Wallpaper Decision Preparation Checklist

Write down what the walls carry at the moment, whether that is paint, an earlier paper, a textured coating or bare plaster, and add what you remember about when they were last decorated.

Suppliers and decorators plan preparation entirely around what has to come off or be covered, and only the household can describe that history.

Where a seam is already lifting, look at how many older layers appear underneath and photograph what you can see before it is smoothed back down.

Papered rooms often carry several older layers, and what sits beneath changes the preparation far more than the top surface suggests.

Say whether any wall has been newly plastered or patched, and ask what has to happen to a fresh surface before a covering can be considered for it.

A freshly finished wall behaves differently from an old decorated one, and the answer affects the order the work happens in.

Whether a newly finished wall is ready to be covered is for a qualified decorator to establish in the room, not something to judge by touch.

Run your eye along each wall in low angled light, note bumps, filled patches and places where the surface waves, and point those out before a covering is chosen.

A flat sheen covering telegraphs everything beneath it while a textured or busy one conceals a great deal, so flatness feeds directly into the choice.

Hold a weighted string against each corner and note where a wall leans, since few rooms are truly square and a pattern will show it.

Pattern drifts visibly along a leaning corner, and knowing which corners are out helps decide where the first drop should start.

Describe any staining, blistering, musty smell or covering that lifted before, and ask a qualified professional to look at the wall before anything is planned over it.

A covering that failed previously is usually telling you something about the wall rather than about the paper.

A wall that has stained, smelled musty or shed a covering before needs a qualified professional in the room before anything is planned over it.

Ask the supplier what the pattern repeat is and how much of each roll is typically lost to matching it, then note the answer against every covering you are weighing up.

Two coverings that look similar can differ enormously in how much is wasted, and this only emerges when the question is asked directly.

Ask whether the design is a straight match, an offset match or a free match, and what each means for how the drops line up across a wall.

The type of match changes both the wastage and how forgiving the covering is on a wall that is not perfectly plumb.

Measure the tallest point of every wall, including above a chimney breast and in any stairwell, and hand those figures to whoever works out quantity.

Quantity follows the longest drop rather than the average height, and stairwells are where this is most often underestimated.

Decide to obtain the whole quantity in one go rather than adding to it later, and ask the supplier what happens if a further roll is needed after hanging.

Later rolls frequently come from a different production run, and any difference tends to show at the seam where old meets new.

Ask for a spare length beyond what is calculated, and agree now where it will be kept flat and dry once the work is finished.

A single damaged drop is easy to replace from a spare and close to impossible to match once a design has been withdrawn.

Write down the name, reference and batch marking from the labels of the rolls that actually arrive, and keep a label rather than relying on a photograph alone.

The batch marking is the only thing identifying a production run, and labels are usually thrown out with the packaging on the first morning.

Ask the supplier to confirm in writing that the rolls delivered come from the same run before any of them are opened.

Stand in the doorway and note which wall the eye lands on first, since that is usually the wall a pattern is centred on.

Setting out is often begun from whichever corner is convenient rather than from the view people actually have of the room.

Ask where the final mismatch will fall and agree a position for it, such as behind a door or above an opening rather than on an open wall.

A break has to happen somewhere in a papered room, and it is far better placed deliberately than discovered afterwards.

If the room has a chimney breast or a similar projection, ask whether the pattern is centred on it and what that does to the alcoves on either side.

Centring on a breast is what most people expect, but it pushes the consequences into the alcoves, and that trade is worth seeing in advance.

Sight along the ceiling line and the skirting for any fall, and ask what a strong horizontal or striped design would do against a line that is not level.

Stripes and geometric designs expose a sloping ceiling immediately, while a loose organic pattern hides it almost completely.

Note the reveals at windows and any deep recess, and ask how the covering turns those corners and where the joins would sit.

Reveals consume material and produce awkward narrow strips, which is worth understanding before a large repeat is chosen.

If only one wall is being covered, decide where the covering stops at each end and look at how it meets the adjoining paint, trim or corner.

The edge of a single papered wall is the detail people study most, and it is often left to be resolved on the day.

Ask for the largest sample the supplier can provide, put it up on the wall it is intended for, and leave it there through changing light.

A patterned covering reads as texture from across a room and as a motif close up, and only a generous piece shows both at once.

Look at the sample under the lamps you actually use in the evening as well as in daylight, and note whether the colour holds or turns.

Deep and saturated designs shift markedly under warm lamplight, and halls and stairways are seen mostly in artificial light.

View any metallic, mica or coated covering at a shallow angle, since these finishes change completely with the direction the light comes from.

A covering chosen while looking straight at it can behave quite differently on a wall that light grazes along.

Hold the sample at the height it will be seen and step back to the far side of the room, then judge whether the motif is the size you had imagined.

Scale is the most common regret with pattern, and it cannot be judged from a sample held at arm's length.

Put the sample beside everything staying in the room, including the flooring, curtains, joinery colour and any stone or tiled surface.

A covering is never seen on its own, and a pattern that works in isolation can fight with a floor that is not being changed.

Ask to see the design shown across a full wall rather than as a single motif, so the rhythm of the repeat becomes visible.

Repeats can form unexpected lines, clusters or diagonals at wall scale that no single sample reveals.

