As years pass, your wallpaper fades away, leaving your walls pale. If you don’t like the vintage feel of your old wallpaper, then it’s time to change. It may seem like a time and effort consuming process, but by following the right steps you can avoid most of the hassle.
You can either opt for removing your wallpaper and starting on clean walls, or you can paint over the old one. Either ways, you are giving your home a fresh look.
Let’s take it step by step, putting down the basis of changing your wallpaper.
Removing your wallpaper
You took your decision, and decided that it’s better to remove your wallpaper. To do so you have to have some basic tools to remove the wallpaper itself such as a putty knife, scoring tool and hot water. However, the real challenge is removing the wallpaper glue. Here are some basic steps to help you in clearing the wallpaper glue.
- First, you have to protect your flour by sticking plastic sheets along the baseboard using tape. You don’t want to end up with a messy floor after you finish removing wallpaper.
- Second, peel the wallpaper face without using water, just lift it off the wall while applying steady pressure. You can use a putty knife if you find parts that are hard to peel, make sure to get to the white paper backing.
- After removing wallpaper, now it’s time to use hot water. Hot water is sprayed on the white paper backing until it’s soaked wet. Take your time in this step, the more the paper is soaked the easier it is to be removed.
- Next, scrap the remaining paper backing using a scraping tool. Now, it’s time to remove the wallpaper paste with the help of a scoring tool and warm water.
Covering old wallpaper with removable wall murals
Covering wallpaper with removable wall murals isn’t suitable in every case, some wall murals are easier to install than others. It’s better to use murals with high quality adhesive and materials. However, you have to put some factors into consideration, such:
- State of old wallpaper. It’s hard to put a new wall mural on top of a cracked or damaged wallpaper, as it won’t look as good. If the room is damp or humid, it probably will damage any wall mural you try to put on top.
- Wallpaper material. If your old wallpaper is vinyl, it’s better to remove it. Most vinyl wallpapers are easy to peel, and it has thin backing paper that may remain after removing top layer. You can cover paper backing with new wall mural, if it’s not torn after removing old wallpaper.
- Pattern and color of old wallpaper. Dark wallpaper is hard to be covered with a new wall mural, as it may be obvious from underneath the new mural, especially if the new mural is a lighter color.
Whatever option you choose, you have to make sure to prep your wall first by removing nails, switch plates or any fixtures and pumps. It’s better to wash the walls with detergent mixed with water and let it dry before installing a new wall mural, to keep the old wallpaper in its place.
