This past weekend I wanted to test out something a little different and stumbled upon some beautiful wallpaper at Lowes. Wallpaper has a bit of a stigma and is known to be a total pain to remove – but today’s wallpaper is different. Easier to put on and easier to remove, so I gave it a shot.
I started small. A single wall in my ensuite bathroom. It was so easy. Here were my steps:
- Measure twice and cut once. Measure the wall that you are applying the wallpaper and make sure you have enough. Plan out where you want to begin and where you want to end. The wall I chose could use three widths of the roll and then I had to cut a 2 inch strip to finish the wall. I measured out the four strips and set them aside – leaving myself an extra 3 – 4 inches to work with on each length.
- Once I had all of my pieces ready, I got started with wetting the first. This entailed laying the strip design down on the ground and wetting (soaking!) the back side. Once you have completely wet the back FOLD the strip in half. Don’t completely crease the paper. Once it was folded in half the glue began to ‘activate’, this process is known as booking. The instructions told me to allow this to sit for 2-3 minutes.
- Next, stick it to the wall! Unfold the wallpaper and stick the top portion to the wall working your way down and smooth it out with a sponge. This took some time to get it looking right but with the help of a spray bottle we kept it wet and it was very easy to work with! Make your adjustments and line it up and repeat steps 1 – 3 for the other strips and Voila!
So what did I learn in this process?
- Wallpapering was a fun and fairly easy way to add some design to a room
- One roll ($29.99) was JUST enough to do this wall (5ft x 8ft)
- When you think you have put enough water on the back, add more!
- This one wall took about 2 hours to complete
Would I do it again?
Absolutely! I can’t wait to use wallpaper in future staging projects!
Design Tip…
Remember, save your leftover scraps of wallpaper and throw a piece in a frame you are not using as a great accent on an adjacent wall!
I happened to have a great black & white print of the Eiffel tower that worked perfectly to complete the space. Here’s the final look!
Good luck!
