How to Hang Peel and Stick Wallpaper

Hello and thanks for stopping by! I have been working on this space for the past several months and I could not be more pleased with how it turned out!  I had been thinking about wallpapering upstairs since we moved in because I am such a fan of wallpaper and the pattern it brings, but was unsure if I wanted something so permanent (my husband did not want me to ruin the texture on the wall as well). I had no idea how to hang regular wallpaper or how to hang peel and stick wallpaper! So I had left the walls white and had not done any decorating at that point, just leaving a big white box upstairs if you will. The upstairs area is basically a small common area outside of our 3 kids’ bedrooms…It has a built-in desk and that was it. I wanted to give the space some character and have it be a fun area since it’s a kid’s only area upstairs in our home. Click here to see my son’s big boy bedroom reveal. I had to be careful since we have 2 girls and 1 boy, so I tried to keep it somewhat gender neutral (sorry for the pink Hudson, Mama tried to control herself)! What finally got the ball rolling on transforming this space was Wallpops reaching out to me about their peel and stick wallpaper. I honestly did not know peel and stick wallpaper was a thing and I was more than excited to try it out. Today I will share my tips on how to hang peel and stick wallpaper on an accent wall.

How to Hang Peel and Stick Wallpaper

• Peel and stick to apply, pull up to remove
• NuWallpaper is safe for walls and leaves no sticky residue behind
• Fix mistakes easily by repositioning
• NuWallpaper sticks to any smooth, flat surface – perfect for DIY projects
• Ideal for a rental or home decorating
• Comes on a 20.5-in x 18-ft roll and covers about 30.75 sq. ft.

Choose your Style: I was really impressed with all of the selections and styles you had to choose from. If you are a long time reader or follow me on Instagram @curlsandcashmere, you know I love blue. It is sprinkled throughout our home. When I found the Wallpops Arrowhead Peel and Stick paper in deep blue, I knew we had found a winner. I prefer clean lines, so this geometric shape was perfect and I knew I could keep it a bit more gender neutral. But, if you don’t prefer clean lines, they have something for everyone. One of my BIGGEST tips for how to hang peel and stick wallpaper on an accent wall would be to DEFINITELY choose a peel and stick paper that has a busy pattern. No matter how good you think you are at hanging wallpaper or DIY projects, you will still get air bubbles and it was tough to get them all out. Unless you are a professional and know the ins and outs of hanging wallpaper, but I was a beginner with no prior experience whatsoever.

Get a Friend to Help: Once the wallpaper came in, I got to work. I enlisted a friend’s help and I would definitely recommend having someone help you if you decide to try this. I have never done any sort of wallpaper before or even painting for that matter, so I was very much a novice. After finishing it, we felt like we even could have had one more person’s help. When you are dealing with long sheets of the peel and stick paper, it can get stuck to other surfaces very easily and become wrinkled. You need all the help you can get to prevent that from happening.

Get to Work: Wallpops sent a smoothing tool and a razor blade and those are all the tools you need besides a ladder and friends..and maybe some wine or coffee!  We began on the very right corner of the accent wall and worked our way across. One of us would get on top of the ladder and get the paper even with the crown molding, and the other would begin pressing it to the wall and then use the smoothing tool as quickly as possible so you get the air bubbles out. We would work down to the ground and then make the cut. It is very handy that you can take the peel and stick paper off and start over if you notice the pattern is uneven or not straight going down the wall. Super helpful because we made plenty of mistakes, and it is very convenient to be able to remove it with no sticky residue. We did this all the way across the accent wall until we got to the door. Oh lordy, the door was tough for us as we were complete novices! We just went with it and measured the door and made the cuts the best we could. We then made a small cut for the light switch and we were done! The job took about 5 hours with 2 of us working nonstop. If you are beginner with wallpaper, I would suggest just doing an accent wall.

Helpful Tips: My walls have a light texture on it, but I did not want to remove it since I may tire of this someday and want to remove the paper and have my walls look untouched. The pattern of my wallpaper is busy so that you cannot tell that is has a light texture behind it. I am really glad I didn’t remove the texture because that can be very dirty and dusty, and not to mention I do not want to retexture and repaint if I decide to take the paper down. Again, choose a busy pattern to save your sanity. I promise it is worth it.

Would I Do it Again: Yes! For sure, and I would be better prepared now that I know how to hang peel and stick wallpaper on an accent wall. I would have 2 friends help rather than one to save time. I would choose a pattern and stick to a simple wall that doesn’t have lots of doors or cabinets. The peel and stick wallpaper is really fun and the space is totally transformed with the look and feel of real wallpaper without the damage or expense! A nursery or kid’s bedroom/ playroom accent wall would be perfect to use this product on.

Completing the Space: After the wallpaper was done, I knew I needed to decorate the rest of the upstairs space. I chose a fun rug to warm up the space and bring in some softness to the wood floors. I had been seeing so many pretty fuchsia rugs on Instagram and was dying to have one in my home somewhere. Since the wallpaper was blue, I thought the girls would appreciate a little pop of pink.  I found a pink overdyed rug  very similar to this one and knew it was perfect! The fuchsia color is so pretty and the shape fits well with the space.

Next, I needed to hang something above the desk. I thought about a big piece of art or mirror, but then thought since the wallpaper has a busy pattern, I should do something more simple like floating, modern shelves. I found these 60″ floating shelves that were almost the exact width of the built-in desk. My husband hung them and he was really surprised of their quality and the nice hanging hardware that came with them. I almost decided to have our trim carpenter build some shelves, but I am so glad I didn’t because these look just as good for SO much less. These shelves come in different sizes and colors too.

My next design move was to put a variety of colorful used books on the open shelving and place them in a ombre pattern. Absolutely love how it turned out. I added some other small decor items and the shelves were finished. I bought a ghost chair for the desk and I love how modern it looks. I like that its clear and isn’t a distraction since the wallpaper has a dominant pattern. Lastly, I added some affordable brass hardware to the desk. You can never have enough brass in your home!  On the wallpaper accent wall, I went to Hobby Lobby and Target and finished pulling the space together.  I added a fun collage wall of affordable prints along with a faux fur stool like this one . I also leaned an Umbra Hub ladder to give the wall a little more dimension and added a cute throw to it. And now the space was complete!

The kids’ love their transformed area and think it’s so cool they have their own books on shelves and such fun wallpaper unlike any other area in our house. And I love it because I can remove this wallpaper at any time with no damage to my wall. I hope I have thoroughly informed you on how to hang peel and stick wallpaper. I aimed to provide helpful tips that I would have appreciated knowing before I began this project. Anyone that comes over tells me now that this area is their favorite of the house!  And it is all because of the wallpaper! Follow me on Instagram to stay in touch with my daily posts. Thank you!

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