• Wallpaper adds a great design element to any room.floral wallpaper image by sanyal from Fotolia.com
  
  Wallpaper is a fantastic way to add pattern and color to your home. Whether you do all the walls of a room or just one wall to create a focal point, a well-chosen wallpaper can change a room's look. But, when it comes to wallpaper, it's important to choose and install it properly. Once hung, wallpaper is difficult to remove. Here's some hints to make the process of choosing and hanging wallpaper a smooth one.
  
  

Prepare the Walls

• Wallpapering, like many home projects, finds its success in the prepping. If your walls are not as smooth as possible, then any uneven textures will show through the paper. Even if your walls appear to be in good shape, skipping the prep work could make it difficult for the wallpaper to adhere to the wall. Fix any defects in the wall, such as nail holes, with a wall-wallpatching compound and then sand it to a level surface. Clean your walls to remove any stains or moldy areas. Apply a coat of primer, according to the wallpaper manufacturer's specifications, to ensure that the wall will be a good bonding surface.
  
  

Choose Eco-Friendly Wallpaper

• Conventional wallpaper is often coated with polyvinyl chloride, which is also known PVC. PVC is a plastic that can damage the environment. If you're concerned about making your home improvements as green as possible, you can now add eco-friendly wallpaper to your list of options. Some manufactures are making wallpaper that is vinyl-free, uses water-based inks and glazes, recycled or post-consumer paper or is printed on paper that is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, FSC.
  
  

Pay Attention to Pattern Repeat

• When hanging wallpaper, you need to take into account how the pattern repeats through each roll and make sure you purchase enough wallpaper to make the pattern repeat properly across the wall. A repeat is the vertical distance between one point in the pattern to the next identical point. For some patterns, such as stripes, the wallpaper will match regardless of how you position the strips. For other patterns, strips may need to be cut and applied in a very strict order to ensure that the paper looks good on your wall. The larger the pattern, the more attention you need to pay to the repeat.
  
  

Hanging Wallpaper Straight

• Once you have your paper and the walls are ready, it's time to start hanging. Make sure you have all your necessary supplies, such as a step ladder, rollers, carpenter's level, a tape measure, paste, and a water tray. What's critical in hanging wallpaper is to get the first strips hung properly. This will ensure that, once you are finished, the paper is hung straight and looks great. From the wall where you are starting, make a mark at the ceiling that is the width of your wallpaper plus 1/4 of an inch. Using your level, make a straight line from the ceiling down to the baseboard. This line will help ensure your wallpaper hangs straight. Many wallpapers strips are applied from top to bottom. As you apply and smooth each section of that first strip to the wall, make sure the side edge stays parallel to your plumb line. If you've successfully applied the first strip, the other strips should line up easily and give you a great looking wall.