Wallpaper Installation Guide
How to hang your panels
Our peel & stick fabric wallpaper is made for DIY installation — no paste, no water, no trades. Take your time, work one panel at a time, and you'll get a smooth, seamless finish.
Before you start
Nine out of ten installation problems come from the wall, not the wallpaper. Get these three right first.
Let fresh paint cure
Newly painted walls need at least 4 weeks to fully cure before wallpaper goes on. Paint that feels dry to the touch can still be curing underneath. This is the single most common cause of wallpaper falling down.
Clean and repair the surface
Fill any holes or dents, sand smooth, then wipe the whole wall with a damp cloth — skirting boards included. Let it dry completely. Surface dust is the most common cause of poor adhesion.
Remove wall fixtures
Take off hooks, tacks, adhesive strips and light switch plates so you have a clear, flat surface to work across.
Paint that hasn't cured will not hold wallpaper. If your wall was painted in the last four weeks, wait. It's the difference between wallpaper that stays put and wallpaper that lifts at the edges within days.
Paint type matters
What your wall is painted with affects how well the adhesive bonds. Here's the honest guide.
Usually fine
- Standard acrylic over primer — the most common interior setup, and the one our adhesive is designed for.
- Low-sheen or flat finishes on a properly prepared wall.
- Properly primed plasterboard that has been painted with a full two-coat system.
- Paint that has cured for four weeks or more.
Test a sample first
- Wash-and-wear and scrubbable paints — including Dulux Wash & Wear and Taubmans Endure.
- High-gloss or satin finishes — very smooth surfaces can give the adhesive little to grip.
- Paint applied straight over old paint, with no sanding and no primer.
- Rental walls repainted cosmetically between tenancies.
- Patched or touched-up areas where the paint layers differ across the wall.
Paints marketed as washable or scrubbable carry a stain-repellent surface coating. That coating does its job well — which is exactly the problem, because it can also stop the wallpaper adhesive bonding properly, leading to poor adhesion or early peeling. If your walls have been painted with one of these, test before you commit to a full wall.
Wallpaper orders don't include a test piece — those come with our decal orders. Walls that have been patched, touched up, painted over older coats, or painted without a separate primer can have paint that isn't firmly bonded underneath, and paint in that condition can lift when anything adhesive is repositioned or removed from it. To try before you commit, order an $8 sample, apply it to a hidden spot for 48–72 hours and remove it slowly with gentle heat. A clean result is reassuring but tests one small area only — paint bond varies across a wall and no sample can certify your paint. The condition of your paintwork remains your responsibility.
What you'll need
Everything on this list is worth having within reach before you peel the first panel.
Measuring & marking
Measuring tape, pencil, and a straight edge, ruler or spirit level.
Cutting
A sharp utility knife (plus spare blades) or scissors. A fresh blade is what gives you a clean edge.
Smoothing
A squeegee or a soft, clean cloth. Plus a step ladder and masking tape for covering outlets.
A hairdryer
Not needed for a normal install, but useful in cool weather and essential later if you ever take the panels down.
Soft tools only. Hard or sharp-edged plastic scrapers will scratch the fabric surface. Don't rub the print excessively, and never pull or stretch the material as you work — it should be smoothed into place, not tugged.
Know your panels
Understanding how a panel is built makes the whole job click into place.
You ordered at least 10 cm more than your wall measures in both width and height — that's roughly 5 cm spare at the top and 5 cm at the bottom, plus extra at the leading edge. Because our drops come in fixed lengths you may have more spare than that, which is normal. Floors settle, ceilings are rarely level, and that margin is what lets you trim to a perfect line. It is meant to be there.
Step by step
Work through these in order. The adhesive is pressure-activated, so it stays forgiving while you position each panel.
Turn off the power and prepare the area
For safety, turn off the electricity at the switchboard. Remove outlet covers and light switch plates, then cover the exposed outlets with masking tape.
Wipe the area around outlets and switches so there's no dust where the wallpaper needs to grip.
Lay out and check your panels
Before anything goes on the wall, check that what you received is correct — the right design, the right size and the right quantity.
Lay the panels out on the floor or another clean surface in numbered order, and look at how the pattern meets from one panel to the next. Two minutes here saves a lot of confusion later.
Mark a true vertical line
Use a spirit level or plumb line to draw a faint pencil line from ceiling to floor where your first panel will start.
Walls and corners are rarely perfectly straight. Starting from a true vertical is what stops the panels drifting and the pattern going off-angle across the wall.
Hang the first panel
Roll up panel one and peel back a small section of the backing paper — around 20 cm.
Position it at the top of the wall against your pencil line, leaving about 5 cm of extra material at the top and at the leading side for trimming later.
Using a squeegee or soft cloth, press the wallpaper onto the wall working from top to bottom, smoothing outward from the centre of the panel so air is pushed towards the edges rather than trapped.
Cool weather: below about 18°C, warm the panel briefly with a hairdryer before you press it down. The ideal room temperature for hanging is 18–25°C.Smooth as you go
Gradually peel back more of the backing paper — about 30 cm at a time — pressing the wallpaper onto the wall with upward and outward motions as you go.
Smooth out air bubbles while the panel is going on. If the alignment drifts, gently peel the panel back and reposition it before carrying on. The adhesive is repositionable while you're hanging.
