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How to Install a Wall Mural – A Complete Guide!

I recently installed the most beautiful wallpaper mural over my Murphy Bed and I am smitten with how it came out!  It is the most beautiful little feature wall moment over the bed.  It only took me about an hour or so, and of all the wallpapering I have done, I would say that a wall mural is the easiest to install.   I thought I would put together a little step-by-step for you on how to install a wall mural! 

The completed mural behind our murphy bed!

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Table of Contents

Choosing a Location for a Mural

I’ll be the first to admit that I am not a huge fan of feature walls usually. There are occasions where they can look good and intentional, but sometimes they just look like you forgot to do the rest of the room.  I said what I said!!  Sorry if you are a feature wall lover, it is just not normally my jam.

Obviously, I have exceptions to this little design rule of mine and that is when a mural is bordered by something else.  Think a little nook, a bit of trim to frame it out, or maybe… behind a murphy bed and enclosed by cabinets!  

When this murphy bed is open, it has a spot on the wall that is a perfect little enclosed space for a mural!

I also love a mural that goes all around the room, for mural or wallpaper that is my preferred way to install it.  I think a lot of people choose to install wallpaper on just one wall to save money and that is how the end product tends to look…. like you ran out of money. Tough love to the feature wall lovers, I know!  Emily Henderson wrote a really great post about this a few years ago.

So if you want to install a mural on just one wall because you want to save money, I think the best way to do that is to install some picture frame-style moulding and install the mural inside that.  It makes the mural look more like a piece of art and less like a half-finished room.  

Choosing a Mural Application Type

There are three ways that murals (and all wallpaper, really) go on the wall.  One is to paste the wall, the other is to paste the paper, and the last one is peel and stick.

I have installed all three types of wallpaper and the easiest one to install is paste the wall type.  The reason for this is that you can really goop that paste on there which allows you to slide the paper around pretty easily to line it up.  

The type of wallpaper that you add the paste directly to the wall is the easiest kind!

Paste the paper is similar, but it usually requires you to let each panel sit for a minute after you apply the paste before you install the paper and I find it a little more messy and inconvenient.

Peel and stick wallpaper is the absolute WORST (in my humble opinion!).  Some are better than others, but you can imagine trying to line up a big sticker on the wall exactly right the very first time.  It is very hard and requires you to remove and reposition, rather than just sliding it around.  So although peel and stick sounds easier… if you have a choice go for the paste-the-wall kind!  

The new wallpapers and adhesives that they have now allow for easy removal when the time comes.  

How to Install a Wall Mural – Step-by-Step

Step One to How to Install a Wall Mural – Prepare the Wall Surface

If your wall is previously painted, you can go ahead and install the mural right over that, with some caveats.  

First, make sure you have a smooth surface.  If your walls are textured… I do think you need to smooth that out with a skim coat first.  If your walls are smooth, just make sure you repair any holes or imperfections.

Once the wall is smooth, make sure any spots you repaired with drywall mud are primed and painted over.  The wallpaper will stick to unpainted drywall or to drywall mud and ruin your wall when you remove it.  

Bathroom with first coat of drywall mud on patched walls
In my hall bathroom we had a bunch of repairs to do to the drywall so after we got the wall smooth, I primed the wall with two coats of BIN Shellac Primer so that the wallpaper would be removable down the line.

If you have new drywall or a lot of repairs, you can prepare your wall using a wallpaper primer (sometimes called sizing).  There are a few different products you can use for this.  When I was wallpapering my bathroom with new drywall I used a primer that was recommended to me at my local Benjamin Moore.  When I used wallpaper in my hall bath with major wallpaper repairs, I used my old standby, BIN shellac primer over the bare drywall as I read that it works well under wallpaper.

Bathroom with green ceiling and crown moulding, floral beige and white wallpaper, brass and walnut scalloped shade sconces, vintage wood mirror, art stacked over toilet, penny tile and vintage pedestal sink
Wallpaper – Sconces – Bird Art – Tree Art (Sink/ Mirror are Vintage)

If you ever tried to remove existing wallpaper from years past and it removed half the drywall… well that might have been because the wall was not properly prepared.  So do future-you a favour and make that wallpaper easy to remove when the time comes by preparing it properly!  

In my ensuite, when you look in person, you can see the seams between my dark wallpaper because the wall behind is white. If I had to do this again, I would have painted the background colour of the wallpaper first.

One other thing to note about wall preparation.  For best results, consider painting the wall behind the mural a colour that is similar to the wallpaper.  The mural or wallpaper might come apart a little at the seams (or you might not install it perfectly!) and if you have a dark wallpaper and white walls behind it… you will see every single seam.  I made this mistake in my ensuite bathroom and I really with I had painted my walls a dark colour first!

How to Install a Wall Mural – The Tools

In my office, the mural wallpaper I got was from Rebel Walls and there was an option at check out to purchase an installation assembly kit and wallpaper paste, so I did that!  It was so nice to have everything I needed show up with the paper!

