ORC Week 5 | DIY | How to Hang Removable Wallpaper

The removable wallpaper for my daughter’s boho bedroom makeover is mid-way through installation. Today I’m talking about the process, and sharing a few tips that make this DIY a little easier, if you want to try it yourself.

Wallpaper can make a huge impact on a space. Our home is rented, though, and traditional wallpaper can be tricky to remove. Spoonflower has been on my radar for years, as they have a huge range of wallpaper designs, all of which are fully removable. They’re a US company, but now have a base in Germany now too, so easily accessible from the UK.

The removable wallpaper was on my doorstep eight days after I ordered it. It’s printed to order and, like I said, shipped from Germany, so I’m impressed with how quickly it shipped. I’m about 75% through installation, and it looks so good.

I reached out to partner with Spoonflower for this project. On their website, you can create your own designs, which can be printed on wallpaper as well as fabric and gift wrap, and even on home decor and clothing through their sister sites Roostery and Sprout Patterns.

You can also choose from the 350,000 designs already on their marketplace, which is what I did. I settled on Bebe Mudcloth White by Holli Zollinger, which is a delicate, slightly more graphic take on a traditional mudcloth print.

They have two options for wallpaper, both of which are renter-friendly and removable. Their smooth wallpaper is water-activated and very affordable. I got some samples, and it’s lovely stuff (on the right, below). Then they have a peel and stick option, which is a bit more expensive but is repositionable, thicker, and has a lovely woven texture.

I opted for the peel and stick option for two reasons: texture, and because I’ve never hung wallpaper before. As it turns out, I made the right call. I initially hung the first strip too low, so I had to peel it all off and reposition it.

I called in an extra set of hands, and together, we messed up that first strip a further three times or so, even sticking the wallpaper to itself twice!

This is how not do do it. (Hanging wallpaper in my activewear.) But you can see just how forgiving the paper is.

Now it’s up, there are no signs of the trauma it underwent getting there! The rest of that wall was simple and solid, and it went much more smoothly.

Spoonflower includes installation instructions with the removable wallpaper, and provides video instructions online. Generally, it’s a straightforward process. So rather than give you a full on tutorial, I’m sharing a few extra tips that will help if you’re going to hang removable wallpaper yourself.

1. Position and hang artwork first

Figure out where things are going and hang them before you wallpaper. If you mess up, you can patch the walls, but you can’t patch wallpaper so easily.

2. Prep your walls & remove outlet covers

This one’s obvious, but aside from making sure everything’s clean and free of dust, it’s also good to remove outlet covers. (Turn the power off first.) Laying the wallpaper under the outlets will make it look as sharp as possible.

3. Use a laser level

This laser level saved time and made it easy to hang the wallpaper dead straight. Set the line up to match the edge of the strip you’re hanging, and it’ll save you having to bust out the spirit level all the time.

4. Start at the top left corner, in the least conspicuous part of the room

This is stated on the instructions, but it bears repeating. If you’re hanging a whole room of removable wallpaper, you’ll be left with one seam that doesn’t match up completely. Start in the least visible corner – in this case, right of the door – and that seam will be barely noticeable.

5. Overlap the moulding or ceiling at the top of the wall

This is where I went wrong right off the bat. I tried to line the top of my strip of wallpaper with the bottom of the moulding. It was almost close enough, but the walls aren’t completely straight. That tiny gap would have grown as I moved along and been much more obvious. You can trim excess later.

6. Don’t use the squeegee straight away

Spoonflower’s removable wallpaper comes with a squeegee tool to push all the air bubbles out to the edges. We found it easier to very lightly press it down and smooth it out with our hands first, as you can see in the video. Once we knew it was in the right position, then we pressed down more firmly. Doing it this way meant we didn’t have to reposition it so often.

7. How to hang wallpaper on wonky corners or wonky walls

Like I said, my walls are not completely straight, even though the house is relatively new. The first corner we got to was significantly wonky. We’d been lining each new strip up to the edge of the previous one. If we’d continued it around the wonky corner, though, the right edge would’ve been noticeably off.

To combat this, we pressed the strip down on the first wall until it got to the corner. The bottom was the wonky part, so we made a cut up to where the wall straightened, then lay that section overlapping the first part, using the laser level to make sure the right edge was still straight. It’s slightly misaligned in this little area, but it’s better than having a whole section be off. And you tell me if you can notice it!

If your walls are wonky top-to-bottom, it might be worth running the paper slightly round the corner and then trimming it an inch or so onto the next wall. After that, start with a new strip, hung level, on that second wall. The corner will be misaligned, but overall the design will be stay straight, and the mismatch won’t be overly noticeable in a corner.

Here’s a little GIF (my first one!) of how the first section of wallpaper installation went down. (I missed a section. Shush.)

I’m very impressed with Spoonflower wallpaper, and it’ll remain a go-to when I’m sourcing for clients in the future.

It’s very thick and has enough give to make it very forgiving, as I said, and easy to hang. I was able to hang a good chunk of it myself after my help (Dad) needed to leave. If you’ve never hung wallpaper before, peel and stick removable wallpaper is a very good place to start.

Catch up on other Spring 2017 ORC posts

This room makeover is part of the One Room Challenge. Next week I’ll reveal the rest of this boho bedroom, all finished, and you can catch up on progress posts here:

BOHO BEDROOM MAKEOVER PLANS (WEEK 1)
BEFORES & DETAILS ON THE PLAN (WEEK 2)
WALLPAPER OPTIONS (WEEK 3)
TEXTILES & FURNITURE (WEEK 4)
HOW TO HANG REMOVABLE WALLPAPER (WEEK 5)
THE REVEAL (WEEK 6)
BONUS: HOW TO MAKE A DIY WALL HANGING

If you’d like to check out the other One Room Challenge guest participant’s progress, you can see those here, and you can find the featured designer’s posts via this link.

Once again, huge thanks to my sponsor for this One Room Challenge: