It’s time to gather up your tools. Here’s everything you’ll need:

You’ll need:

• Sandpaper

• Sponge

Other items you may need:

• Primer

• Paintbrush (to apply the primer)

• Repair filler

• Scraper (to apply the filler)

1. Remove any nails and screws. Then, fill in any cracks in the wall by applying repair filler and smoothing things out with a scraper tool.

2. Switch off the electricity mains and remove any sockets and switch covers.

3. Sand down any rough areas until smooth.

4. Use a sponge to clean the walls with warm water and mild soap. Then, allow the walls to dry for a minimum of 24 hours.

If you have a wall painted in emulsion paint, you can wallpaper over it once it’s clean. If the wall is freshly-painted, it’s best to wait for 4 weeks before applying wallpaper over the top. 

For the most accurate guidance, see what your paint tin has to say, or check the brand’s website for advice on how long to let the paint dry before wallpapering.

For an old plaster wall, ensure that it’s stable and free of mould. For newer plaster, ensure it is completely dry. 

If you have a cement render wall or a concrete surface, make sure that you sand it till it’s smooth. 

For either type of porous surface, you’ll want to seal the wall with a primer or diluted paste (also known as ‘sizing’ a wall). Allow the primer to dry, and this will stop the paste being absorbed during installation.

If your wall is plasterboard, make sure to fill in any screw holes and joints between the plasterboards (also known as ‘spackling’). 

Smooth and seal the wall with a primer or diluted paste. Allow the primer to completely dry, and this will stop the paste being absorbed during installation.

If you need to seal your porous or plasterboard wall, we recommend using a primer. Sealing your wall means that your wallpaper adhesive won’t seep into the wall and quickly dry up while you’re applying it. It turns a porous surface into a non-porous surface!

Simply use a brush to cover your wall in the primer solution, and let it dry. Follow the instructions on the packaging of the primer you bought for the best guidance on applying and allowing it to dry. 

You can! There’s no need to remove paint before you hang wallpaper. 

And, as mentioned earlier, we recommend leaving a freshly painted wall for 4 weeks to dry properly.

Ideally, you want your wall to have a light, uniform colour. If this isn’t the case for you right now, we recommend painting it. 

If your wall has a dark paint colour or a pattern, this may show through your wallpaper if the wallpaper is a lighter colour than the current wall.

If you have an old wallpaper to remove before you install your shiny new one, there are some preparation tips you’ll need to know – such as stubborn glue removal, if you’ll need a steamer or not, and how to make sure you don’t damage your wall. 

Check out our guide on How to remove wallpaper for the full breakdown.

If you don’t want paste to be part of your wallpaper hanging process, you can choose a peel and stick wallpaper instead. 

Peel and stick wallpaper (also known as self-adhesive wallpaper) is already sticky. For most of them, you simply peel off the protective backing and press the paper to the wall.

All you’ll need at this stage is a measuring tape.

You may want help from a second person to hold the tape in place while you take measurements, too.

Measuring your wall is easier than you think. All you need is the width of your wall at its widest possible point, and the height of your wall at the highest possible point.

Here’s how to measure different shapes and types of walls:

Measure the full height and width of the wall. You only need the dimensions of the surface that you want to cover with wallpaper. So you can exclude skirting boards and coving.

If you have a sloped wall or ceiling, you can ignore the slope while you measure. Measure the widest width and longest length only. 

If your new wallpaper happens to be a Hovia mural, we provide the mural in a square or rectangle shape, and you simply cut the part that meets the slope away during installation.

If your wall has two slants, simply measure the longest width and tallest height of the wall. When you install your wallpaper, you’ll simply cut away the parts you don’t need when you come to the slopes.

When there’s a door, window, or other obstacle on your wall, you only need to measure the total width and height of the wall. You’ll cut around these obstacles as you hang your wallpaper. 

To work out how many rolls you need for any wallpaper, first check how wide the rolls are that you’re buying, and how long a full roll is. Once you’ve measured the width of your wall, you’ll now know how many widths of wallpaper are needed to cover the entire wall. Measure the height of your wall, and times that by the number of wallpaper widths that you need. Now, divide that number by the length of a wallpaper roll. The number you’re left with tells you how many rolls you’ll need to buy.

(If you’re buying rolls of Hovia wallpaper, we have a handy calculator on our product pages that figures it all out for you! Here’s an example.)

Want to wrap your wallpaper around multiple walls? Measure the widths of all of the walls and combine the widths into just one measurement. This will ensure that the mural image or wallpaper pattern can continue seamlessly around the walls.

1. Measure the height of your wall with a tape measure.
   
   Tip: If you’re wallpapering a large area, measure the height of the wall in several places, as it could differ if the wall isn’t completely straight.
   
   Tip: Add 100mm of excess onto the measurements to allow for variations in height.

2. Unroll your wallpaper and mark your wall height measurement on the back of the paper with a pencil. Then, cut your first strip a bit past the line (to make sure it’s not cut too short). 

3. Unroll the next length of wallpaper and place it edge-to-edge with the first strip to match up the pattern. Use the bottom edge of the first strip as a guide to then cut the second strip. Now continue cutting the rest of the strips.
   
   At the end of your installation, trim away any excess paper at the tops and bottoms of the wallpaper using a sharp knife.

• Pencil

• Plumb line or spirit level

• Pasting brush or roller

• Bucket

• Wallpaper paste (paste-the-wall adhesive)

Hang the wallpaper right after the paste is on the wall, so that you can get the paper up before the paste dries. 

We recommend pasting in sections. If you add paste to the whole wall before you’ve hung any wallpaper strips, the paste might dry before you have the chance to hang all of the paper.

If you choose a peel and stick wallpaper you can put up the wallpaper without using paste, thanks to its sticky backing. 

