How to Wallpaper a Rented Home
Asking your landlord properly, testing one length before you commit the room, and what actually decides whether the wall comes through it cleanly
Ask your landlord in writing, use our removable peel and stick paper, photograph the wall before you start, and test one length in an inconspicuous corner for a week before you paper the room. Removable paper is designed to come away cleanly. But what it leaves behind depends on the landlord's paint, not on the paper.
That last point is the one most brands gloss over, and it is the one that decides whether this goes well.
Ask first, and get it in writing
Most tenancy agreements say something about decorating, and most landlords are more reasonable about it than tenants expect, particularly when the proposal is a removable paper on one wall rather than a permanent change.
- Check the agreement for a decoration clause.
- Ask by email rather than in conversation, so there is a record.
- Say what you propose specifically: which wall, a removable wallpaper, and that you will return the wall to its current state at the end of the tenancy.
- Offer to send a picture of the design. It is a much easier yes when the landlord can see it is not a mural of a football crest.
Photograph the wall first
Before anything goes up, take clear photographs of the wall in daylight, including any existing marks, scuffs and nail holes. Date-stamped photographs at the start and end of a tenancy are worth more in a deposit discussion than any amount of recollection.
Test one length
This is twenty minutes that decides everything.
- Hang a single length somewhere inconspicuous: behind a door, in a corner, behind where a wardrobe stands.
- Leave it a week.
- Take it down using the proper method: lift a top corner and pull slowly downwards at a shallow angle.
- Look at the wall. If the paint has come with it, stop. That wall is not suitable, and now you know for the cost of one length rather than a deposit.
What decides how the wall looks afterwards
Removable paper bonds to the paint film rather than to the wall itself, so the outcome depends on the paint.
- Well-applied, fully cured paint usually comes through it well.
- Paint applied in the last thirty days has not finished curing and can lift. That means a freshly redecorated let, which is exactly what many tenants move into.
- Chalky or powdery paint, common in older rentals painted repeatedly over the years, can come away.
- Textured walls will not hold it at all.
If you have just moved into a freshly painted flat, wait out the thirty days before papering.
Which rooms, and how much
- One wall is usually enough. It is also the easiest thing to explain to a landlord and the quickest to undo.
- Bedrooms and living rooms are the natural candidates.
- Not bathrooms or kitchens. Steam defeats the adhesive, and those are the rooms landlords care most about.
- Consider the alcoves either side of a chimney breast: a small area, a big change, and very little to put right later.
If the answer is no
There are ways to have the design without touching the wall:
- Paper a lightweight board or a stretched frame and lean or hang it as a panel.
- Paper the back of a bookcase or the inside of a wardrobe.
- Line drawers and cupboard doors on your own furniture.
- Frame a single repeat as art.
When you leave
- Take it down slowly, warming stubborn sections with a hairdryer on a low setting.
- Clean off any residue with warm water and a little washing-up liquid.
- Touch in any small damage.
- Photograph the wall again.
Allow an evening, not ten minutes on the morning of the check-out.
Can you wallpaper a rented flat?
With your landlord's agreement, yes. Use removable paper and put it in writing first.
Will peel and stick wallpaper damage rental walls?
On well-bonded, fully cured paint it usually comes away cleanly. On fresh or chalky paint it can lift, which is why you test one length first.
Do I need permission?
Check your tenancy agreement and ask by email. Most landlords say yes to a removable paper on one wall.
What if I've just moved into a freshly painted flat?
Wait until the paint has been on the wall for thirty days.
Can I use it in a rented bathroom?
No. Steam lifts it, and a bathroom is the wrong room to experiment in with a deposit at stake.
How long does it take to remove?
An hour or two for a room, done slowly and properly.
