Photo: Chronicle Books
If you love wallpaper art, try these creative DIY wallpaper projects that are anything but ordinary.
Wallpaper is a one-stop crafting wonder.
It not only has color and pattern (and can tell a story) but it can cover an empty wall from floor to ceiling in one fell swoop.
The book, Wallpaper Projects: 50 Craft and Design Ideas for Your Home, from Accents to Art by Derek Fagerstrom and Lauren Smith, features easy how-to projects using wallpaper, from making pleated window shades to designing chic recipe cards to covering stair risers.
Here are 3 ideas of their ideas that were so good that we had to steal them.
Consider a bold-patterned or floral shirt in your closet or a favorite textile to cover your walls. Photo: Erin Kunkel
1. Turn Your Favorite Fabric into Wallpaper
What You Need:
A favorite fabric
White printer paper
Computer with scanner, printer, color photocopier
level
pencil
metal ruler
wallpaper paste and brush
plastic float
sponge
Here's How To Do It:
- Choose a favorite fabric to turn into wallpaper.
- Scan the section of fabric you want to serve as the "repeat" pattern in your wallpaper.
- Print out the wallpaper on a printer then make your color photocopies. (Obviously, the larger the paper size, the fewer pieces you'll have to print and paste on your wall.)
- Apply paste to the wall, and adhere the printouts using your plastic float to smooth out air bubbles as you go. Be sure to handle the pages with care as they are more prone to ripping or stretching than typical wallpaper.
Don't be boxed in with the "either/or" scenario. Use both wallpaper and paint as a dynamic duo and double your creativity. Photo: Erin Kunkel
2. Combine Wallpaper and Paint
What You Need:
Wallpaper
paint
paint tray
rollers
drop cloth
measuring tape
utility knife
metal ruler
pencil
level
wallpaper paste and brush
plastic float
sponge
Here's How To Do It:
- Choose a pattern that lends itself to a slender 6" to 8" strip.
- If you are painting your walls, take your wallpaper swatch and find a complimentary paint color.
- Prep and paint your walls. Let dry overnight.
- Measure the height of your walls, and cut out your wallpaper to size using the utility knife and metal ruler as your guide.
- Use a pencil and ruler to mark on the wall where you will place the wallpaper strip.
- Apply paste on the back side of the wallpaper, book the strips, and adhere them to the walls using the marks as guides.
- Once you've pasted up all the wallpaper pieces, go over each strip with the plastic float to make sure the edges are perfectly flush with the wall.
- Apply more paste as necessary, and wipe off any excess paste with a damp sponge.
Combine wallpaper patterns and fashion a collage layering your cutouts. It's as simple as choosing two patterns, or more if you like. Photo: Erin Kunkel
3. Create a Wallpaper Collage
What You Need
Wallpaper (two complementary patterns, preferably one large-scale print and one small)
Wallpaper paste and brush
plastic float
sponge
scissors
Here's How To Do It:
- Apply paste and hang your primary paper if it isn't already installed.
- Cut out your desired shapes from the secondary paper.
- Apply paste on the back side of the secondary paper and adhere to the wall.
- Smooth down the cut-out shapes with a brush and remove any air bubbles with the plastic float.
- Wipe off any excess paste with a damp sponge.
Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)
I remember my mother's brilliant idea for making a very small apartment dining room look very expansive using wallpaper: She bought ivy-pattern paper with a pure white background and papered the top half of the walls. Then she purchased a cheap sheet of wooden lattice-work at the local hardware store and painted it white, as well, along with a few narrow boards to create the edge of the wainscoting. She put the lattice work up over the ivy pattern, and then placed small 1'-square mirrors on the wall that faced the front windows. It gave the impression, when you were sitting there, that you were in a gazebo or a covered sun porch. To add a little bit of fun to it, I bought a couple of coils of silk ivy that was readily available, and wound it around the chain of the overhead hanging lamp, as well as tucking a strand or two around the bottom edge of the lattice work and wound some of it up, letting the rest hang (as if the ivy were growing through the lattice work). She received many compliments from friends and family for her ingenuity in making an 8' square area feel so open and airy.
ReplyDo you notice the very small area shown in each picture? That's probably because the whole wall/room would look horrible with that pattern!
Replylike, "Turn Your Favorite Fabric into Wallpaper". Do you have a paper quality you suggest? photo paper maybe in a matt finish. And how easy to take off?
Reply