How to Get Wallpaper to Stick to Ceilings

Scrape chipping paint with a scraper and fill in any holes or large cracks with spackle. After the spackle dries, smooth the ceiling with 120-grit sandpaper. Afterward, clean the ceiling with warm, soapy water and a sponge. This also helps remove any old wallpaper glue.

Prime the ceiling with a high-quality wall primer. Wallpaper adheres better to a primed surface. It is also recommended by most wallpaper manufacturers.

Soak pre-pasted wallpaper in water, fold it and let it relax, per manufacturer directions. If the paper is not pre-pasted, mix and apply the adhesive as instructed by the manufacturer.

Wallpaper the ceiling with at least one partner. As one person stands on a ladder and applies the wallpaper to the ceiling, the other holds the wet, booked paper and feeds it to him. If a third person is helping, he should stand on a second ladder so the first person can pass him the wallpaper to apply it to the next section.

Apply a thin layer of adhesive directly to the first 2 inches of the ceiling edge. This helps prevent wallpaper that is not pre-pasted from curling at the edges.

Seal the seams after you finish applying two lengths of paper. Hold a piece of paper up against the seam and roll the area between to the two edges with a seam roller -- available at home improvement or wallpaper stores -- to create an invisible seam that will not curl up. If the paper is embossed or has a raised pattern, do not roll. Rather, use a soft rag to carefully press down the edges along the seams. Repeat this step with each new seam every time you hang another length of paper.