Peel and stick wallpaper in a nursery: what to know

1. Measure the wall you will actually cover.

Most nurseries get one papered wall, usually the one behind the crib. It is the wall you see from the doorway and the one your child looks at from the changing table. Covering one wall also keeps the job to an afternoon and the cost to a handful of panels. Our nursery accent wall ideas help you choose which wall.

Measure the width across the top and the bottom, and the height on the left and the right. Older houses and rentals are rarely square, so record every reading and circle the widest width and the tallest height. Those two numbers are all you need to plan.

1. Width: corner to corner, or edge to edge of the area you want to cover.
2. Height: floor to ceiling, or the top of the baseboard to the ceiling if the paper will stop at the trim.
3. Note the window, outlets and light switch on a quick sketch. Panels run over them and are trimmed around them, so they do not change the count.

Enter the numbers in the nursery wallpaper calculator. It works in feet and inches, handles more than one wall, and shows the panel count and price for each. Our general measuring guide covers sloped ceilings and awkward walls in more detail.

2. Choosing a panel height for a standard 8-foot wall.

WallJoy panels are 30 inches wide and come in nine heights, from 48 to 192 inches. We add a 4-inch trim allowance to your wall height, then choose the shortest panel that covers it. That extra length is what lets you line the panel up at the ceiling and trim a clean edge at the baseboard, even when the ceiling is not level.

That is why a 96-inch wall does not take 96-inch panels. With the allowance it needs 100 inches, so the calculator picks the 108-inch height.

A worked example

A crib wall that is 10 feet 6 inches wide (126 inches) and 8 feet high needs 126 ÷ 30 = 4.2 panels, which rounds up to 5. Five 108-inch panels cover 150 inches of width; the extra 24 inches is trimmed at the last edge. At $120 a panel, that wall comes to $600 before tax, with free US shipping.

Widths always round up to whole panels. A wall that is 90 inches wide takes exactly 3; a wall that is 91 inches wide takes 4.

3. Why a sample matters more in a nursery.

A nursery is used at strange hours. You will see that wall at 6 a.m. in gray daylight, at noon with the blackout curtains drawn, and at 2 a.m. by a dim lamp. A soft beige can turn pink under a warm bulb, and a gray can go blue at dusk. A screen cannot show you any of that.

A $15 sample with free US shipping lets you check three things before you order panels:

• Color in every light. Tape the sample next to the crib and look at it in the morning, the afternoon and by the lamp you will use for night feeds.
• Scale from the doorway. Small motifs like Stars read as texture from across the room; larger ones like Multicolor Safari Animals read as pictures. Decide which you want.
• Your wall and paint. Our sample guide explains how to plan a separate adhesion check on your own wall, following the manufacturer’s instructions.

If you are choosing between two designs from the Quiet Nursery collection, such as Moon and bunny nursery and Neutral Nursery Cloud, order both and look at them side by side.

4. Timing: finish the wall before baby arrives.

The last weeks before a due date fill up fast, and a nursery is easier to finish while the room is still empty. Work backward from the date you want the room done:

1. Samples first. Order samples early and live with them for a few days.
2. Order panels. Every panel is printed to order. Our print supplier fulfills orders in 1 to 2 business days, and typical delivery is about one week. See our shipping policy.
3. Prepare the wall. If you are repainting first, follow the paint manufacturer’s curing instructions before applying anything. Our wall surface guide explains what to record.
4. Install, then furnish. Paper the wall before the crib, dresser and shelves go in, so you have room to work and a ladder can stand flat against the wall.

Line up a helper for the install. Long panels are easier with one person holding the top while the other smooths from the center out.

5. Cribs, edges and little hands.

Babies do not pay much attention to walls. Toddlers who can stand in a crib do. Small fingers find the edge of anything, including the seam between two panels or the trimmed edge at the baseboard.

• Leave enough space between the crib and the wall that a standing child cannot reach the paper, and keep seams away from the crib rail where you can.
• Run a finger along the seams and edges every so often. Press down any edge that has started to lift, and contact us if one keeps lifting.
• Plan where cords and outlets sit before you trim around them, so nothing needs to be moved later.

Peel-and-stick is still a wall covering. Treat it like any other surface in the room your child can reach.

6. What we don’t claim about removal.

Part of the appeal of peel-and-stick in a nursery is that it can come down when the room changes. How cleanly any panel comes off depends on the wall, the paint and the material, and how long it has been up. We have not yet completed our own removal tests, so we do not make promises about how panels come off a particular wall.

Read our removal guide before you commit, and test a sample on your own paint. If you rent, check your lease and ask your landlord first; our renter-friendly nursery guide walks through it.

Ready to plan? Work out your panels in the nursery calculator, then browse the kids’ designs.