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Design Sponge
July 22nd, 2009
Wallpaper

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(photo by perfectbound)

If you’re anything like us, you have stacks of loose papers everywhere you look. How about turning those into a decorating solution? When we first saw paper plastered to the wall, we definitely thought it was a different approach to the term “wallpaper”.

Now that we’ve had the pleasure of living in an old apartment building, with all the charm that comes with it, it’s caught our attention that perhaps it may be a good idea after all! Fixing imperfections with the walls is hardly a realistic option with a rental. Paper allows us to put all that loose paper, and all of our favourite quotes, lyrics and excerpts to good use.

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left: LivingEtc, right: Elle Decor Italy

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Fabulously Green
Tiled tear sheets from magazines or books are a wonderful alternative, if you know what you want and want it fast.

CLICK HERE for the rest of the wallpaper post after the jump!

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Domino Oct ‘08

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close up of photo mantel

And we can’t forget photos! We have a mantel with no ideas as to what to do with it. But this seems like a good solution!

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Domino June/July ‘08

Now, what to use to apply the paper to the wall… who has tape?

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20 comments
Alyn Carlson said:
July 22nd, 2009 - 8:38 am

I love words. Words to communicate. Words to use as texture. Words to use as wallpaper. Very nice.

July 22nd, 2009 - 8:47 am

so excited to see you guys here!!! I spotted Up in the Air Somewhere’s booth at BKLYN renegade back in June and their booth had sheets of square paper overlapping tops and bottoms. Totally inspired me to give it a try! I’m going to attempt to cut half moons to get a more fishscale look. Or maybe cut white paper plates in half? We’ll see!

Laura. said:
July 22nd, 2009 - 9:32 am

this is great! i have been trying to think of what to do with all my random photos, papers, etc., wanting to display them/keep them from shuffling around on my desk without it looking like a dorm room.

Haley said:
July 22nd, 2009 - 9:51 am

Magazines and newspaper applied to walls as wallpaper is a very old idea. American pioneers did it often out in the country to decorate bedrooms. They liked to use old copies of catalogs (when all the images were gorgeous drawings) and sometimes had themes to the rooms. I’m glad it’s coming back. :-)

Leslie Kingery said:
July 22nd, 2009 - 10:12 am

Fantastic! Have seen these before, but always are inspiring.

Nat said:
July 22nd, 2009 - 11:50 am

I used old encyclopedia pages for our hallway wall. The key is to put down a layer of easily removed wallpaper backing first. Then we mod-podged the pages onto that. This way, we can take down the papers easily when we want to try something different.

July 22nd, 2009 - 1:01 pm

Great idea! I’ve been thinking about doing something similar to cover a nail ravaged wall in my studio. Thanks J & K for the guest post :)

Kiki said:
July 22nd, 2009 - 1:28 pm

what an awesome idea, thanks for all of the great inspiration!! I love seeing diy solutions for rentals it’s a challenge to make them pretty and not get in trouble!

July 22nd, 2009 - 2:28 pm

Haley: We’re glad, too! It’s such a great idea. So visually interesting!

Nat: Thanks for the tip! You’ve just saved us from hours of work in removal :)

We’re happy you’re all enjoying the posts so far! Thanks for all the comments, everyone.

Katie (Australia) said:
July 22nd, 2009 - 9:40 pm

Great Idea, my attention was actually drawn to the big fish!

Marla said:
July 23rd, 2009 - 1:49 am

I used Chinese newspapers, with the occasional red character, to wallpaper an old houseboat – lots of rave reviews

Terry said:
July 23rd, 2009 - 6:05 am

I “wallpapered” my guest room with torn tissue paper over a layer of paint and gloss-it gave the wall treatmetn the look of handmade paper and did a great job of covering flaws

Ulrica said:
July 23rd, 2009 - 9:14 am

Great ideas! It brings me back to my childhood and my Granny’s old summer house, she used to have newspapers on the walls in the outdoor toilet!:-)

MARiiMUNiiEKA said:
July 23rd, 2009 - 10:48 am

I love this idea…my boyfriend and I will do this in our bedroom restroom…He already started to place my love notes to him on the walls…for some morning inspiration… I know we can let our imagination loose and create something nice!

Thanks for this wonderful post and the amazing pictures!!

July 23rd, 2009 - 3:41 pm

Great to hear some of you have tried this out. Chinese newspapers, tissue paper: these sound like something to see!

Meredith Kole said:
July 23rd, 2009 - 10:05 pm

but doesnt newsprint yellow pretty quickly…? and the smell? what about that?

m said:
July 23rd, 2009 - 10:06 pm

Terry – do you have an image?

Annya U said:
July 23rd, 2009 - 11:54 pm

Great post and wonderful images, thank you! But would you like to make your next project a little greener? If yes, try using recycled materials or go here for more info:
http://www.auadesign.com/work/5-questions-green-designers-should-ask-a-printer.html

Connie said:
July 24th, 2009 - 5:26 pm

How do you go about pasting all the paper on the walls? Glue?

Eileen 2 said:
August 23rd, 2009 - 3:54 pm

I’d like to see a pix of Nat’s encyclopedia-walled hallway.

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