Measure the width and height of all surfaces you plan to cover to determine how many square yards of fabric you will need. Buy a little extra, too — say, 5 percent. Iron the seams out of the fabric.

When stapling fabric to walls, you almost cannot have enough (clean) hands. You want the fabric stretched tightly in every direction, with one hand left free to pull the trigger on the staple gun (and, for this job, you may really appreciate owning an electric staple gun). In the Trading Spaces episode, the two homeowners doing the work found themselves looking for a third set of hands to help them out. So, grab at least one helper and your staple gun and plan to start at a corner.

Attach the Fabric

One of the trickiest parts of the job will be keeping the staples in a straight line. You want the line to be as straight as possible, because you will be covering the staples with some bias tape or other type of fabric trim. Drive the staples so that they form a straight line, both horizontally and vertically, and you will find it much easier to conceal them later.

Begin at the top of the wall and move horizontally along the wall. Drive staples every couple of inches. With the top attached, move to the center of the wall and begin working out from there, stretching the fabric tightly before driving each staple just above the baseboard. Maintain this routine up and down corners and around doors and windows. Once you have finished covering one wall, trim any excess fabric with scissors or a utility knife.

Add the Trim

Bias tape in either a matching or contrasting color is a handy way to cover the staples. Cording, welt or another type of trim could be used as well. Use a glue gun to attach the trim, working carefully to create a neat, straight line.