If you are working with wallcoverings which are not pre-pasted, be sure to use some type of protective covering to avoid getting paste on your table. At this point, if you are using a powder mix, add water in accordance with the manufacturers instructions until the paste has the consistency of sour cream. Break up the lumps with your fingers until they have disappeared. Pre-mixed pastes are available and can be mixed with water to produce a soluble paste for applying thin wallcoverings. A thicker mixture is recommended for vinyl and other heavy materials.
Chalk lines Begin with the wall that has the fewest windows and door openings.
From the left corner of the wall, measure out a distance that is 1.3 cm less than the wallcovering width. Suspend a plumb line at this point, and snap a chalk line down the wall. If you don't have a chalk line use a metal straight edge. A house will tend to settle, and walls and ceilings may shift. Because of this a line is important to determine the straightness of the first strip and all subsequent strips.