Ask what the covering is actually made of, whether a paper, a non woven, a vinyl faced product, a natural fibre or a textile, and write it down.

The family a covering belongs to affects nearly everything else, from how it is hung to how it is cleaned and how it comes off.

For natural fibre and textile coverings, ask how visible the seams and the shading between lengths will be, and look at an example with the seams in view.

Visible seams and length to length variation are inherent to some coverings rather than a fault, and expectations are far better set beforehand.

For a mural or panelled design, give the supplier the measured wall including every obstruction, and ask how the design is adjusted if the wall is not what the drawing assumed.

Murals are made for a stated wall, and a socket, a boxed pipe or a shortfall in height can land in the middle of the image.

Ask the supplier to confirm in writing what measurements they need and who carries responsibility if the panels do not suit the wall as built.

Ask whether a lining layer is being proposed beneath the covering and what it is intended to do on these particular walls.

Lining is often presented as an optional extra when it is really a response to the condition of the wall.

Ask which pasting method the covering is made for, since that changes how it is handled and how much clear space the work needs in the room.

The method affects the practicalities of the day, including whether a long table is required and how much floor has to be emptied.

Agree in writing who hangs the covering and ask what they need in the room beforehand, including access, heating and walls cleared of fixings.

Specialist coverings are sometimes hung by a different person from whoever painted the woodwork, and the handover between them is easy to leave unspoken.

Describe how much steam, splashing or condensation the wall really meets rather than only naming the room, and ask what the maker says about that exposure.

A cloakroom with an opening window and a family bathroom with a daily shower are very different, and the description matters more than the label.

Whether any covering suits a steamy or splashed position is for the manufacturer and a qualified decorator to confirm for that particular wall.

Note any wall that feels cold, sits against the outside or has shown condensation, and raise it before a covering is chosen for it.

Cold walls and condensation lie behind a large share of lifting seams and of mould appearing behind a covering.

Condensation and mould need a qualified professional to look at the room in person before anything is planned over the wall.

Note where radiators, flues and any other heat source sit against a wall being covered, and ask what happens to the covering directly above them.

Warm air rising over a radiator marks and dries the covering above it, and that usually shows first along the seams.

Think about the contact a hall or stairway wall takes from bags, shoulders, prams and pets, and describe it when asking about durability.

Circulation routes take far more rubbing than a bedroom wall, and the sensible choice tends to follow that rather than the look alone.

Note which walls take direct sun and at what part of the day, and ask the supplier how the colours in this particular design tend to hold.

Strong colours within a pattern can shade unevenly where sun falls, which only becomes obvious when furniture is eventually moved.

Mark where tall furniture, a headboard or a screen will sit against the covering, and ask what steady contact and warmth from equipment may do there.

Areas behind fixed furniture are where marking is discovered late, usually when the room is next rearranged.

Ask exactly what the maker says about wiping and cleaning this covering, and take it in writing rather than as a general reassurance across a counter.

Words such as washable are used loosely, and the written guidance is what the supplier will actually stand behind.

The maker sets out in writing what wiping this covering will take, and no general description can stand in for that wording.

Ask what a scuff, a fingerprint or a splash actually does to this covering, and whether such marks tend to lift off or to spread.

Some coverings absorb a mark on contact, and knowing that in advance changes which rooms they are considered for.

Ask whether a single damaged drop can be replaced, and how visible that repair would be against a covering that has been on the wall for some time.

Replacing one length is the usual repair, and how well it disappears depends on the covering and on having kept the spare.

Decide before the work where pictures, shelves and any wall mounted screen will be fixed, since holes and brackets through a covering are difficult to undo.

Fixing positions settled afterwards leave marks that cannot be closed up, and a pattern makes them more obvious rather than less.

Describe who uses the room, including young children and pets, and ask which coverings the supplier would rule out for that kind of use.

Suppliers are usually clearer about what they would exclude than about what they favour, and the exclusions are the useful part.

Ask whether any part of this covering can be improved once it is marked, since some can be cleaned back and others simply cannot.

Paint can be patched and most coverings cannot, which is a genuine difference between the two decisions.

Ask how this covering is intended to be taken off, and whether it is designed to come away in whole lengths or has to be soaked and scraped.

Removal is rarely discussed at the point of choosing, yet it is the part whoever redecorates next has to live with.

Ask what condition the wall is typically left in once a covering of this kind has been removed, and who would make it good.

Removal can pull the face off a plastered wall, and knowing that possibility in advance is part of the decision.

What removal would do to a particular wall is for a qualified decorator to assess in the room rather than something to assume.

Ask whether covering over what is already on the wall is ever appropriate here, and record what the decorator says rather than settling it yourself.

Covering over is sometimes suggested for convenience and it commits whoever removes it later to a considerably harder job.

Keep the reference, batch marking, supplier details and a labelled offcut together with the papers for the house.

The offcut is the single most useful thing to leave behind, and setting one aside takes moments while the work is happening.

Photograph each wall while it is still bare, including sockets, any pipe run you know about and every area that was made good.

Once a covering is up nothing behind it can be seen, and a later fixing decision depends entirely on that record.

Note who hung the covering and whether they hold any remaining stock, so that a later repair conversation does not begin from nothing.

Repairs go far better when the same hands and the same production run are both still available.