How to Apply Wall Vinyl

I saw this awhile ago while fooling around on the Internet, and thought it would look great in my home. It kind of summed up how I feel about life in my family. My mom got it for me for Christmas, but it's been sitting in the mailing tube for six months waiting for me to get brave enough to try to put it up.  Well, I finally got brave.

I've never put up wall vinyl before, so I was a little bit intimidated. What if it was crooked? What if it didn't stick? What if half of it stuck and half of it peeled off? The truth is, applying wall vinyl is not hard at all, though it can be a little bit of a pain.  The directions that come with it are pretty basic, so here it what I learned along the way that, added to the directions that arrive with your purchase, you can use to streamline the process.

First, I took down the picture collages that were on the wall (truly, who really has just an empty wall waiting to put something up, unless you just moved in? There's always something to remove.) I spackled and sanded the holes, then dug the wall paint and a roller out of the basement and did sort of a once-over on the whole area. I didn't tape or edge the ceilings or anything - just wanted to start with a clean surface. I let that dry for a couple of days.

My wall vinyl came in five pieces. My first step was to use painter's tape to tape everthing up there exactly as I wanted it.  I had to move things around a few times, but I finally got them centered horizontally and a little higher than centered vertically. I kept measuring and moving until I got it right.


Then I retaped. I knew I wanted to start applying from the bottom (I was unsure enough about this project, let alone doing the first application on top of a chair) so I started from the TOP. Each piece of the decal is held in place by one vertical strip of painter's tape. The one I'm currently working on also has a piece keeping each end flat against the wall.

Does it look straight? Measure, measure, measure!

OK, listen close. Remove the piece of tape on the right side. You'll notice that the vinyl letters are sandwiched between two sheets of plastic or whatever.  You are going to start at one of the right hand corners and gently and slowly PEEL the BACK sheet (closest to the wall) away from the letters and front sheet. Whatever you do, make sure the vertical piece of tape stays put. That is what is holding your decal in the perfect place. Keep peeling until you get close to the tape.



Yes, I know it looks crooked. You try peeling with one hand and photographing with the other!

Then get a pair of scissors, and use your RIGHT hand to cut away as much of the peeled-away paper as you can, and drop it to the ground. Lose the scissors (it helps to have a chair or something nearby that you can drop them on),


Cut as close to the tape as you can.

Right now you are holding the decal with your left hand. Switch to your right hand, and then, again, slowly and gently, starting at the tape and working towards the right, smooth the decal down with your hand. Now, the decal is being held to the wall by the letters on the right half of the decal. Remove the rest of the tape, peel off the rest of the backing sheet, and smooth down the other side of the decal, again working from the center out.

Do not whip out your credit card or start peeling the front sheet off just yet. Be patient. Why? Because you are going to need to tape the next piece down, and if you take off the paper, you will be taping over your decal. Not a good idea. Just leave the paper on until all of the decals are in place.

Move up to the next decal. Make sure it centers properly over the one you just applied. Keep in mind that the PAPER might not be cut straight, so you are making sure that the DECALS line up, not the PAPERS. Repeat the peel, cut, remove tape, smooth, peel, cut, smooth.  Each time you move to another decal, make sure it lines up with the decals that are already in place. Don't worry about whether they are centered on the wall or not: if the first one was in place, and you align all remaining ones with the first, they will be. And if the first one wasn't, it's too late to fret now.  Just keep on keeping on.


Almost done this part!

One all of the decals are adhered to the wall, get out that credit card. USe the edge to burnish the decal onto the wall. Don't be too hardcore with the rubbing, just go back and forth over each word a few times with moderate pressure. You can do all the pieces at once or one at a time - it doesn't really matter. I did them one at a time.

After burnishing all the words on the strip, start at one of the bottom corners and gently and slowly peel up diagonally.  It's not uncommon for the letters to stick a little to the top sheet. You might have to press it back down and burnish some more. Or if the letter comes partially off, you can use the credit card to hold the edge down while you gently pull back the paper. Be sure to check the inside of circular letters, such as D's and O's. A couple of times I had to pick out a piece of vinyl that was stuck inside. Make sure you do this when the vinyl is still on the sheet.  It will be WAY harder to get it off the wall without messing up the letter.

Take your time, and be careful. This isn't hard, but you can't rush through or not pay attention, or you might wind up with a mess. When you are done, it will look like this:


OK, THIS photo is crooked.

And your floor will likely look like this:

So then I put my photo collages back up on either side, and I was PSYCHED about how everything turned out.