Chapter 6

Hanging Wallpaper

In This Chapter

Planning seam location

Hanging wallpaper step by step

Administering wallpaper first aid

Adding wallpaper borders

H anging wallpaper is usually a relatively simple process. Just follow the steps — measure, cut, apply paste (or activate prepasted wallcoverings), and smooth it on the surface. It’s also a Dummies-approved project for first-timers, provided that you start with relatively simple projects and standard papers. (For more on choosing wallcoverings and factors that may complicate wallpapering, see Chapters 4 and 5.)

If you’re hanging wallpaper for the first time, start in a bedroom and tackle a kitchen or bath when you have more experience. You say that a kitchen or a bathroom is the only room that you want to paper? Then by all means start there, but be prepared for a challenging job.

Plan Before You Hang

A famous baseball player once claimed, “Ninety percent of this game is half-mental.” We’re not sure about his math skills, but we are sure that two of the most important parts of wallpapering are half-mental — visualizing exactly where you want your seams to fall and then determining where to hang the first strip (called a drop ).

Locating seams

To avoid unpleasant surprises that result from poor seam placement or having patterns cut off in awkward places, plan before you start hanging wallpaper. Take a few minutes to evaluate the room to determine where you want each seam to fall and where the patterns will begin relative to the ceiling or the corners of a room. Ask yourself:

Which is the dominant wall? That wall is your showpiece and the one that your guests look at most closely. Plan to lay seams where they’ll be the least noticeable. Although seam planning should start on the dominant wall, it’s not the place you want to start papering.

How are windows, doors, or focal points (such as a fireplace) spaced on the wall? Try to minimize the impact that any one special feature has on the wallpaper layout. For example, if the wall has two windows, a symmetrical approach works best. Simply start by centering a seam or strip on the wall between the two windows and work your way out to the corners.

Where do you want the kill point? The kill point is the final seam. Because you’ll be working around to the kill point from two directions, you need to cut one or both of the last two strips to fit the remaining unpapered space. This means that the pattern probably won’t match at the final seam. A good inconspicuous place for the kill point is usually anywhere over an entry door, where the eye isn’t usually drawn. The vertical mismatch is limited to about a foot.

Are the ceilings and walls reasonably level and plumb? Ceilings that aren’t level and walls that aren’t plumb present a problem when you’re wallpapering. Because the patterns on the paper are truly horizontal and vertical, they make out-of-whack walls and ceilings even more noticeable.

Does the wallpaper pattern create a special need? With a large pattern, cutting the paper vertically at a corner of a room may cause a noticeable break in the pattern. To overcome that problem, start working from the center of the wall or from another spot.

In cases where precise placement of seams is important, you must know the expanded width of the paper. Most papers expand a percent or two — as much as an inch — after the paste is wetted or applied, while some papers don’t expand at all. Paste and book a foot-long, full-width cutoff for the specified time. (To find out how to do this, you have to read ahead in this chapter to “Pasting the wallpaper — and relaxing with a good book.”) Then measure the width and use that figure, not the dry width, for laying out your seams.

Working around unlevel ceilings and out-of-plumb walls

If you have ceilings that are badly out-of-level, avoid a straight-across pattern (one in which the pattern placement is the same distance from the ceiling for every strip), which would emphasize the out-of-level ceiling. Instead, consider a vertical pattern, such as stripes, or drop-match pattern (one where every other strip starts with the same pattern). The larger the drop, the less evident any horizontal pattern elements are. Similarly, if you have out-of-plumb walls, avoid vertical patterns because a vertical pattern may start on one wall and cross over to the other at inside and outside corners.

You may be able to further minimize such problems, at least on the most noticeable wall, by adjusting the position of the paper to avoid having pattern elements close to the edges of ceilings or outside corners. The more space that you have between your design elements, such as sheep, the easier it is to adjust the position so that the sheep don’t lose their heads.

