and trim access with a sharp knife.
Papering around windows and doorways
There are two types of windows/doorways. Those that sink into the wall into the opening and those that require papering around raised trimmings.
- 1. For the first type of doorway/window, fit the paper by hanging the paper around th eopening and trim the excess to within 2 inches from the final trim. Cut diagonal slits at the corner of the opening.
- 2. Fold the top, bottom and side flaps around the doorway/window. Then apply a matching piece to fit each side, cutting it 1/4 inch narrower than the width of the space.
- 3. Start papering around doorway/windows with raised trimming by marking a horizontal line above and below the window. Hang the strips as you would normally on a full piece of paper (top to bottom) from the direction that you have progressed thus far. Try not to hang the top part and then the bottom, as this may cause unmatched or unaligned patterns.
Wallpapering Archways
- 1. Paste a piece of paper on the centre arch of the doorway, with equal pieces hung down the sides (overlapping the doorway opening and sides). Just below the curve, make horizontal cuts in each side strip from the inner edge to within 1 inch of the wall. Fold the lower portions of each sides around the arch’s edge.
- 2. On the archway, trim the folded in paper to within 1 inch of the edge and make wedge-shaped cuts to within ¼ inch of the edge.
- 3. Measure the length of archway, and subdivide to two. Cut two matching strips of that length ¼ narrower than the arch depth and 1.4 inch longer than each divided length. Apply these strips from side to top and double-cut the seam.
