Not so long ago, wallpaper lovers had to make peace with big compromises with their design projects. Once the strong chemical glue dried, starting over meant scraping the remains off the wall with a razor blade and possibly repainting, depending on how badly the removal process damaged the wall surface. The only alternative was to cover the adhesive and tape the sheets of wallpaper to the wall, then pray for the invisibility of the decking and proper humidity levels from season to season.
Temporary wallpaper has done for the wallpaper lover what the slider once did for the furniture fanatic: freed up a lot of extra time to redecorate, took the guesswork out of post-project headaches, and created endless potential. to spend an afternoon designing the perfect room.
Decorating with temporary wallpaper doesn’t have to be much more difficult than applying and affixing removable wall stickers. If you’re wondering where to start your room redesign project, start with these five ways to decorate with temporary wallpaper:
1. Create a focal wall. When painting a room isn’t enough, choose a wall, any wall. It can be the one with the window, the one in front of the window, the largest or the one with the least amount of furniture nearby. Once you’ve selected your chosen wall, dress it up with patterned temporary wallpaper to bring out the color you spent so much time choosing. If you are using peel and stick wallpaper, start in a corner near the ceiling and smooth as you go. Take a little extra time to step back and admire what a difference an accent wall can make.
2. Renovation has closed. In cumulative terms, you likely spend a significant amount of time storing and organizing the pieces that make up your wardrobe and rummaging through an overlooked corner for something to wear every day. Why not make your closet space a nicer place to spend what amounts to a couple of hours each month? Choose a stylish temporary wallpaper pattern and cover all three walls to create a cute closet that might make you want to keep your closet door wide open.
3. Fix up the blank wall space under the kitchen cabinets. A large number of visible appliances and gadgets can take attention away from the gorgeous wall color you spent hours carefully applying to your kitchen walls. Adding temporary wallpaper in a complementary pattern to the backsplash between the cabinets and countertops is one way to take the casual gaze away from all that electronic bulk. If the kitchen has long been your decorative white whale, pay attention to the forgotten spaces in between: it’s the first step to experiencing elusive design nirvana.
4. Covers bruises. My 4-year-old son’s enthusiastic transitions from the basement to our kitchen eventually led to a doorknob-sized hole in the wall, slightly to the left of the entry. Repairing the damage included caulking the hole and heading to the hardware store to look through dozens of paint samples looking for one that would match our current wall color. Covering the damaged wall with temporary wallpaper (and giving our hallway a new look in the meantime) would have been a much simpler solution than filling in the holes and repainting. If you have kids, awkward roommates, or oversized furniture that you like to move around every few months, consider keeping a roll of temporary wallpaper on hand to hide dings and bruises in decoratively satisfying fashion.
5. Replace missing headers and add emphasis to shelves and drawers. Spend time redesigning spaces that are normally left to collect dust and knick-knacks, and you’ll have mastered the talented designer’s best defense against dull decor. If you’ve got extra pieces of temporary wallpaper left over, use them to line bookshelves or dresser drawers, or sculpt a stick-on headboard for the wall blank space on top of your bed. Complement an eye-level shelf or a monochromatic captain’s bed with a striped wallpaper background and breathe aesthetic new life into your prized book collection and cozy bedrooms.
Now that completing a wallpaper decorating project doesn’t require a stink-proof face mask and a world of confidence that the results will be adorable for months to come, homeowners and renters alike can realize their design dreams without commit to the same aspect. until the next long weekend arrives.