No hard-and-fast rule exists about pattern placement. Do whatever you think looks best in the most noticeable areas. Follow a truly plumb guideline or one that’s not plumb but perpendicular to the ceiling, described in the following section, “Finding a starting point.” You can even compromise between the two guidelines.

Sometimes, evaluating a situation and imagining the results are very difficult. Undoubtedly, pattern placement is one area where experience pays and when a professional installer earns his money.

Finding a starting point

If you plan seam placement, then start wallpapering wherever you want, with one exception — avoid starting with either of the two strips that lie on either side of the final seam (the kill point). You want these two drops to be the last ones you do because both drops may have to be cut simultaneously, which requires that they both be wet enough to peel back and reposition.

Keep in mind, however, that it’s usually easier for a right-handed individual to work counterclockwise around a room and a left-handed person to work clockwise.

Wherever you start, don’t rely on a corner of the wall or the edge of a door and window trim to guide the first piece. Instead, use a plumb and chalk line (or a carpenter’s level and pencil) to create a straight, vertical (plumb) guideline (see Figure 6-1). Position the plumb or level at the desired location. Install the first drop about 1/8 inch from the guideline.

If an out-of-level ceiling calls for it, you can establish an out-of-plumb vertical guideline by taking the following steps and checking out Figure 6-1:

1. Measure about 4 feet down from the ceiling at each corner and snap a chalk line between the two points.

2. Use a framing square (or any object that you know has a square corner, such as a plywood scrap) to draw a line perpendicular to the chalk line.

3. Extend the out-of-plumb line by using a pencil and a straightedge until the line runs from floor to ceiling.

Figure 6-1: Making a guideline.

At Last You’re Ready to Paper

With the planning complete and your first guideline established, it’s time to hang the paper. Well, almost time. First, make sure that your spouse is out of the house (or at least make arrangements to minimize household traffic) and that your tools, work area, and hands are all as clean as a whistle. Then reverse-roll every roll of wallcovering.

To reverse-roll, place a roll in an empty water box or cardboard box positioned on the floor at the end of your cutting table. Draw one end up onto and down the length of the table, pattern side up. (You may have to flip the roll end-for-end in the tray to make this possible.) Then reroll the paper so that the pattern faces in. After it’s fully rolled, roll the entire roll back and forth under the pressure of outstretched hands. Then unroll the entire roll in back-and-forth folds at the base of the table so that the top end of the pattern is on the top of the pile. Now, you’re ready to cut.

Reverse-rolling enables you to inspect every roll for imperfections and lessens the paper’s tendency to curl or roll up during the soaking or pasting process. If you find flaws, you have two options: You can return the roll immediately (you can’t return a cut roll), or you can keep it if you determine that you have enough paper to cut out the defect.

Cutting strips of wallpaper

Cutting wallpaper involves two steps: First, you rough-cut the wallpaper and then trim the wallpaper in place for a precise fit.

When you rough-cut, first draw the paper, design side up, onto your table. Then cut a strip to size with a pair of large scissors. Always pull the top of the strip up to the same end of the table for cutting and leave a 2- to 3-inch allowance at the top and bottom of each strip. Keep these other points in mind, too:

For papers without a vertical pattern repeat, such as woven coverings and those with vertical stripes, or for papers with a vertical repeat of less than 3 inches, just measure the height of the wall and add about 5 inches (total) for top and bottom allowances. For example, cut 101-inch strips for a 96-inch wall.

When installing every other strip upside down is called for (such as for grasscloths and other woven wallcoverings), clip the upper-right corner of every top as you cut it so that you know which way is up (or down) when you hang it.

For papers with a vertical pattern repeat of more than 3 inches, place the paper on the floor at the base of the wall and, while holding the paper against the wall, carefully pull up enough paper to reach the ceiling. Move the paper up and down to adjust the position of the most dominant pattern, such as the largest flowers in a floral pattern. Then mark the paper at the intersection of the ceiling. Take it down for cutting. First, cut the top 2 to 3 inches above your mark. Then measure and cut the bottom so that the full strip is 5 to 6 inches longer than the height of the wall.