For regular wallpaper, though, you will need paste as your adhesive.

• Pasting brush or roller

• Bucket

• All-purpose wallpaper paste 

• Wallpaper pasting table (or any table that’s long enough to fit your wallpaper strips on, which you also don’t mind getting paste on)

• If it’s not clear which way up your wallpaper design goes, you’ll find it useful to lightly write ‘top’ on the back of the paper before you start pasting it, so you know which is the top and which is the bottom of the strip.

• Paste the wallpaper starting at the centre of the strip and sweeping your brush or roller outwards to the edges. This will help you avoid crumpling the paper or needing to keep holding it down as you paste.

• While you don’t want your layer of paste to be uneven or sparse, don’t add too much paste. You want a light layer rather than a gloopy one that might squeeze out from the edges as you press your paper onto the wall. It also means you won’t be weighing down the paper with an excess of paste.

After you’ve unrolled your wallpaper and separated the panels (also known as ‘drops’), arrange them in hanging order on the floor, starting with the first panel. From here, check that the image matches up properly. 

If you notice any inconsistencies with the print, don’t install it and get in touch with customer service at the place you bought it to let them know something’s not right. 

Work from left to right as you face your wall. Use a tape measure or ruler and a plumb line or spirit level to mark a vertical straight line a panel’s width from the wall. This will give you a guide while hanging the first panel and ensure it’s hung straight. Ensuring that the first panel is hung straight is important for a successful installation of your mural.

Note: Your wall may not be perfectly straight, and using it as a reference could result in incorrect installation! So take time to get this step right. 

Peel away about a third of the backing paper from your first panel, and position the top right edge along the pencil plumb line. Once you’re happy that the first drop is straight, use the felt-tipped squeegee or similar to slowly apply pressure downwards and outwards, starting in the middle of the panel. 

Smoothing the wallpaper outwards in diagonal directions allows you to remove any air trapped underneath the wallpaper. Be careful not to crease the wallpaper by smoothing too quickly or harshly.

If the panel needs to be repositioned, you can remove the panel and re-stick until it’s straight. Remove the wallpaper slowly and carefully, as it will significantly reduce the possibility of damage or stretching.

Reach underneath the panel, and continue to gently pull the backing paper downwards to reveal the rest of the adhesive, and smooth down the mural as you go. Take extra care to ensure the edges are firmly sealed flat to the wall to make sure it sticks well. Repeat this process as you slowly move down the panel until it’s fully installed.

Now it’s time to hang the second panel. Again, remove about a third of the backing paper and, with help from a friend, visually match the design down the length of the wall. When you’re happy that the panel is straight and matches up with the first, firmly press the panels together so that the seams aren’t visible. 

Smooth out any air bubbles with the felt squeegee or soft cloth. Now, continue to remove the rest of the backing paper and smooth the mural carefully as you go.

Repeat this step for all of your panels until your mural is completely installed.

Using a straightedge as a guide and a razor-sharp blade, trim away any excess from your final panel and the tops and bottoms of all the panels.

One final important step is to firmly smooth the whole mural down using your microfibre cloth, as this removes any remaining pockets of air and helps the mural bond to the wall. Do this one week later as well. 

Allow the mural to dry at room temperature with plenty of ventilation. If there’s a heat source on the same wall as the mural, such as a radiator, turn it down or off for the first 24 hours of drying, and this will reduce the possibility of shrinkage.

Sit back and enjoy your handiwork!

After you’ve unrolled your wallpaper and separated the panels (also known as ‘drops’), arrange them in hanging order on the floor, starting with the first panel. From here, check that the image matches up properly. 

If you notice any inconsistencies with the print, don’t install it and get in touch with customer service at the place you bought it to let them know something’s not right. 

All of your mural panels will be the same width. Using that same width measurement, add a few marks down the wall using your ruler and pencil, starting at the very left of the wall. Hold a plumb line or spirit level on your mark to draw a vertical line down. The line you’ve created will be your guide to making sure the first panel is hung straight (which will then ensure that the full mural is straight).

If you’re using the paste-the-wall method, take your brush or roller and evenly apply paste to your first section of the wall, covering a few inches past the pencil line. A smooth, even coat will reduce the possibility of the paper bubbling.

If you opt to apply your paste directly to your paper instead of the wall, lay out the first strip of wallpaper on your pasting table and apply the paste evenly, working from the centre outwards.

Line up your first panel with the pencil line that you made, and start to hang it from the top. Work downwards, carefully smoothing away any bubbles or ripples using the felt smoother tool or microfiber cloth as you go.

You shouldn’t pull or stretch the material during installation. Work from the top and allow the wallpaper to fall naturally, taking care to avoid scuffing or scratching the printed surface.

Some wallpaper might require overlapping the paper, but it’s most common for wall mural panels to be hung right next to each other. This is called a butt join.

Hang the second panel in the same way as the first, working from the top down, and take care to visually match up the design. Then, firmly press the panel up against the first so that the edges meet and the seams aren’t visible.

Now, continue this same process for all of the remaining panels!

Tip: Try to avoid getting paste on the surface of the mural. If any excess paste that does get on the print, gently wipe it away with a clean, damp cloth as soon as possible.

Trim away any excess paper at the top and bottom of each panel using a craft knife. You may want to hold a straightedge underneath the blade to help you cut straight and to protect your skirting board, ceiling or floor from any scrapes. Dull blades can cause the paper to tear, so make sure it’s sharp or sharpen it if not.

Allow your mural to dry at room temperature with plenty of ventilation. If there’s a heat source on the same wall as the mural, such as a radiator, turn it down or off for the first 24 hours of drying, and this will reduce the possibility of shrinkage. 

Now, sit back and enjoy your handiwork!