Parents bought a house — need wallpaper advice!

IsaacGeorg

New member
Hey everyone! So my parents finally bought an old house (built in the late 80s, I think) and we’re redoing the interior. They want wallpaper instead of paint for the living room and bedrooms. The problem is… we’ve never done wallpaper before 😅 Any tips for beginners? Like what tools we’ll need or things to watch out for?
 
Congrats to your parents! That’s exciting! If you’ve never done wallpapering, definitely start by reading a bit about the types of wallpaper. There are peel-and-stick, vinyl, and traditional paste ones — all quite different in terms of difficulty. Here’s a decent overview from Wikipedia to get you started: 👉 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallpaper

If it’s your first time, I’d go with peel-and-stick. It’s way more forgiving if you make mistakes.
 
Haha thanks! Yeah, we were watching some DIY vids last night and they made it look way too easy. Do you guys think we should strip all the old paint first? Or can we just wallpaper on top of it? The walls look okay, but there’s some uneven texture here and there.
 
If there’s texture, you’ll want to sand it down or skim coat it. Wallpaper really shows every bump. Also, don’t skip the primer — it makes removal easier later. If you end up deciding it’s too much work to do yourselves, I used a local service last year that was amazing. You can check out wallpaper installation from NYC — https://bestwallpaperinstaller.com/locations/wallpaper-installers-new-york-city/ they’ve got a ton of helpful before/after photos and even tutorials if you still want to DIY.
 
Good idea! Might do that in the living room first. My mom’s already picking floral patterns… wish me luck 😂 Thanks for all the advice, folks — seriously helpful. I’ll post some photos once we start!
 
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