Should I hang wallpaper myself or get a pro to hang it for me?

Should I hang wallpaper myself or get a professional to hang it for me?

OK, so you’ve found the wallpaper design you absolutely love and now you’re wondering whether or not to hang the wallpaper yourself or to pay a professional to hang it for you. It’s a question I’m often asked.

Paying someone to hang your wallpaper is not cheap and it often costs the same as what you pay for the wallpaper, sometimes more. You might be looking for a way to cut down on costs. Or you might be a pretty handy DIY type of person who’s up for a new home improvement challenge and can’t wait to slap on some wallpaper paste and start hanging.

Here are three things I ask people to consider before deciding whether to hang wallpaper themselves or to pay a professional to hang it for them:

How to hang wallpaper

1. What’s your budget

Lots of people don’t know how much it costs to hang wallpaper and fair enough, it’s not an every day expense! Around Melbourne, you can expect to pay a professional wallpaper hanger around $300-$400 per feature wall. Factors that come into play when quoting for wallpaper hanging work include:

  • size of your feature wall
  • complexity of the work
    • are there doorways or windows or odd shapes to cut around?
    • is the pattern easy or hard to match?
  • condition of your wall
    • is it uneven?
    • does it need repair?
    • does it need prepping?
  • cost of your wallpaper (if it’s super expensive or bespoke printed wallpaper, then the wallpaper hanger wants to know because if they stuff it up, they may have to replace it and if you stuff it up, then you’ll have to cover the costs and live with the delay)
  • how many walls you want to get wallpapered (more walls usually mean a lower price per wall, especially if the hanger can complete the work in a single day).

2. How handy are you?

Hanging wallpaper is not an easy job. It’s messy, can take half a day per wall (or longer) and working out how long to cut each drop based on the pattern repeat can be quite perplexing (see our page on How to calculate your wallpaper requirements for some handy tips).

With that in mind, if you consider yourself a fairly handy person who has done some renovation or home improvement work in the past and are in good physical condition, then you might be up for the challenge of hanging wallpaper.

If you don’t own a drill, have never painted a wall in your life, then I suggest you save your Saturday and pay a pro to hang your wallpaper.

[bctt tweet=”If you have never done a home improvement project, save your Saturday and pay a pro to hang your wallpaper. #interiordecorating”]

3. How fussy are you?

Are you a ‘near enough is good enough’ person or would you sit on your couch stewing while all you could focus on was the imperfections in the joins of the wallpaper you just hung?

If you are prepared to live with a few flaws and will marvel at your handy DIY skills, then go for it.

If you can only live with a flawless, seamless finish, then I highly recommend you find a skilled professional to hang your wallpaper for you. After all, you don’t want to be distracted from binge-watching the latest season of Game of Thrones because of your flawed wallpaper.

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