Today is Day 8 of a 31 day series on creating and cultivating an eclectic home. For some crazy reason, I have accepted The Nester’s challenge to write on the same theme every day for the month of October. This may end up killing me. Or you. But, I appreciate you reading and welcome your comments.
I have a love/hate relationship with wallpaper. I love it, because it can transform the feel of a room in ways that paint cannot. Although the wall stencils that are out there these days are amazing (and a far cry from the grapes that were stenciled around the kitchen of the first home we ever owned), they don’t replace the luxe richness of a delicious wallpaper.
So, why do I hate it? Because it scares the bejesus out of me! I can use a saw like nobody’s business or climb a ladder to the second story of our house without blinking an eye. On the other hand, the thought of hanging wallpaper simply terrifies me! I’m positive that I would somehow screw it up and not be able to fix my mistake.
If you aren’t scared, select a vibrant wallpaper that fits into your eclectic style mix for the biggest impact. One word of caution on using wallpaper, though. My opinion is that only one wall in a room should be wallpapered. I know it seems contrary to my issue with only one accent wall, but wallpaper is far busier than a single color of paint on the wall.
One day, I will push myself to hang a nice wallpaper on one of my walls. I’m sure that I will do it and then wonder why I made such a fuss about it. Until then, I will admire other people’s walls, and gawk at how they can give a room such an eclectic vibe with a bit of paper.
What are your thoughts on wallpaper? Have you ever hung it yourself? Are you scared like me or are you ready to make a statement?
My hubby and I have been hanging wallpaper together for 30 years now. I wish we would have started writing a book back then!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend. ~Natalie
Like you, hanging wallpaper scares me. I can and will paper anything including kitchen cabinets. Painting seems so much easier. don’t like it or make a mistake paint again…not much time or expense. wallpaper on the other hand looks hard and costly. When I started out on my own with my first place I was so glad paint was in and wallpaper out. Now it seems to be the rage, maybe I’ll bit the bullet and try it but somewhere small. hugs
I’ve never done a wall. It does sound scary to me but I haven’t done it because I haven’t wanted a papered wall as of yet. But, I just wallpapered my kitchen cabinets with paintable bead board wallpaper and I LOVE it! It looks like real bead board and was very easy to do. Very happy with this project.
I’m loving your Eclectic series, Lindsay! I’m a huge fan of wallpaper and I think it adds amazing drama and interest to a possible ordinary room – especially with the wallpaper patterns of today! Wallpaper can be very intimidating to install the first time, so maybe try it on the back wall of a closet or in a space that isn’t in the forefront of your home. Earlier this year, I added wallpaper to the back of my craft area and it adds such an interested backdrop. Here’s a tutorial on wallpapering, plus my mom cave / craft area: http://www.sasinteriors.net/2011/02/tutorial-how-to-hang-wallpaper/ and http://www.sasinteriors.net/2011/02/my-mom-cave-craft-area-reveal/
I’ve hung wall paper in my dressing room and, although scary, it wasn’t so bad. and the result was fantastic! My only concern is that it will be a pain to remove if I ever get tiered of it. But for now, I love it and the one’s presented above are soo fantastic!
I just received my first wallpaper order the other day. We got it for the dining room and I can’t wait to put it up. It’s grasscloth and it’s going on the bottom half of the room so I hope it will be manageable.
You are right though, it can make such an impact. And to Nancy, I’ve also taken down wallpaper and it’s not that bad, just takes a bit of time.
I’ve done lots of wallpapering in my lifetime and although its time consuming…it’s NOT hard. I’ve always looked CLOSE at so called professionally done wallpapering and realized a long time ago that I could do better! I take my time. But THE most important first step is to SIZE the wall (put sizing on clean wall before starting) so that when you are ready for a change….it will come OFF EASILY. I’ve had to remove wallpaper from walls that were not properly prepared and WHAT A PAIN! Read directions then start in an inconspicuous spot….draw a vertical line with a level and begin. When you are finished….it’s a GREAT feeling to know that YOU DID IT!
I have been hanging wallpaper in my homes for almost thirty years now–I can’t imagine a bathroom or kitchen without it. The previous owners of our 82 year old home dealt with the cracking plaste walls by putting up nasty paneling. My huband thinks painted paneling looks like it belongs in a mobile home (I tried to make his phrasea little more politically correct!) and we didn’t really have the time to invest in taking it all down, shoveling out the plaster and sheetrocking the walls. So I used paintable wallpaper that looks like plaster…this stuff is fantastic, easy to work with, you’d never dream there is ugly old not even real wood paneling unde my know gorgeous wall surface! The previous comment gave you my best two hints…always size the walls, and always level your first strip or use a plumb line. It’s easier than you think –I actually think it’s easier than painting because you don’t have all the taping and clean up!
Wow, I’m shocked! I am afraid of doing everything for fear it won’t look right but wallpaper is sooooo easy. The biggest thing to remember is that YOU are the only one that will see the mistakes. Once the furniture is in and the pictures are hung it will look beautiful. And unless it has been up forever, wallpaper isn’t that difficult to take down. A lot easier than covering up a dark paint color. (My mom’s old kitchen was bright orange.)
Hi there, loving this bit of info. One thing I did because wall paper was expensive, and well i’ve just heard the horror stories. My bathroom has wallpaper the previous owner painted over. So what I did in my kitchen which is very tiny was instead of adding wall paper I used fabric. I made some glue out of flour and water I think some salt and glued the fabric to the insides of my upper kitchen cabinet doors. Its held up wonderfully over the last year. no issues with my glue and the best part is that if/when I want to do something different and take it down. It will come right off without damaging my cabinet doors. I’ve been planning on doing it in larger spaces, a single wall. Possibly just stapling it up? Wall curtain? IDK but its fun to get creative. 😀
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