sticker side up, so you can apply that side to the wall, smooth out so there are no air bubbles with the decal tool. i found it easy to just do the top left corner first, flatten it out, and smooth out evenly, and work my way down, and across to the right. peel the transfer paper off the wall so that the transfer sticks flat the same way. i picked one corner to start on, and just kept peeling in the same direction in one motion. it all came off no problem, and one try. after that i used the tool again to make sure it was completely as 