This past week I tried my hand at wallpapering a room for the first time and let’s just say it’s a lot like wrapping up a big, slimy Christmas present but with higher stakes. I only had one single roll of 1940s wallpaper (purchased from this amazing store) so I had to be extra careful to ensure I’d have enough to cover the whole room. If you’re not ready to take the plunge and paper a room, a great alternative is to paper your kitchen or bathroom cabinet doors. Less mess, less money, less time! Also- if you landlord is a stickler for rules, this project could easily be done on mountable pieces of thick cardstock and attached with removable adhesive strips. -amy m.
CLICK HERE for the full project after the jump!
What you’ll need:
- paper (I used wallpaper, but you can use pages from a book, gift wrap, etc…)
- paint
- wallpaper paste
- paint brush
- L square ruler
- scissors or x-acto knife
Remove cabinet door and hardware. Paint molding of door and let dry.
After roughly measuring to make sure your paper is a few inches longer and wider that your cabinet door, spread a thin layer of wallpaper paste to the wrong side of your paper. Gently fold in half, pasted sides together, making sure not to crease the fold. This is referred to as booking wallpaper, it allows the paste to absorb while you get ready to trim your paper.
Take an L square ruler and square off a perpendicular line along the lengthwise edge of your paper. Measure out from the line the width of your cabinet and mark. Repeat process from the fold, measuring ½ of the final length of the cabinet.
Carefully trim all marked lines using scissors or an x-acto knife and ruler. I used scissors as my vintage paper was very delicate and ripped when using a knife.
Gently peel apart your paper and center it on the cabinet door, matching the top two corners. Press down the paper starting from the middle and work your way out, smoothing out air pockets as you go. Re-attach hardware and hang.
