How to Do a Pre-Pasted Wall Border

Adding wallpaper border to a room adds a pop of color to the space.

Wallpaper border is one option to change the look of a room. Used as a chair rail or lining the perimeter of a room at the ceiling, borders can impart a sense of design and style to any area. Opting for pre-pasted wall borders makes the process of transforming a space faster and more efficient. Using proper wallpaper and border hanging techniques helps to ensure your project comes out looking as you envisioned.

Things You'll Need

• Pre-pasted wallpaper border
• Large bucket
• Water
• Scissors
• Tape measure
• Level
• Pencil
• Masking tape
• Window squeegee or flat edge scraper
• Paper clips

Instructions

1. Determine where the wallpaper border will be placed. Measure the area using a ruler and allow for overlap and mistakes by adding 15 to 20 percent to the total measurement. For example, if you require a total of 200 inches of wallpaper border to complete a project, buy no less than 240 inches to allow for mistakes. Wallpaper border is sold in premeasured rolls, requiring you to round up at times to purchase what is required.

2. Prepare the surface for the wall border. Scrape off any remnants of wallpaper, paint chips or dirt. Wash down the walls with warm water and allow to thoroughly dry. A clean working surface will ensure an easy application, void of bumps from lingering dirt or debris. Borders being used as chair railings will need to have a center portion of the wall prepped. Borders being used around the ceiling need to have the top portion of the wall cleaned and ready for application.

3. Mark off the area for the border. Measure the width of the border and use a tape measure and ruler to draw lines on the wall using pencil to note the exact location for the border. Place masking tape on both lines to further protect the rest of the wall on both sides of the wall border. Use a level to ensure your lines are straight.

4. Cut the wallpaper border to a length 8 inches longer than needed for each wall. The excess border will allow for working ends to hold on to and for making transitions around corners. The edges of one border sheet will need to reach to the exact end of the wall, to match up with the starting edge of the next piece to prevent gaps between sections.

5. Dip the entire piece of border in to a bucket filled with water. Make sure the entire piece of border, both front and back, remain under water for two to five minutes to activate the pre-pasted adhesive on the back of the border.

6. Remove the border from the water bath and begin applying to the wall. Start on the end of the wall and press the border in to the corner of the wall using your hands to get a first adhesion point. Continue pressing the border along the wall, following your marked outline. Use a window squeegee or plastic scraper to press air bubbles out as you adhere the border to the wall.

7. Press the end of the first sheet of border in to the corner using the scraper to get a tight fit. Ensure the border covers the entire length of the wall, including the corner. Extend the border to three-sixteenths of an inch on to the adjacent wall. Trim the excess ends off the border by using a utility knife and running the blade along the wall to get a clean cut.

8. Hold up the next piece of border and match the pattern to the edge of the first. Trim down the border as required to create a transition between pieces. This method keeps patterns in alignment and uses the excess border cut when readying for the project. Start the next piece of border in the corner where the first piece stopped. Repeat the process for all walls, making sure to work with one wall at a time.

Tips & Warnings

• Know that patterned wallpaper border may not match up exactly in corners and you may need to adjust your cut or starting point to create a more seamless match for borders with noticeable designs.

• Use caution when running a utility knife down along the border. Do not press too hard as you may cause nicks in the wall underneath the border.

References

• Home Depot: Hanging Borders
• Lowes: Hanging Wallpapers and Borders