Wallpaper
Wallpaper hung true, and old paper taken off clean
Wallpaper Installation/Removal and Custom Walls & Decals from the same licensed crew that paints your trim and ceilings. We specialize in refinishing and wallpaper techniques that give your space the custom look you want.
Why wallpaper lets go at the seams
Most wallpaper trouble starts before a single roll is opened. Paper hung over old paper traps whatever is underneath it: loose edges, small bubbles, a layer of glue that never dried evenly. Paper hung over a dusty, glossy or patched wall has nothing honest to hold on to, so the corners curl and the seams lift, usually at the spot everyone looks at first.
Pattern is the other common failure. A damask or a trellis print looks calm on the roll and unforgiving on the wall. If the first strip sits a half inch out of plumb, the error grows with every drop, and by the far corner the motif is climbing uphill. Walls in older New Jersey houses are rarely square, which is why we never trust the corner of a room as a starting line.
Then there is the paper itself. Order too few rolls and the second batch may not match the first, and a pattern with a large repeat uses far more paper than the square footage suggests. We work out the repeat before anything is ordered, so the last wall is cut from the same stock as the first and the pattern lands where it should at every door and window. A little extra paper is always worth booking, because a roll that is a few strips short on the final wall is a much bigger problem than a roll left over in the closet.
Hung damask wallpaper above a white chair rail and wainscot beside a door casing
How we take paper off and put it up
When there is an old covering on the wall, removal comes first. We take the old paper down, clear the adhesive and wash the wall so nothing is left to show through the new sheets. In an older home that work falls under the same EPA lead-safe practices we follow on every renovation: the space is prepared before work starts, dust is cleaned with HEPA vacuums, and surfaces are wet wiped and wet mopped with plenty of rinse water.
A bare wall then gets the attention that decides the result. Holes and dings are filled and sanded smooth, and a primer coat seals the surface so the new paper takes the paste evenly. Skipping that step is how a beautiful roll ends up with a blotchy, uneven look once the light rakes across it, and it is also what lets paper come down cleanly someday without tearing the wall with it.
Hanging is slow, careful work. We find true vertical with a plumb line, match the pattern across every seam, and trim at the ceiling line, the door casings and the baseboard so the paper tucks into the trim instead of fighting it. Because the same crew paints and does carpentry, the chair rail, crown and casing around the paper get their fresh coat from people who know exactly where the paper will stop. We cut away from you as we go, wipe paste off the trim and the ceiling before it can dry, and clear our scraps and drop cloths at the end of each visit, so the room is usable and the only thing that has changed is the wall.
Living with new paper, and what comes after
Wallpapers differ in how much cleaning they will take, so we tell you what yours can handle before we leave. As a general habit, dry dusting and a light touch are kinder than scrubbing, and a spill is best blotted right away rather than rubbed into the surface. If you are not sure about a mark, call us before you reach for a cleaner.
Bathrooms and powder rooms ask more of a wall because of steam. Run the exhaust fan during and after showers, and keep in mind that paper in a damp room needs a covering suited to that air. If a wall would be happier painted, we will say so plainly at the estimate. We would rather talk you into the right finish than hang something that will not last.
Custom Walls & Decals sit alongside wallpaper in the same trade. If you picture a feature wall, a bold pattern or a decal treatment, describe it when we meet and we will talk through what suits the room. Every job carries a warranty, and Christian is quick to put right anything that is not how you expected it. Keep a spare offcut or two from the install in a dry closet, because a small patch from the same stock is the easiest way to repair a nick years down the line.
Licensed, bonded and EPA lead-safe certified, with a warranty on every job. Call 973-885-1160.
Paper that meets the trim cleanly
These are walls our crew papered, and the detail worth looking at is where the pattern stops: at the crown, along the door casing, above the chair rail and down at the baseboard. That edge work is the part a wall covering lives or dies on, and it is the same finish carpentry and painting we do in our interior painting jobs. Browse more finished rooms in the gallery, or ask for a free estimate and bring the pattern you have in mind.