If the vertical pattern repeat is more than 3 inches, always use the pattern as your guide instead of just cutting a measured amount from the end of the roll. You’ll be less likely to make errors or generate unnecessary waste.

For a straight-across pattern (one in which the pattern placement is the same distance from the ceiling for every strip), cut all full-length strips so that they’re identical to the first — that is, the same length and always starting at the same point on the pattern.

For paper with a half-drop pattern (see Chapter 4 for a description), every other strip (strips 1, 3, 5, and so on) are cut at one point on the pattern. To determine where to cut the alternating strips (strips 2, 4, 6, and so on), roll out the paper side by side with the first strip and align the patterns correctly, making sure that the top of the uncut paper extends above the top of the odd strip. Then mark and cut the top and bottom of the even strip in line with the odd strip. Measure and cut all future even-numbered strips from this point above the dominant pattern.

When you’re cutting alternating strips at different points on the pattern, as you do for drop patterns, keep the different strips that have been cut in separate piles, all oriented the same way.

When Henry Ford wallpapered his house, you can bet that to maximize efficiency, he cut nearly all the full-length strips that he needed in advance. To minimize waste, he then would have used any shorter cutoffs above and below windows or above doors. But if you take this approach and cut the first one or two drops (strips) wrong, you’ve cut them all wrong. To avoid a scenario where you’re wondering whether perhaps it would be cheaper to lower the ceiling than to buy new paper, we suggest a more cautious approach. Cut only the first two strips; use them to mark the next two as a pattern for future strips, but don’t do any more cutting until you’ve hung the first two strips successfully. Even then, don’t cut all the strips. Instead, do enough for one wall at a time.

Pasting the wallpaper — and relaxing with a good book

After you cut the first drop, it’s time to activate the paste on a prepasted wallcovering or apply paste to an unpasted wallcovering. The procedures are generally quite straightforward, but be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for the particular wallcovering that you’re hanging. For example, the instructions may tell you to gently fold over the paper (without creasing it) and let it relax for a time before you hang it — a process called booking.

During the time that wallpaper relaxes, it may expand as much as 1/2 inch or more. After the paper is hung and it dries on the wall, it tends to pull itself nice and tight on the wall, but the adhesive causes it to hold its expanded size. Booking the paper keeps the paper moist during this relaxing time.

The success of your project depends on the proper application of the right adhesive. For example, if you apply too much adhesive on grasscloth or fabric coverings, the paste seeps through the backing and onto the decorative surface. Too much adhesive can also cause excessive shrinking or slow drying, which can create mildew problems. Too thin and — you guessed it — it won’t stick or the edges will curl. The backing of the wallcovering and the type of wall surface determine the type of adhesive you should use, how thick it needs to be, and how much you should apply, but you need to consider other factors, too.

Activating prepasted wallcoverings

The dry paste on the back of a prepasted wallcovering must be activated (liquefied) by soaking the wallcovering in water or by brushing on a prepaste activator, which is like a thinned wallpaper paste. If you’re using a prepaste activator, follow the same procedure as described in the “Doing it the old-fashioned way” section, later in this chapter.

If you’re using the water-soak method, follow the manufacturer’s guidelines:

If the instructions say to go directly from bath to wall, place the water box in position at the base of the wall. Submerge the loosely rolled strip in the water bath for the specified time and then hang it as described in the “Hanging the wallcovering” section, later in this chapter.

If the instructions say to book the wallcovering, loosely fold the backsides of the strip together so that the pasted sides are over each other as follows:

1. Fold the bottom end to about one-half or two-thirds of the way up the paper.

2. Fold the top down just to meet that point. Be careful not to crease the paper at the folds.

3. With the pasted sides together, fold the strip in half or roll it up loosely and set it aside to relax for five to ten minutes, as suggested by the manufacturer.

