The Clever Trick For Hanging Things On Wallpapered Walls Without Excess Damage

You spend hours wallpapering your rooms, only to realize you need to hang shelves and you're about to have holes drilled through that (probably expensive) wallpaper. Whether you use traditional methods or stick-and-peel, watching all your efforts get ruined by a nail or screw can be less than ideal, and it's a common mistake people make when applying wallpaper. However, there is a hack that allows you to keep your wallpaper (mostly) in tact so that if you ever decide to remove the offending screws or nails, you can re-paste your paper and no one will be the wiser that there was any disruption to the design. Instead of drilling or hammering into the wall through the paper, use an Xacto knife to cut out a few flaps, opening up a flap to the wall directly, which you can then add your hole to. This can be patched and the wallpaper smoothed back down if you remove the fasteners down the line.

Wallpaper can be better than painting because it protects your walls from daily wear and tear. Shelves and frames don't have to ruin the paper and make it useless should you ever choose to take them down Rather than risk expensive paper that would need to be replaced, cutting a few slits into your design can provide an option that will allow you to eventually smooth the paper back down.

Choosing the right wallpaper for your space is only half the battle: You still have to decorate on top of it, which causes damage. Make sure to use a very sharp blade that will make clean cuts when trying this hack. One of the most effective ways is to cut two slits diagonally towards each other to make an upside down triangle tip. Pull the flap this creates up and away from the wall, so you're left with a triangle of exposed wall. From here, you can drill your fastener in, making sure to avoid drilling the flap down. This should rest on top of the nail or screw, and will be hidden by your shelf or frame so people won't even notice it's there. You can also create this same flap, but reversed, so the triangle point is at the top and away from your hanging so it doesn't rip off the flap. 

For larger hooks, you can make the cut bigger, but just keep in mind this should be fairly contained so that if you ever need to re-glue the flap, it's barely noticeable that there are slices (if at all). To smooth out your wallpaper again, make sure to use a small amount of spackle and apply it with either your finger or a Q-tip to avoid getting any on the paper. Let this dry and remove/sand away residue so the wall is flat before replacing the flap you cut. This means the wallpaper seams will be hidden thanks to the clean slices and the tidier way you cut into the design.