Overlap each following panel by 2 cm
Follow the same process for every panel after the first. Lay each new panel so it overlaps the previous one by 2 cm, lining the pattern up across the join before you press it down.
Check the panel is straight before smoothing it into place, and again leave about 5 cm of extra material at the top for trimming.
Tip: Stand back every few panels and check the alignment from across the room. A small drift is far easier to correct early than after eight panels. If you notice drift, lift the most recent panel and reposition it — don't carry on hoping it will correct itself.Going around a corner
Rather than trying to cut exactly at the corner edge, wrap the panel 1–2 cm around the corner onto the next wall.
Then mark a fresh vertical line on the new wall and lay the next panel over that wrapped edge. Corners are almost never truly square, and this is what keeps the pattern upright.
Trim the excess
Once every panel is up, use a sharp utility knife against a straight edge to trim the excess from the top, bottom and sides.
Replace your blade regularly — a dull blade drags and tears rather than cutting cleanly.
Deal with bubbles and wrinkles
Small bubbles in the first day or two often settle by themselves as the adhesive relaxes. Most others smooth out by pressing them gently toward the nearest edge. If one won't budge, peel that section back and reapply it.
Wrinkles are fixed the same way — carefully peel the wallpaper away, let it relax, and smooth it back down.
Press every edge and seam
When all the panels are up and trimmed, go back over the wall and press firmly along every edge, seam and corner with your squeegee or cloth.
The top and bottom edges and the areas around outlets are where lifting starts, so give those the most attention.
Trimming around power outlets
Take it slowly here — this is the detail people notice.
Power off, tape over
Turn the power off at the switchboard and cover the outlet with masking tape before the wallpaper goes over it.
Cut a small X
Hang the panel straight over the outlet, then make a small X-shaped incision in the wallpaper over the opening.
Trim and refit
Trim the flaps back carefully, then screw the cover plate back on for a neat, finished edge.
Windows and door frames
Easier than it looks, and no specialist tools needed.
Hang straight over
Apply the panel over the opening as though it weren't there, smoothing it down against the flat wall around the frame.
Cut a diagonal relief
Make a diagonal cut from the loose wallpaper into each corner of the frame. This releases the tension so the panel can lie flat.
Trim to the frame
Trim along the frame edge with a fresh blade against a straight edge, then press all the cut edges down firmly.
The short version
If you only remember two lists, make it these.
Do
- Start from a true vertical line, not from the corner of the wall.
- Work top to bottom, smoothing outward from the centre as you go.
- Peel a little at a time — around 20–30 cm of backing paper, not the whole panel.
- Overlap by 2 cm and match the pattern before pressing down.
- Reposition freely while you're hanging — peel back gently and try again.
- Use a fresh blade for every trimming session.
- Press every edge and seam once the wall is finished.
Don't
- Don't hang on fresh paint that's had less than four weeks to cure.
- Don't use hard tools — plastic scrapers and sharp edges scratch the surface.
- Don't stretch or pull the panel to make it fit. Smooth it, never tug it.
- Don't rub the print repeatedly; press firmly and move on.
- Don't hang on textured, damp or unsealed walls — it needs a smooth, dry interior surface.
- Don't hang it in a bathroom or laundry. Dry interior rooms only.
If something isn't right
The three things people most often write to us about.
Panels drifting off-vertical
Almost always means the starting line wasn't quite true. Lift the most recent panel and reposition it rather than carrying on — the drift compounds with every panel.
Pattern not matching at seams
Check you're working through the panels in numbered order, and that you're overlapping by the full 2 cm. Lift and realign — it's repositionable.
Edges lifting in the first week
Usually points back to wall prep — dust, uncured paint, or a paint type that resists adhesive. Press the edges back firmly and keep an eye on them, then get in touch.
Moving or removing your wallpaper
The short version is below. For the full method, and what to do if you're moving out of a rental, read the removal guide.
Warm the panel first
Always heat the wallpaper with a hairdryer on its lowest setting as you go — around 30–60 seconds per 10–15 cm section. Warming loosens the adhesive's grip and reduces the chance of lifting delicate paint with it.
Peel slowly and low
Peel the panel away slowly at a very low angle, roughly 15–20° — folding it back along the wall rather than pulling it straight out. Allow 20–30 minutes per panel.
Back it and store it
Line the panel back up with its backing paper as you peel, then roll it up loosely with the edges protected so it's ready to rehang.
Disclaimer. These instructions are general guidance for do-it-yourself installation. Tiny Walls cannot guarantee the outcome, as wall preparation, installation skill and environmental conditions are beyond our control. Removal and repositioning results depend on the condition of your paintwork: paint that is uncured, unprimed, patched or not fully bonded to the wall can lift with any adhesive product — sometimes in one area of a wall and not others — and no sample or test can rule this out across a whole wall. Paint lifting caused by the paint system is not a fault of the product and remains the homeowner's responsibility. If you're unsure about any part of the process, we recommend consulting a professional installer or an expert in self-adhesive wall coverings — this type of installation differs from traditional pasted wallpaper.
Stuck on something?
Send us a photo of your wall or your panel and we'll talk you through it. We'd much rather hear from you mid-install than after.
hello@tinywalls.com.au