The following tips help you lessen the chances of making an error when you hang the booked strip on the wall:

Follow the same sequence and procedure every time you book and fold or roll a strip.

When you book, fold, or roll a pasted strip, make sure that the end that will hang up to the ceiling is on the top of a fold or the outside of the roll.

Lay a booked strip down to relax facing the same direction every time.

Doing it the old-fashioned way

Use a standard premixed wallpaper paste for unpasted wallcoverings unless the manufacturer (or dealer) recommends a heavy-duty paste for the particular wallcovering you’ve chosen. Then follow these steps:

1. Lay one or more cut strips on your pasting table.

Make sure that all the strips are oriented in the same direction and that the pattern side is facing down.

2. Position the top of the first strip at one end of the table and apply the paste to at least the top half of the paper.

Use a short-nap paint roller or pasting brush to spread the adhesive as uniformly and smoothly as possible.

3. Book the top half of the strip by folding the pasted surfaces together.

4. Slide the booked end down the table so that you can paste and book the rest of the strip.

5. Loosely fold or roll the booked strip if the manufacturer recommends resting time before hanging.

Don’t paste more than one strip at a time or one may dry prematurely while you’re hanging another.

Hanging the wallcovering

To hang the drop, follow these steps:

1. Grasp the top edge and peel open the fold that you made when booking the paper.

Leave the other half booked for the time being.

2. With one hand on each edge a few inches down from the top, hold the drop in place on the wall.

Align the edge about 1/8 inch away from the vertical guideline and locate the top with the dominant pattern at the planned distance from the ceiling. This procedure automatically leaves a 2- to 3-inch allowance at the top and bottom.

You don’t want the edge right on the guideline because the chalk or pencil line may show through the seam. If the edge is not a uniform 1/8 inch from the guideline, peel the paper back as needed to reposition it; do the same to remove any large folds or air bubbles. Do not force badly misaligned paper into position by pushing it. Doing so stretches and may tear the paper and may also result in an open seam when the paper dries. If the paper needs only a slight adjustment, push carefully with two outstretched hands, or three if you have them.

3. Smooth the upper half of the strip as shown in Figure 6-2.

Make your first strokes vertical ones, up and down, along the guideline. Then brush horizontally from the guideline toward the opposite side and finish with diagonal strokes.

4. Grasp the bottom end and peel it apart until it hangs straight.

Smooth it as shown in Figure 6-2. (On subsequent strips, you’ll work from the seam as you now work from the guideline.)

Continue with the remaining drops — paste-book-hang, paste-book-hang — one next to the other. As you get the “hang” of it, a helper can paste, book, and then relax while you hang.

Figure 6-2: Use a smoothing brush or plastic smoother to smooth the wall- covering onto the wall.

Trimming the paper

Trim the allowance at the ceiling and baseboard (see Figure 6-3) by using a breakaway razor knife guided by a metal straightedge, such as a taping knife or painter’s trim guide. Change blades often to ensure that you’re using only the sharpest blade, or you may tear the paper. Alternatively, you can crease the paper at the ceiling-wall corner, peel it back to cut along the crease with shears and then smooth it back onto the wall.

If your walls are drywall, paper reinforcing tape and joint compound cover this ceiling-wall joint. Use just enough pressure to cut the wallcovering in a single pass but not enough to cut into the drywall or the paper tape. Oddly enough, the sharper your knife is, the easier this will be.

Figure 6-3: Trim the allowance by using just enough pressure to cut through the wall-paper cleanly in a single stroke.

Before you move on to the next drop, remove any adhesive from the face of the wallcovering with a damp sponge. Wiping up wet paste is easier than getting it off after it dries. Also, wipe adhesive off the ceiling, baseboard, and other trim.

Smoothing seams

For a perfect seam, start with proper wall preparation (priming/sealing), proper choice and application of the adhesive, adequate booking/relaxing time, and proper hanging techniques. The seaming method you choose depends in part on the location — midwall or at the corners.

