The Debenhams guide to everything wallpaper

It only takes one social media dive to get immersed in a world of DIY renovation projects and how-to guides for updating every space in your home. From #grannycore to sage green everything, it’s safe to say we all have a mood board of what our dream house looks like.

A relatively cost-effective way to inject personality into your house is by enlisting the help of wallpaper. Immediately elevating any room, this décor tool is every interior designer’s best kept secret when it comes to updating a house.

The best advice we can give you is to follow your heart; you know what you like, regardless of trends, you are the one who’s going to see it every day, so if you love it, chances are it’s going to bring happiness to your life, and that’s ultimately the goal.

That said, it’s true that certain wallpapers will complement the style of a house more harmoniously. For example, bright geometric patterns look great in new build flats, while soft florals may suit a Victorian or Georgian terrace better.

Another thing to take into consideration is that wallpaper doesn’t have to be heavily patterned to be powerful, a simple or plain textured wallpaper will still add plenty of colour and depth to any room.

These will depend on the pattern repeat you have. Pattern repeat is the horizontal alignment between two adjacent strips of wallpaper. If you don’t follow the wallpaper’s natural pattern repeat you might end up with a heavily mismatched wall.

The three most common pattern repeats are free match, straight match and offset match.

In a free match the wallpaper does not have to be matched at the seams, regardless of how you place the strips, the pattern looks perfect, think: simple stripes and textures.

Straight match refers to pattern matches in a horizontal line across adjacent strips, think geometric prints.

Lastly offset match means that for adjacent strips to match they must be offset or dropped, so a wallpaper only matches the edge of the second strip when it is dropped by a specific distance, in consequence, this type of wallpaper requires a bit more planning and generates more waste.

To calculate how much you need, work out the square footage of the room you wish to decorate by using this formula: length of all walls x room height from floor to ceiling to get the square meterage of the surface you want to decorate. Then divide the square meterage, by the amount of drops achievable from a roll. This figure is the total amount of rolls you need.

For designs with a straight repeat add an extra 10% to that number. For designs with an offset repeat an extra 15-20%.

For example: for a wall 4 metres long x 2 metres high, the square meterage is 8. To cover 8m2 with a standard 10x0.52m wallpaper you need 2 rolls.

Step 1 Make sure your walls are neat, dry and ready; any old wallpaper properly removed, any holes filled and sanded, and the walls primed and cleaned with specially formulated soap.

Step 2 With a pencil and a ruler mark roughly where each length of paper will hang to ensure you have a guide throughout the process.

Step 3 Get your adhesive paste ready and your roller at hand. Applying wallpaper adhesive to your wall is a lot like painting, but a lot more fun because you don’t need a perfect finish. With a pasting brush or a roller, start applying the paste as evenly as you can on the wall. Apply one length of strip at a time as you don’t want the adhesive to dry. Use a paint brush for delicate areas like around sockets and fixtures.

Step 4 Hang your first strip by pulling the wallpaper up from the roll and position it so you have about 10cm extra to allow for trimming. To make sure the edge of the paper aligns with the wall – yes, walls aren’t perfectly straight, who knew? – use a spirit level, hold it vertically against the edge of the paper until you get a straight line.

Step 5 Flatten out the paper carefully with your hands until you have attached the length of the first strip to the wall. Continue downwards flattening the paper from the centre outwards using a wallpaper smoother to stop air bubbles and wrinkles from happening. Leave a bit of extra paper at the bottom too, so it’s easier to trim.

Step 6 Cut the excess paper at the top and bottom, and around any fixtures, doors, windows or sockets, with a craft knife or a pair of scissors.

Step 7 Repeat until you have covered every bit of the space you wanted to decorate.

Some wallpapers are easier to clean, for instance vinyl is mostly water-resistant, so washing it with a wet cloth and a bit of mild detergent should do the trick. Always do a patch test before you apply any cleaning products though, because even designs labelled as washable can damage when exposed to certain formulas.

Velvety textures and sumptuous patterns are, as expected, harder to care for. Detergents are usually too abrasive for the delicate nature of these papers. The best way to keep them clean is to dust or vacuum them with a telescopic attachment regularly to avoid dirt build-up.

The best way to remove food, greasy fingerprints, ink, crayon or any of the usual stains, is to use baby wipes. Simply dab the problematic spot gently with a wipe until you get the stain out.