How to Create Wonderful Walls with Temporary Wallpaper
I recently started a restyle project for a dining room in my parents’ home. The main goal was to lighten up the room, as the walls had been painted a dark red some time ago, which made it overall a dark room. I really wanted to create an accent wall and try wallpaper on just the dominant wall that you see when you walk in from the front door, paint the other walls white, and add teal and blue shades in terms of art and decor . Adding wallpaper to just one wall is also a more affordable way to update a room without the cost of wallpapering all 4 walls.
Wallpaper has come a long way from what used to be the standard process for applying: it was complicated, messy, and you were pretty committed to it after it was applied, as the process to remove it was not going to be without tearing it and your wall apart. But NOW, there is the wonderful creation of temporary removable wallpaper.
If you are looking to try wallpaper out, this is your best bet.
For this particular project, I selected this unique beige geometric patterned wallpaper. The geometric patterns look a bit gold, but not over the top, which I knew would go well with the gold mirror that would be rehung on the wall when I was done,and also complements the traditional style of furniture already present in the room.
THE PROCESS:
After taking measurements of the wall, I was able to determine I would need 4 rolls of the wallpaper. I knew I would have to match up the patterns as I cut panels to fit my wall, so I rounded up to factor into the amount of wallpaper I would need.
After measuring the size to cut for the first panel based on the width of the wallpaper, I then continued using the vinyl backing from that first panel as the guideline for cutting the rest of the panel pieces so I didn’t have to measure the roll each time I needed to cut. I realized quickly it was easier to go along and piece together the panels and go back later to cut any additional smaller pieces that may be needed to use to match up patterns. As you can see from the close up image, what I had thought would have been a detailed but easy process of matching up the pattern, I hadn’t realized until applying the second panel and attempting to match it up with the first one that the diamond shapes alternate in color and width. So, it was a little more complicated, but still able to work through.
Once I had a cut panel, I would start to peel off the backing but not peel it all the way off, as I had pretty large pieces that could easily get stuck in a mess if it was all peeled off at once. If you are working with another person, it may be easy to do that, but I didn’t want to try that doing it by myself.
I then stuck the top peeled portion to the wall, matched it up to the previous panel by pattern and right on the edge so no red from the wall is visible. Then I started working down on peeling the remaining backing off and smoothing with a wallpaper smoother as I went along. Once you get it all stuck, you will want to spend some time to make sure you smooth all the air bubbles out. I did this after each panel was applied and then at the end I went back to smooth over the entire wall again.
If you find as you are smoothing things out that the pattern isn’t right in line with where it should be, well, luckily for you, this is in fact temporary wallpaper and you can easily peel it off, smooth it back on, with no problem. For one area, I removed and reapplied a panel 3-4 times with no issues of it resticking, so you really can’t mess this up.
I decided to go back and cut the remaining edges from the top and bottom when I was done applying all the wallpaper, as you can see from the progress photo. I used an Exacto knife and straightedge to help do that.
When I was done, I realized there was still some red showing through after cutting the edges. So I went back with white paint and a sponge brush and dabbed along the entire top and bottom edges so it covered the red and also looked even to the trim. It blended seamlessly once it dried.
NOTE: If you are starting with a white wall, this probably wouldn’t be as noticeable if you chose a cream or white wallpaper like this one. But, who wants to paint a wall that is going to be covered with wallpaper? Clearly not me! Either way, it worked out well.
The time to touch up the trim with paint took about 2 hours. The previous time spent on applying the wallpaper (including cutting pieces and matching up patterns) was about 4 hours. But a more simple pattern choice of wallpaper or one that doesn’t require matching up would make this process faster.
I’m pretty satisfied with the end result. Next step will be painting the remaining walls, and hanging art on either side of the mirror, but for now, it already lightens up the whole room, as you can see below. Now this wall is so much brighter with the gold patterns in the wallpaper highlighted from the sunlight this room gets. The wallpaper compliments this traditional styled dining room, but I also like that the wallpaper would easily compliment other styles, like a more contemporary styled room. The gold and cream tones also lend themselves to being like neutrals here, and would pair well with so many other colors.
Stay tuned for more updates on how this restyling project comes along!
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