By far the most common type of midwall seam is the butt seam, where the two edges touch but don’t overlap. As you hang each drop, position it right next to the preceding one so that the edges just touch. If you don’t get it quite right, just peel it back as needed to reposition it. If the paper still needs a slight adjustment, push carefully with two outstretched hands. Do not force badly misaligned paper into position by pushing it. Overworking the paper stretches it, and when the paper returns to its normal expanded size, the seam will open. This is the numero uno cause of open seams. You may also tear the wallcovering.

Use a seam roller to seal the seam. Be firm but don’t press so hard that you roll out all the adhesive. As you finish hanging each drop, always make a point to check the previous seam. If the edge has lifted, lightly reroll it. If it has pulled apart slightly, smooth the paper toward the seam or give it a little tap toward the seam with the smoothing brush.

At inside corners (and sometimes at badly out-of-plumb outside corners), use a wrap-and-overlap seam, in which one drop wraps the corner about 1/2 inch and the other drop overlaps the first drop and ends right in the corner. For details on how to make this seam, see the sections “Papering inside corners” and “Papering outside corners,” later in this chapter.

Getting some relief

Anytime you turn a corner or paper around an obstacle, such as a window, you need to make what’s called a relief cut in the paper. Only one cut is required at right angles. When papering around rectangular obstructions, such as electrical outlets, however, you need to make four cuts; one cut must originate from each corner, and the cuts should connect to form an X. You need to make many closely spaced relief cuts around a curve, such as an archway or the base of a round light fixture.

To make a relief cut, smooth the paper as close to the obstacle as possible. Then make the cut in place with a razor knife or crease the paper at the edge of the obstacle and peel it back to make the cut.

The following situations call for relief cuts:

Inside and outside wall corners: Smooth the wallcovering up to the corner. Make a relief cut out from the corner. Start the cut precisely at the ceiling-wall-corner intersection and extend it to the edge of the paper. Then you can wrap the corner.

Electrical switch and receptacle boxes: Paper over the outlet. Starting at each corner, make a diagonal cut so that all cuts connect to form an X. Then trim the flaps by making cuts from corner to corner around the perimeter.

In the preparation stages for wallpapering (see Chapter 5), you should have shut the power off, removed cover plates, and taped over the face of the receptacles or switches. These steps are necessary to eliminate any electrical hazard associated with wet adhesive, cutting, and damp sponging around electrical outlets. These precautions also keep the devices adhesive-free. Otherwise, the next time that you plug in a lamp, you won’t be able to unplug it.

Window and door trim: Cut the paper, leaving a 2-inch allowance at the trim. Smooth the paper up to the side of the trim and crease it into the corner formed by the trim and the wall. Make a diagonal relief cut starting precisely at the 90-degree corner of the trim and extending out to the edge of the paper. You can then smooth the paper over the window and door. After you smooth the paper and roll the seam, trim the flaps with a razor knife and straightedge as described in the “Trimming the paper” section, earlier in this chapter (see Figure 6-4).

Round or curved obstacles: Smooth the paper up to the closest edge of the obstacle and make a relief cut up to that edge. Smooth a little more and make one relief cut on each side of the first cut. Continue smoothing and cutting.

Handrail or pipe: Assuming that you can’t simply remove an obstacle that you can’t go around, such as a handrail or a pipe penetrating a wall, you must make a single cut from the obstacle to the nearest edge of the paper. Then you can proceed with the multiple relief cuts as described for round or curved obstacles. As you complete the circle, smooth and seam the long cut as you would any butt seam. (Refer to the section “Smoothing seams,” earlier in this chapter.)

Sometimes, the pattern itself suggests where a cut can be least conspicuously located — along the stem of a flower or the edge of a line in a geometric pattern, for example.

Figure 6-4: Relief cuts enable you to paper up to an obstacle and smooth the paper in place for a perfect cut.

