Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Quick,Inexpensive wall covering option- You'll love it!!

Now that I have finished my headboard I'm ready to move to another room and my "office/craft room/guest room" is next. Just the fact that the room has to serve all those needs tells you that this will be a challenge. And to top it off. it's not that large a room, its only 12 x 10.5 '. It currently just has a desk and 2 small bookcases in it. Oh, and a left over chest of drawers that is on it's way to the basement. One of the walls in this room loses about 3.5' due to a closet that "sticks" out of one corner




I'm kinda over this animal print look. After all, it's followed me through 3 different houses. I think I've had enough. I want a lighter more feminine looking workspace.

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/85/5a/98/855a98ee564344b0ab514b03263048d1.jpg
Feminine Office Design, Pictures, Remodel, Decor and Ideas
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These  pics speak to the general look ( remember I said general, no way will I have the budget or space to do all this) that I want. I like the light airy look of the first pic but I also want a bold accent wall.
                                                    






Not sure if I'm this bold, but I think I like it!









Very daring and I LOVE it!

I wanted to start with the walls. The paint in this room is in good shape, the room hasn't seen too much use so I don't have to paint. The walls are a very pale soft grey that only looks grey when you notice the white trim. The one wall that always catches my eye and whispers "accent wall, accent wall" is where I started. This wall  has white bead board half way up.  I wanted to really make the top half of the wall pop with color. After deciding that I didn't want a solid wall, I started looking for some fabric to apply to the wall. But then...


I spotted this wrapping paper in Marshalls and I fell in love with it,  What's not to love? It's a stylized chevron pattern using two of my favorite colors, turquoise and pink. This paper is really cool because it isn't paper. Nope, it's not vinyl either. This paper is called Stone Wrap by Loft 213, it's made from limestone!





The price was right, $2.99 a roll and because it's so wide, 30" I only need 2 rolls for the top half of my accent wall. That's less  than $6.00. You can't buy a quart of good paint for $6.00!  Next, I had to figure out how to get the paper ( sorry, don't know what else to call this stuff) to stay on the walls without damaging the walls. If you are renting or leasing ( or just live with someone who hates glue, paste, etc on the walls) you understand. Well, here's what I found and it really gets the job done. 3M Command Poster Strips work perfectly. They are so thin that they aren't noticiable at all. I used the small strips. A package of 12 for $3.00 at Targets.

Here's why you should not lie to yourself, you know you can't see that tiny print. Go get your readers.!! I put the first 4 Command strips on wrong. But, so far so good.
Each piece of my paper is approx. 46" x 30", so to make sure they stay put I put a strip at least corner and one on each side mid way down. That means I'll need 18 strips total. That's $6.00 for Command strips for a total cost of approx. $12.00.




Just 3 other prints, there are even more available.
 
 This paper comes in so many cute patterns that I'm going to head back to Marshalls for more of it so that I can change this accent wall if I want. I saw two other patterns that would so work with the colors I plan to use in this room.

Here is the wall.

First sheet up, no problems!




Wall's all done!

If you plan to try this with other wrapping paper, go for it. My only word of caution is to look at your paper carefully before you cut it. I did discover a flaw in my second roll and had  to go back for more. But at $2.99 a roll, I'm  not too mad about it. I took the paper back and explained that I didn't see the flaw before I cut it, and they gladly exchanged it for another roll and apologized for the inconvenience. Way to go Marshalls!
This project took less than 40 minutes. I measured twice before cutting and spent time matching the pattern. I plan to paint my desk and bookcases white and will add a large chalkboard that I spied at Marshalls on this patterned wall. I also will be painting a 5x7 area rug that I got for $4.95 at a local thrift store. There's lots to be done in this room. Stay tuned, I plan to share it all with you.





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