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Installing Removable Wallpaper as an Accent in Your Home
Learn how to install removable wallpaper. It’s the perfect way to add an accent to a room or for a temporary design change.
I used this wallpaper in my home office & craft room in our basement. It's the perfect way to add some personality to the space
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You Will Need
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Step 1
Prepare the Wall
First, you will need to prepare the wall where you will be installing the wallpaper. Make sure the wall is clean and there are no damaged areas. If there are, you will need to fix these before starting the installation.
If you are installing wallpaper on a darker wall, you might want to paint over it first in a lighter color. This is especially true if your wallpaper has a light background. You don’t want that dark wall color to be seen through the wallpaper. My wall was already a light gray, so I didn’t have to do any painting.
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Step 2
Draw a Level Guideline
Next, you will need to draw a guideline on your wall. You will want to make sure this guideline is level so that your wallpaper design is straight on your walls.
Because houses are almost never perfectly level, you can’t really trust the trim or the edges of the walls to be square. You will need to create either a horizontal or vertical (or both) guideline using an actual level.
Since I was only installing wallpaper on a portion of the wall, I used a level to create a horizontal guideline.
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Step 4
Install the First Panel
This part is easier if you have someone to help you out. Always start installing from the top left corner of the area you are wallpapering.
Take the first roll of wallpaper and peel away a few inches of the backing from the top. Don’t peel away all of the backing yet!
Line up the edge of your wallpaper with the guideline on the wall. Once you get it level, apply pressure to stick the top edge of the wallpaper to the wall.
Then, step back and take a look at the position. Make sure it looks level and like it’s in the right place. This top edge placement will anchor the wallpaper in place for the rest of the install.
If you need to adjust, you can slowly peel the paper back from the wall and reposition.
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Step 5
If everything looks good, you can continue to peel the backing away from the wallpaper and press it to the wall.
Go very slow and smooth the wallpaper as you go with a squeegee (this little tool comes with your wallpaper order). The squeegee is perfect for pushing out any air bubbles that you get as you are sticking the wallpaper to the wall.
I found it easiest to have Ben slowly peel the backing away as I used the squeegee to press it into the wall. I always pressed the center of the design in first and then worked my way out so that the air bubbles moved to the edge of the wallpaper.
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Step 6
Install the Remaining Panels
After you have the first panel installed, it’s time to install the overlapping panels. This is how your design gets that repeating look so that the pattern lines up perfectly.
To install the second panel, you will need to overlap the first panel by about ¾”. You are going to be overlapping the right side of the first panel with the left side of the second panel.
Hold the second panel up to the wall and peel away a few inches of the backing from the left side.
Then, visually match the pattern from the first panel to the second panel. Once you have the pattern matched up, apply pressure to stick the top left edge of the wallpaper to the first panel.
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Step 8
Continue working your way down the panel and make sure the pattern matches as you go on the left edge of the second panel.
If you need to cut away excess wallpaper, just use a sharp utility knife to carefully cut the wallpaper.
Repeat this process for as many removable wallpaper panels that you have