Papering inside corners

Never wrap wallpaper more than 1/2 inch around an inside corner with a drop. Even if the walls are perfectly plumb, the paper will pull away from the corner as it dries, making it vulnerable to tearing or wrinkling. Instead, make a wrap-and-overlap seam. Use the wrap-and-overlap seam for out-of-plumb outside corners, too, as shown in Figure 6-5 and in the following steps:

Figure 6-5: Use a wrap-and-overlap seam at inside and out-of-plumb outside corners.

1. As you reach the last strip before a corner, measure and cut the strip lengthwise so that it will wrap the corner about 1/2 inch.

2. Hang the strip but peel it back from the corner a few inches.

3. Using a vertical guideline that’s about 1/8 inch farther from the corner than the narrowest width of the cutoff, apply the next drop on the adjacent wall, allowing it to wrap the corner.

4. After you smooth the second drop into place, trim it at the corner with a breakaway razor knife guided by a metal straightedge.

5. Toss the trimmed paper and peel the paper back from the corner enough to enable you to reposition the first drop.

6. With the first drop wrapping the corner and smoothed into place, smooth the second drop over the first.

Smooth the paper with a side-arm seam roller, which has no frame on one side of the roller so that you can get into corners with it.

Papering outside corners

Outside corners present two problems. First, because they physically stand out, people often brush against or bang into them. And second, because outside corners stand out in the sense that they’re eye-catching, you want things in such a position to look as nice as possible. For these reasons, avoid placing a seam right at the corner where it may be brushed apart or may be more noticeable.

If the corner is perfectly plumb, you can just round it. If it’s out-of-plumb, you can use the wrap-and-overlap technique as described in the preceding “Papering inside corners” section, but with two differences. First, instead of wrapping the first drop about 1/2 inch (Step 1), wrap the corner at least 3 inches to ensure that it stays put. Second, instead of having the second drop end right at the corner (Step 4), measure, cut, and position it so that it stops about 1/4 inch shy of the corner. (See Figure 6-5.) Both cuts are located by measurement and made on the cutting table, not in place.

Making cuts along the length of wallpaper is usually done with a special (read: expensive) 6-foot-long magnesium-alloy straightedge. As a substitute, you can use a 4-inch-wide strip of 1/4-inch plywood. If you don’t own a table saw, ask your lumber store to cut the plywood for you.

Cutting wallcovering dulls blades really quickly. Snap off dull blades on a breakaway razor or change blades often on another type of cutter.

Applying the final strip

As you close in on the kill point — the location you planned for the final seam (see “Locating seams” at the beginning of this chapter) — stop when you’ve done all but the drop on either side of the last seam. At that point, the unpapered gap on the wall measures something less than the width of two rolls. When applied, therefore, one drop will overlap the other, and you must double-cut to make the final seam. Plan this cut at a location where the pattern mismatch will be the least noticeable. For example, if there’s open background on both drops at any point where they overlap, make the cut there, as shown in Figure 6-6.

Planning this double-cut is easier when the paper is dry. Place two strips on your worktable so that, together, the width is equal to the width of the unpapered wall area. Tape them in position with a low-tack (easy-to-remove) tape, such as painter’s masking tape. Then lift and reposition the top layer so that you can locate the best place for a seam. Mark or measure the location and make the cut after you hang both strips.

Figure 6-6: Use the double-cut method to make the final seam.

Quick Fixes for Wallpaper

Two of the most typical repairs for wallpaper are fixing seams that lift off the wall and pull away and patching torn or stained areas. The fixes are surprisingly easy — after you know how.

Loosey-goosey seams

To reglue the edges of wallpaper that have pulled away from the wall, use wallcovering seam sealer. It comes in a small, squeezable tube with an applicator at the tip, so it’s easy to apply. The best part is that the sealer dries clear, leaving no telltale signs of the repair work.

Work through these simple steps to bond those loose edges of wallpaper:

1. Gently peel back the loose wallpaper without stretching or tearing it.

2. Sponge to soften the old glue with a clean wet rag.

Wipe away as much of the old paste as you can reach on the back of the paper and the wall.

