Last Fall, I joined forces with a group of local, Minnesotan DIY’ers, Projects in Person, Construction2Style, & ReBuildMN to host a DIY Crash Course Night where we demystified the fine art of four home DIY skills: Drywall, Tile, Shiplap and Wallpaper Installation.
Each of us polled their social media audience to find out what they wanted to learn most, and the general consensus from you guys was that you wanted to learn wallpaper installation. I was really excited to hear this because wallpaper is going through an absolute renaissance at the moment. There are so many new types and styles that the options for transforming your space with wallpaper are seemingly endless.
Milton & King generously supplied the wallpaper, Pattern: Origami/Black, and we went to town installing it on several 3′ x 3′ faux walls that my husband, Ken, and I built for the event. I started each session with an installation demonstration, and then we broke into pairs to practice hanging a strip ourselves.
The reason I chose to demonstrate Milton & King Wallpaper for this event is it’s great for wallpaper novices. Their wallpaper backing is dimensionally stable meaning it won’t stretch when you apply the adhesive, so you can roller the adhesive right onto the wall and hang your paper to it.
More traditional wallpapers stretch when wet, so it’s recommended you apply the paste to the paper, then loosely fold the strip in half for a few minutes to allow the paste to soak in (also known as “booking”) prior to hanging. I’ve hung both kinds of wallpaper, and in my experience, the “booking” method is a bit messier and takes alot longer to install.
Because I love YOU, I’m attaching the ‘Wallpaper Best Practices’ PDF that I created for the event attendees. It has the full materials list, my personal instructions/anecdotes for both wallpaper installation and removal, how to calculate the amount of wallpaper you’ll need, and where I buy my supplies. Find the downloadable PDF at the bottom of this post.
I’ve watched ALOT of installation videos, and I think Milton & King’s is one of the best at showing the process, so I’m including it below.
At the event, two of the most asked questions were:
Q. What adhesive should I use?
A. I recommend using a high quality, clear paste such as Roman Pro 880. It’s strippable, meaning you’ll be able to remove the wallpaper most likely with warm water and a sponge. There’s also almost no odor associated with it.
Q. What is your biggest piece of advice for installing wallpaper?
If you’ve watched the video above or downloaded the WALLPAPER BEST PRACTICES, you’ll notice there’s a step for drawing your starting guideline. The starting guideline is the vertical pencil line you’ll use to hang your first drop of wallpaper. My biggest piece of advice is to go slow and really make sure you get your guideline drawn perfectly straight up and down with a level, as it’s the edge your wallpaper drops will be based upon. If your guideline tilts one way or the other, you’ll end up with a wallpaper pattern that slants across the wall.
It was a whirlwind 3 hours with such a fun, bustling crowd! Thanks to Projects in Person for hosting!
DOWNLOAD THE WALLPAPER BEST PRACTICES HERE.
Milton & King Origami photo courtesy of Milton & King.
Event Photography Credit: By Rebecca Studios
Kelly Mahan
April 18, 2018 at 2:12 pmWallpaper is coming back and bigger than ever. This great wall coating has more designs and styles than anything before.