I bought a kit with my mural from Rebel Walls and it had everything in it that I needed except the paint tray! It was super handy.

However, the things you need are pretty basic and you might already have them.  Here is what you need:

How to install a Wall Mural – Plan your Mural

Some murals will be sent on one continuous roll.  Some might be sent in different pieces.  The wallpaper panels will most likely be numbered so you know which one goes first.  It is a good idea to lay out your wallpaper panels on a flat surface the way that you are installing them so there is no confusion when you get started.

looking down at mural panels laying on a bed
I cut my mural panels apart and laid it out on the bed so I could get a sense of the pattern and where I wanted to trim it

You will also be trimming a little off the top, bottom and sides, so measure your wall and your mural and decide where you want the pattern to start and end and what parts you will be trimming off.  

The mural I bought was made to fit my space, but it was about 4″ too big in every direction so I adjusted it a little so that I was happy with the final look.  In my case, it meant that I needed to cut off about 3″ on the left side of the first panel.

Once you know this, measure the width of where the edge of the first panel will be.  (In my case, if my panels are 20″ wide and I wanted to cut off the left 3″ of the panel for my pattern to work out, then the edge of my first panel will be 17″ from the left side of my installation.)

I measured the width that I wanted the first panel to be and put a mark on the wall using a level. I also lined up my laser level to this mark so I could easily see if my first panel was straight

Measure with a tape measure and mark a vertical line on the wall at this measurement using your level.  You will follow this straight line when installing your paper.  The reason you do not install wallpaper tight into a corner or against a wall is that your walls are most definitely NOT straight!  If you don’t start out level, you will have nothing but trouble in lining up your pattern.

How to Install a Wall Mural – Install your First Panel

The first panel is key!  You want to make sure that the first strip is very straight.  

Roll wallpaper paste onto the wall to cover the area where the first panel will go.  You want a generous amount of wallpaper paste here and overlap your pencil line by a few inches.  

Roll the wall with a generous amount of adhesive in the area where the first panel will go, overlapping the line by a few inches

Use the paint brush to get paint right up to the edges.  

Use the paint brush to get right up to the edges of the wall

Place your first strip up against your pencil line or laser level line onto the pasted area.   Line up the side first and then smooth the new wallpaper over the wall.  Work from the middle towards the edges, getting out any air bubbles and excess paste using your hands first, and then the wallpaper smoother.  

Make sure the first panel is straight by lining it up with your level line. Smooth the paper with your hands and work it smooth into the edges of the paper. Once you have it pretty smooth with your hands you can go over it with more pressure with the wallpaper smoother

Take your time and make sure you have installed that first panel against your pencil mark and that it’s straight with no creases or bubbles.  If you do have any creases, you can gently lift the paper off the wall and smooth it out again.  

If you apply the wallpaper paste generously, then you will end up squishing out a lot of excess paste to the top of the panel, bottom of the wall, and edges.  That is just fine, that is what the sponge is for.  You can gently wipe away the excess paste.  

smoothing a panel using a wallpaper smoother
Smooth the panel and squish out excess paste and air bubbles and press tightly into the corners

Now it is time to trim.  Take your wallpaper smoother and push the wallpaper tightly into the corner at the top of the wall.  Use your wallpaper smoother or a putty knife as a guide and run your knife along that.   As you move the knife, slide the flat edge with it.  This ensures that the line you cut stays straight.  

Once you have the paper smooth, use the wallpaper smoother or a flat drywall knife as a guide for your knife, and trim along the edge of the top of the wall.

Do the same thing at the bottom of the paper.  If your paper is tearing, it means your blade is not sharp enough, so get a new blade.  

Repeat along the edge of your wall.

Using the wallpaper smoother as a guide, cut the side too

How to Cut into a Corner

The easiest way I have found to cut into the corners is to make a relief cut.  

Press the wallpaper tightly into the corner using the wallpaper smoother.  You will make a bit of a dent or crease in the paper in the corner. When you pull the paper off the wall you will be able to see that corner as it will be creased.

Take the scissors and cut at an angle into this corner location.  Then press the paper back onto the wall.  Now you will be able to cut right up to that relief cut into the corner and the top will fall away.

Now you can cut the side from that corner in the same way that you cut the top.

I use some scissors to cut on a diagonal into the corner

Note:  If you end up with a tiny bit of paper in a corner or on a edge that isn’t cut, resist the urge to rip it!!  Use the scissors and make a quick snip.  Ripping it almost always ends badly.  (Ask me how I know!)

Finally – use a clean sponge and gently wipe any excess glue off the edges or the front of the paper.  Be sure to wipe it down, as the glue will show if it is allowed to dry.

How to Install a Mural – The Second Panel

The next step is to take the next panel and measure its width.  Make another level line on your wall (or you can use a laser level like I did).  