3. Carefully put the nozzle of the opened tube of seam sealer behind the paper and squeeze the seam sealer onto the wall.

4. Gently smooth the edge of the wallpaper against the wall, removing any excess sealer with a damp rag or sponge.

Hold the paper carefully and firmly in place for several seconds.

5. Seal the edges with a seam roller to apply light pressure.

If more sealer oozes out of the seam, wipe it with a damp rag or sponge.

Repairing a tear or stained area

Things may look bad, but you can easily patch a torn or stained area of wallpaper — easily, that is, if you have extra wallpaper to cut a patch the size of the damaged area. For a problem area — larger than about a foot square — you’re better off replacing the whole strip (which we talk about in Chapter 5).

For small patches or stains, begin by assessing the pattern and how it relates to the damaged area so that you can cut a patch piece that will blend in. Follow these steps, which are illustrated in Figure 6-7, to correct the damage:

1. To make a patch piece, unroll a piece of matching wallpaper on a flat surface and cut an area large enough to cover the damage.

2. Hold the patch piece over the damaged area and secure it with masking tape or drafting tape, which doesn’t stick as tightly as other tapes.

Carefully align the pattern on the patch with the damaged area.

3. Use a razor to cut through both the patch piece and the paper underneath.

It’s important to cut through both layers in a single pass for a clean cut with sharp edges.

4. Untape the patch piece, remove the damaged wallpaper, and clean the area so that it’s free of old wallpaper paste.

Check out Chapter 5 for tips on doing so.

5. Coat the back of the patch with wallcovering adhesive (or seam sealer for a small patch) and position it carefully.

6. Hold the patch in place until it feels secure and then use a damp sponge to smooth the paper and wipe away any excess adhesive.

7. Seal the edges of the patch with a seam roller.

Roll it gently so that you don’t squeeze out the adhesive or seam sealer. When the patch dries, you won’t be able to find it.

Figure 6-7: Patching damaged wallpaper is easy.

Border Incidents

We don’t know of a faster way to change the look of a room than to add a wallpaper border. You can use borders in all kinds of ways. Apply a border at the ceiling, as a chair rail, or as a detail around windows or doors. Wherever you hang a border, it’s sure to enhance the room. And talk about easy.

Sizewise, a border can be a few inches or a foot wide, and the patterns and styles are almost as bountiful as those of wallcoverings. You’ll find them coordinated with wallcoverings and fabrics, but you can also find a huge variety of patterns just waiting to bring a splash of color and pizzazz to plain walls. Most are prepasted and strippable and sold in rolls of 5 or 7 yards in length.

Here’s how to determine how many spools you need:

1. Measure the length of the area you intend to border.

2. To determine the number of spools without a waste factor, divide that figure by the length of the spool you’re buying.

3. Add about 1/2 yard for every spool to allow for matching and an additional 1/2 yard for every corner or miter, such as when you border windows.

You can apply a border to any painted wall or on top of wallpaper that has been up for at least two days. Generally, borders look best on neutral backgrounds, but many patterned papers have borders with coordinating colors or patterns.

In a small room, a border at the ceiling level makes the space look larger. But don’t assume that a border has to go at the ceiling-to-wall joint, which can be rough. For a different look, you can place a border a couple of inches below the ceiling. Placed at chair-rail height (24 to 36 inches from the floor), a border tends to make a room look smaller because it divides the walls. If you have a really large room, though, that may be just the effect that you’re looking for.

Making your borders straight as an arrow

Even some newly built homes have walls and ceilings that are not true (level, plumb, and square), but you can establish a horizontal guideline with a carpenter’s level and measuring tape to act as a guide for hanging a wallpaper border.

To establish a level line below the ceiling, use a measuring tape and a carpenter’s level to establish guidelines on the walls around the room as follows:

1. Use masking tape as an experiment to help decide where you want to position the border.

Affix the tape lightly at different heights to see the different effects the border will have on the room.

