I Love Borders Guide | How To Hang Wallpaper Borders
So where to start?
What may be obvious to some is not obvious to all, so make the decision of where do you want to hang your new wallpaper border. Not just which room but whereabouts on the wall? At the ceiling line, at picture rail height, around the centre of your room? It is important to establish this early so you can calculate what you need which leads us to step one.
Step One: Measure up
With your decision made for where you will hang your wallpaper border, you can now measure the distance around your room accurately. You can confidently deduct any doors or windows from your measurements where needed but please remember to allow for any matching.
When it comes to borders we always try to avoid joins along a wall and match into and out of a corner, door frame, window recess etc so give yourself some surplus to account for the pattern repeat.
Step Two: That’s your lot
We hope you have viewed and are impressed by our selection of wallpaper borders and have now shortlisted your favourite patterns... or even ordered a sample.
Now it is time to place the order for your chosen wall border, we can take this over the phone (delivery to the billing address only) or you can use our secure and simple online checkout to have your order dispatched to a location of your choice.
Whilst your chosen border will have been manufactured by a single supplier, there may have been multiple print runs so each roll may contain a Lot, Shade or Batch Number. At I Love Borders we have a batch guarantee so all rolls within a single order will be from a single batch, if you require additional rolls in a subsequent order - simply add your existing lot/shade/batch request to the comment box within the checkout and we will do our best to send the same batch again.
Step Three: Adhesives add up
The majority of wallpaper borders will require an adhesive to hang them and this will be stated on the product page, selected products will be labelled as “paste the wall” or “non-woven” which also require an adhesive to be used and a just few are self-adhesive (peel and stick).
If your chosen design is not self-adhesive, you must use a vinyl-to-vinyl border and overlap adhesive.
This is the only way to guarantee adhesion to painted walls or wallpapered walls, these surface coatings will contain a vinyl content so the use of a traditional paste will risk all your good work coming down.
Our border and overlap adhesives are available in 250g tubes and 500g (0.5L) or 1kg (1L) tubs, these will cover one roll, up to three rolls and up to 6 rolls respectively.
Step Four: On the surface
Should you be applying your wallpaper border onto a PAINTED wall, lightly sand the area upon which the border will sit. The slightly pitted surface will strengthen the bond between the adhesive and the border.
(Just ensure you don’t sand beyond the perimeters of the border.)
Step Five: Lap it up
When it's time to start hanging, measure the length of your first wall or section and cut a strip of border that's approximately 4” (10cm) longer than your measurement, this will allow a little overlap at each end.
Use a good pair of scissors or a clean and sharp snap-off knife to get a neat finish for every cut.
Top Tip: Cut the length for your longest wall first, and perhaps save your shortest wall sections until last. You can then minimise the chance of a mid-wall join.
Hanging your wallpaper border at the top of your wall is as simple as following the ceiling line, just leave a small half-inch overlap around each corner.
With a central or “Chair Rail Border” applied around the middle of the room establish the preferred height of hanging with a measuring tape. With this information use a spirit level & pencil to create a level line around your room before your attempt to hang.
If you are not cutting your border into a door frame or window and you wish to surround these features make sure you overlap these by about 2 inches (5cm) as this will help prevent the border coming unstuck. With the overlaps, cut through both strips of border at a 45° angle from the corners – making sure to remove any excess pieces. Remember to remove any surplus adhesive that may be on the surface using a clean, damp sponge to wipe any away.
Step Seven: Apply some patience
Now your first length of the border is prepared, it is time to apply the adhesive to the back (non-patterned or textured side) of the border. Use a suitable flat surface, ideally a paste table for this so you have plenty of room to work on.
Whether your border is natural paper backed or non-woven (paste the wall) apply your adhesive to the back of the border using a suitably small brush - don’t be shy about slapping it on just keep it off the surface pattern!
Once fully covered, gently fold the border in a concertina style, making sure it doesn’t crease as you fold it back on itself (adhesive side to adhesive side). Converting the border into a smaller, accordion-styled format will also make it easier to transport it to your chosen wall too.
Now its time to let the adhesive be absorbed into the natural paper backing, this will soak in and expand (check the roll label for the correct soaking time), if you are using a non-woven (paste the wall) border, you do not need to wait at all. These products are stable and will not react to the moisture from the adhesive.
Non Woven?
Non-woven products, often labelled as paste the wall, allow you to apply adhesive directly to the wall surface and then you can dry hang your product onto this.
We believe this method is not particularly suited to hanging borders, the application of adhesive would need to be very precise using this method and leads to an increased chance of excess waste and increased clean-up.
Step Eight: Silky smooth
Happy that you have applied your new wallpaper border to your wall, you should now smooth away any air bubbles to maximise contact between the wall and the border using a wallpaper hanging brush.
Now that you have completed your first length you can you need to allow time for the adhesive to dry and bond with the wall.
If you notice any excess adhesive after hanging and before the drying period, don’t panic! Simply use a clean damp sponge to remove it ASAP.
If you are using a self-adhesive border extra care needs to be taken in regards to the level/straightness during application along with the creation of any air bubbles because once it’s stuck down - it’s stuck!
Our Tip: Be careful not to adjust the positioning of the border too dramatically as you’re smoothing out the bubbles, as it can stretch and become loose.
Step Nine: Repeat
As with all hobbies and skills, practice makes perfect when it comes to learning new DIY techniques.
Repeat these steps for each length of the border you need to hang, if you think you are going to run short contact us ASAP so we can attempt to send the same batch to you.