Cover the wall where the second panel will go with the paste.  

Take the second panel and line it up with the first one.  Take care to line up the pattern of the mural to the first strip.  This is where that extra glue really helps, you can slide it one way or the other a little without taking it off the wall to make sure the seams are tight.  

Lining up the second panel of the mural
Line up the second panel with the first, taking care to get the pattern lined up properly

Once you have the pattern lined up, smooth the panel out the same way that you did the first one, working from the middle to the edge and using the wallpaper smoother to work out air bubbles and extra glue.  

After the panel is in the right spot you can work from the middle outward with the wallpaper smoother, squishing out the excess glue

Trim the top of the mural using your sharp blade, and the bottom.  

Trim the top and bottom

Wipe excess glue with your lightly dampened sponge. (Keep a bucket of water nearby and rinse the sponge out each time you use it).

Dealing with Obstacles

My wall did not have anything to work around so it was easy sailing but if you have anything to deal with like light switches or plug sockets, relief cuts are going to be your best friend.

mudroom with beige paneling, scenic wallpaper, built in bench, and a checkered rug
My mudroom was the most challenging room I ever had to wallpaper! It had a ton of obstacles to work around and inside and outside corners as well.

Press the paper as tight as you can against the obstacle and crease or bend the paper so that you can clearly tell where the corner of the object is.  Then, pull the paper away from the wall and cut a diagonal line into the area that you need to cut away (like the inside of the light switch, for example.  You press the paper back down and this leaves a little flap of paper that you can cut away.  

This is a relief cut I did in my mudroom around a door casing. I cut the wallpaper using scissors on a diagonal right back into the very edge or corner of the obstacle. This way, you will be able to press the wallpaper or mural flat into the edge on both sides.

Finish

You continue on in the same manner, adding a panel at a time, until you get to the end of your wall.

Keep adding panels until you get to the end of the wall

And that is it!  Repeat the same way until you get to the end of the wall.  Trim excess material along the edge of the wall, lightly wipe off any adhesive residue, and you are all done!

Trim the side at the end
Be sure to use the sponge to remove all the excess glue from the surface and from the edges when you are done

Installing Around Corners

If you have a corner that you are going around, that is certainly more tricky but there are a few tips I can give you to set yourself up for success.

It is tempting to just wrap your wallpaper all the way around the corner and just keep on trucking.  However, if you do that, you will most certainly end up getting off level and then your patterns and never going to line up.  

What you need to do is cut the wallpaper in the corner.  You then take the piece you cut off, and install that level on the adjacent wall, overlapping the last paper.  

Trimming the inside corner of wallpaper or mural
Instead of wrapping the paper around a corner, cut it in the corner, and save the cut-off part

Once both pieces are installed, you can cut one last time into the corner through both pieces of paper at once (assuming they overlapped a little) and remove the overlapping pieces. They will then butt together perfectly.

Take the piece you just cut off and use a level to line it up on the next part of the wall. It might have to overlap the last piece.

The pattern won’t line up exactly, but it will be very close.  The eye can not really see that little imperfection inside a corner and that will allow you to keep going on the next wall, keeping your wallpaper strips straight.

The Painted Trim

You might have noticed that I added a little something-something around my mural in the way of a little painted trim.

I saw some inspiration for this on Instagram but it was a wallpaper border. I thought I could create something similar using wood!

I found this detailed trim at Home Depot and painted it Benjamin Moore Silver Marlin to match my cabinets.

Then I taped off the long straight parts and painted that Benjamin Moore Caldwell Green (a paint sample I had in the garage!)

Finally, I hand-painted using white paint (the wall paint in this room which is Dove Wing by Benjamin Moore) and I love the detail that added.

Wallpaper Murals I Love

The mural I used is from Rebel Walls which has a ton of beautiful options, you can’t go wrong with any of them! I also found quite a few murals on Etsy, if you are thinking of doing this in your own home! 

The office/ guest room is pretty much done, so stay tuned because next week is going to be the reveal!

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6 Comments

  1. Thank you Erin for such detailed instructions. It will be very helpful when the time comes to wallpaper my back entry.

  2. And your mural is gorgeous. And the frame you crafted is perfect.
    Are you leaving your bed down so you can see it? I would! 😂

  3. I love everything about this! Including this incredibly detailed and thorough post!! Thank you! Now I have a question: If I wanted to use a mural as a piece of art that can be moved, do you think this application could work on a large canvas? I have a spot above my stairs where I could probably hang something, but getting up there to apply something is an entirely different story and I thought this might be a good solution. Thanks for all of your inspiration!!

  6. Thank you Renae! I am not sure about a canvas but you could apply this to a sheet of hardboard or something like that and then hang it! I have also seen fabric tapestries on Etsy which you could stretch onto a wood frame. Let me know if you try something!

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