How to transform your nursery in an afternoon

by Lisa Hawthorne February 24, 2023

Perhaps you're expecting your first baby and prepping the nursery. Maybe it never quite got done before baby arrived and now the fog has lifted enough that you can face making over your toddler's room? Or maybe you're leaning into the fact that you no longer have a dining room, but a playroom, and it's time to make it official.

Our bespoke peel-and-stick wallpaper and decals are easy peasy to install and have a luxe matte texture so they look grrreeat. Plus, once life inevitably changes yet again, you can remove them from your walls, damage free - even in a rental!

Wanna find out how to install them like a pro? Peep our guide below, then browse our selection of oh-so-cool designs to get the inspiration flowing

HANGING THE PAPER

Gather together:

A friend’s extra pair of hands (although it’s so easy you could probably do it yourself)
Something to stand on
A sharp, fresh blade such as an Xacto knife
A pencil
Painter’s tape (optional for holding paper in place)
A credit card wrapped in a cloth (unless you happen to have a squeegee, we don’t see the point of more plastic!)

Prepare your walls

Make sure your walls are clean and dust free. Wipe over with a lint free cloth and check for any bumps or texture. Any sharp protrusions or bumps may snag or tear the paper. Patch and sand where necessary. Newly painted walls should be allowed to cure for at least a month before papering. Matte paint is more likely to be damaged on paper removal, so where possible use satin, semi-gloss or eggshell paint. Washable or low VOC paint may not allow the adhesive to bond quite as well, so wipe over with 30% isopropyl alcohol and 70% water to help increase bonding. Remove any switchplates or socket covers, turning of the power at the breaker first!

Check your paper rolls

Start by unrolling your rolls to find the top edge and re-rolling if necessary to make sure this edge is accessible and that all your panels are the right way round (not upside down). Space permitting, lay each panel side to side along the base of the wall where it will be hung. This will alert you immediately to any drastic miscalculations in number of rolls (but you followed our measuring guide, right?)

Start Hanging

If you are papering all 4 walls of a room, you may find the repeat does not exactly meet when you install the final panel. It's good practice to start in a less conspicuous area such as behind a door so as not to draw attention to this. Otherwise, choose any corner to start in and move methodically either left or right until you are finished.

Making sure your step or stool is in place, peel back about 5-6 inches of the backing paper from the top of the first roll and press it back flat.
Holding the corners of the exposed paper, apply the sticky edge to the wall where it meets the ceiling and smooth across about an inch down. If you have a helper, ask them to check if it's level.
Once you're happy it's in the right place, smooth the paper on to the wall from the centre of the panel
Use you credit card or squeegee to carefully smooth the paper from the center out to each edge, pressing any bubbles out toward the edges.
Work your way down, peeling small sections of the backing paper while keeping the paper nice and close to the wall. Pulling it out away from the wall will increase the chance of trapping bubbles or adding wrinkles, and of stretching or tearing your product. Happily, peel-and-stick wallpaper is easy to reposition if you do make a mistake - just keep cool and gently peel it off the wall to adjust.
Move down the wall in little increments until you reach the bottom of the panel - yay!
Ok, time for the second panel. Our papers are designed with a 1 inch overlap because, hey, no-one's perfect and it give that few milimeters leeway. You might want to make a light pencil mark an inch in from the edge of the first panel to guide you when installing the next.
Peel back those first few inches again and starting back up at the top, position your second panel beside the first, overlapping by an inch.
Work down the wall the same as you did with the first panel, but now with buckets more confidence, smoothing out any bubbles as you go.
Repeat until your whole project area is covered.
Once all the panels are in place, use your knife to cut out around the socket and switches from which you removed the plates earlier. You can use these as templates to draw around, just remember to cut a little inside the lines to ensure a clean, neat finish when the the plate is reattached.
Use a ruler or straight edge with your sharp blade to help cut excess cleanly away from the floor or baseboard.
Stand back and admire your work. We're proud of you, too.

Around windows, doors and corners

We always recommend calculating your paper quantity as though these are not there, since papering around them can be a little tricky (definitely a second or third project!). Trim away the bulk of the paper not needed to help the parts on the wall stay stuck, but not too closely until the project is near completion. Check out videos online for expert tips on how to finish these finicky areas, leaving yourself a decent area of paper to play with.

APPLYING THE DECALS

Keeping the decals on the backing paper, cut around the shapes to separate them.
Arrange on the wall and fix in place with painter’s tape until you are happy with your layout.
At one end, carefully peel away the backing paper and fold down, about 2-3 inches. Smaller decals can have their backing paper totally removed at this point, while still keeping one side of the tape on the wall to retain correct placement. Press the exposed sticky part of the decal on to the wall, smoothing with your credit card squeegee as you go, knocking out any bubbles. Now that the decal is attached to the wall, remove the painter’s tape and continue to peel the backing paper away, pulling down, not out from the wall. Smooth the decal as you go, taking extra care with small delicate parts like antennae or scales.
Step back, and bask in the glow of a job well done.

YOU OWNED IT!