2. After you decide where you want the border, mark the location on one wall at a corner.

Measure down from the ceiling or up from the floor — whichever is shorter.

3. Hold the level flat against the wall at the point you marked and adjust the level until the bubble is centered.

4. Draw a light pencil line on the wall at that mark.

5. Work your way around the room, using the level in the same manner to create a line on all the walls.

Hanging borders

Before you hang the border, make sure that the walls are clean and remove electrical outlet covers if you’re installing the border over them. Plan the job to begin and end in the least conspicuous point of the room so the joint of the two end pieces are less noticeable, which in many rooms is a corner behind a door.

To hang a border, follow these steps:

1. Get the adhesive working by activating it.

Read the directions for prepasted borders, which usually involves soaking them in water.

2. To hang a border that’s not prepasted on painted walls, use a premixed wallpaper adhesive.

For hanging a prepasted or non-prepasted border on top of a wallcovering, use a vinyl-to-vinyl adhesive for better adhesion. Apply with a wallpaper brush, paint roller, or clean paintbrush (foam or man-made bristle), spreading the adhesive on the back of the border. Make sure to coat it evenly, especially on the edges.

3. Fold the wet pasted sides together accordion-style to keep the adhesive moist.

This is called booking.

4. Carefully align the top or bottom edge of the border just on top of the guideline to conceal it, unfolding the booked strip as you work along the wall.

5. Gently but firmly, smooth the border onto the wall with a smoothing brush or a large, damp sponge.

6. As you continue to hang the rolls of the border, butt the joints together so that they’re smooth and evenly aligned.

If the pattern doesn’t match exactly, overlap the new roll over the previous one until the pattern aligns. Then cut through both layers with a sharp razor, guided by a ruler or other metal straightedge. This process, called double cutting, ensures a perfect match every time. (Refer to Figure 6-6.) Then peel back the border to remove the cutoffs and press the ends back into place.

7. When you get back to the point where you started, overlap the end of the border onto the beginning for cutting.

Peel it back and overlap it again as needed to find the least conspicuous spot to double-cut the border. Usually (but not always), you want to cut at a point where there is little to no pattern.

8. Lightly roll any seams with a seam roller.

Using corner miter cuts on borders

Use a miter cut — cutting two pieces at a 45-degree angle so that, when joined, they meet at a right angle — where a horizontal border joins a vertical one. A miter cut is a double cut because you cut two overlapping pieces at once. In an outside-corner miter cut, a border outlines a door or window; in an inside-corner miter cut, a border turns and runs up the side of a window or door. Follow these steps, as shown in Figure 6-8:

1. Cut the horizontal border to extend at least a couple of inches beyond the corner of the window or door casing.

Don’t press down firmly, because you will trim and peel back the border.

2. Cut the vertical border and hold it so that it overlaps and covers the horizontal border, forming a small cross.

Cut both strips long so that you can match up the pattern by moving the vertical strip up and down or the horizontal strip back and forth. Although you can certainly get a perfect match on one side of a door, you just as certainly won’t get a perfect match on the other side. As you move the one horizontal and two vertical pieces, you strike a compromise that looks best at both corners. Although borders are often placed up against the casing, no rule says that you must position them this way. You can also space the borders an equal distance from all sides of the casing.

3. Use a taping knife or ruler to lay a straightedge on a diagonal line from the corner at the trim to the opposite corner.

4. With the straightedge to guide you, carefully cut through both layers of the border with a sharp razor.

5. Remove the bottom horizontal cutaway piece by lifting the vertical border and then carefully removing it.

6. Reapply the vertical border so that it forms a perfect mitered joint with the horizontal border.

7. Carefully press the two joining edges together and seal them with a seam roller.

The seam roller presses the edges tight against the wall.

8. Let the joint dry and then use a damp sponge to lightly remove any adhesive that may have oozed out from the seam.

Figure 6-8: Use a double-cut miter cut for a border that outlines a window or door.