Wallpapering for halls, stairs and feature walls

Martin hangs wallpaper through the houses he decorates: feature walls, full rooms, halls and the stairs, which are the drops that show a bad seam immediately. The gallery is the honest record of the papers. Large florals in downstairs toilets, willow-leaf in a bedroom, marble and stone effects in halls, botanicals above painted panelling, and art-deco fans above a dado.

What the job involves

• Old paper stripped, rather than another layer stuck on top of a failing one
• Cracks and holes filled and sanded so the pattern does not ripple over them
• Sizing or lining where the wall is patchy or porous
• A check that the wall is dry. Damp paper stains and lets go
• Patterns matched, with sockets and switches eased off so the paper sits behind the plates
• Seams rolled tight, including on the turns of a stairs

Halls and small rooms

A lot of the local work is paper on the top half of a hall, with panelling or a painted dado below. That keeps a strong pattern to the part of the wall you actually look at, and it gives the doors and panels a quieter finish. Cloakrooms suit a dark, busy paper because the room is small and often has little daylight. A whole open living room in the same paper is a different decision. One feature wall, as in the willow-leaf bedroom, is the other way to use a bold design without it taking over the house.

Stairs waste more paper than a flat bedroom because of the long drops and the corners. Order from one batch, and order enough. A second roll bought later can be a different shade even when the name on the label matches.

If you are choosing a paper, wallpaper going up in local houses, and how to prep the walls follows the jobs in the photographs rather than a shop display. Ready to have it hung, see our work.