Planning for an interior make-over that involves adding some pattern and pop of color to the walls can be a very exciting journey as you find yourself in the wallpaper design world with countless options in different styles. When you have chosen your favorite wallpaper, the next important step is to make the right preparations for the installment process. Besides gathering all of the necessary tools, you’ll need to properly prepare the wall you would like to wallpaper for the final result to be as picture perfect as you have imagined. In this blog post we will be going through the main steps of how to prepare the wall for wallpaper installation.
Make Sure The Wall Is Smooth
As with wallpaper designs, walls can be in countless different shapes and textures as well, but not all of them are suitable for wallpaper. However, all walls can be prepared for it! Before wallpaper installation, you will need to make sure that the wall is smooth. In case the wall of your choice has a rough texture, it is best to smoothen it out by, for example, a technique called mudding, where a skim coat of joint compound is applied to the wall and after it has dried, using a sandpaper, you can smoothen out any bumps.
It is important to smoothen out textured walls as applying wallpaper on this type of surface can damage the wallpaper by creating small rips and tears and make the overall process difficult and the final result uneven and far from perfect. A smooth surface will also ensure that the wallpaper sticks to the surface firmly as on an uneven surface, the glue or paste can not work properly resulting in wallpaper being loose in some parts.
Do not forget to also remove any fixtures, nails, artwork, hooks, fill in any holes and screw the light switch plates off. If you do want to cover a lightly textured wall to hide its flaws, we suggest choosing a darker color wallpaper design or a wallpaper with smaller pattern. This will ensure that any texture underneath the wallpaper will be less noticeable.
Make Sure The Wall Is Clean
After preparing your smooth wall surface for wallpapering, the next step is to make sure the wall is clean. Any dust on the wall can affect the wallpaper application and how the wallpaper will stick to it. Furthermore, we suggest using sugar soap to clean the wall from any grease or dirt. In case the wall of your choice is painted, use hot water and vinegar to clean the wall. Finally, a day or two before the wallpaper installment, give the wall a final clean with a damp cloth to prepare it for the wallpaper glue or paste.
Consider The Paint On The Wall And Use Primer
Before wallpaper installment if the wall has been painted, it is important to consider the type of paint the wall has been covered with. Eggshell, semi-gloss and satin painted walls are considered to be best surfaces for wallpaper application. Latex paint, however, can tear when the wallpaper will be removed and can reject the adhesive of our self-adhesive wallpaper, resulting in the wallpaper not sticking properly and falling off.
Another thing to consider is the color of the wall that you will apply the wallpaper to. Painting the wall in a color that will be similar to the base color of the wallpaper or that is in a light color can prevent the surface being seen through and any cracks showing through the wallpaper design. If you do paint the wall prior to the wallpaper installment, it is important to allow the paint to dry and set for a minimum of 30 days prior to the wallpaper installment. We strongly suggest using primer on the wall, in which case you can apply the wallpaper after a couple of days, because it does dry a lot faster than paint.
We hope this 3 step guide to preparing the wall for wallpaper installment will help you feel ready and motivated to apply your chosen wallpaper and make your interior vision come to life. If looking for more detailed information on installing our wallpaper, please visit our How To Install Traditional Wallpaper and How To Install Removable Wallpaper blog posts.
