Wednesday, August 1, 2012

DIY $2 Wallpaper...Say What?!? Recycled Hall Part 1

Click here to see an updated tutorial!

Hey there, friends! I hope you are having a superb day! I am in the process of re-doing our upstairs hall now. Apparently, I have a major crush on small spaces. I enjoy them because you can really let your imagination go wild in smaller areas. Our upstairs hall needed some desperate TLC and we didn't want to spend much money at all. After we painted the hall a nice warm grey (aka greige), I decided the walls needed a little extra pizzazz. I love wallpaper, but wanted to challenge myself to find a wall treatment using things we already had. We only had to purchase a few items to be able to give our "found" pieces a face-lift. It's so fun to shop around your home or garage, look at your junk with new eyes and breathe fresh life into them. It's a great money saver, as well, folks! When I go "shopping" in my home, I look at my unused items long and hard, walk away and come back and look again. I do this about two or three times until I come up with how I want to re-purpose them.
I stumbled across a vintage Shakespeare book that I got at a thrift shop for $2. I checked to make sure it wasn't valuable and decided a wall covered in pages from this was exactly what I wanted. It's not a new idea, but it's definitely one I love. It's cheap, easy and will cause very little damage to the actual wall.
Using old book pages for wallpaper is a perfect solution for a wall treatment in a rental home or any home, for that matter. I used some double-sided tape and started taping away, then discovered liquid cornstarch as a non damaging paste and did that instead The more you overlap the pages, the better it looks. They don't have to look perfect, remember torn edges add charm.

Take a break and...

  The great part about this project is, the sides don't come up if you used double sided tape or liquid cornstarch and you can always replace a sheet if one gets ruined. If you are in a rental and it's time to move, touch up the few places where the paper may take paint off. Most of this wall treatment is paper taped to paper, so it shouldn't be more damage than a few nails in the wall would have added. You could Mod Podge your papered wall if you wanted a more permanent, lacquered treatment.

What other "found" objects could you use to cover your walls? Record sleeves? Pictures? Pallet wood? Old letters or post cards? Thumb tacks (project coming soon)? We completed our little wall and are now off to complete our next batch of fun projects!
Speaking of cool wall treatments, check out my friend Genevieve's wall! She was going for a grown-up, shabby chic, glam, Alice in Wonderland look! I just love it!
I have such beautiful and talented friends! Great job Gen!

Below is another wall treatment I did using gems and pearls from the local craft store (when I was living in the States, that is)!

Over the next few posts, I will be showing you step by step how I created my recycled hall and it will end with the reveal!
Stay tuned for a tutorial on painting a custom rug!

Click here to see the final reveal!



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20 comments:

  1. Omg! I love it!!!! The best part is the spend 3 minutes having an awkward stare...lol I love reading your blogs! You have amazing tips, your designs are creative & unique...can't wait for the painted rug....

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    1. Thank you so much Miss Beverly! I always look forward to your kind comments! You are a doll! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

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  2. Looking great! Pretty and cost effective. Looking forward to more hallway projects!

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    1. Thank you so much! I should have another cheapo one up in the next few days! This hall was so fun! I hope you have a blessed day!

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  3. Just found your blog and had to say I love it! I love the book pages as wall paper!
    Keya

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    1. Thank you so much Keya! I really appreciate you stopping by! I hope you have a lovely day!
      -Molly

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  4. How creative! I would never have thought of this. Can't wait to see how it all turns out. And of course we love Penny checking you out on the stairs! :)

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  5. I love this look, and did the wall above my fireplace. I love the charm and character it adds instantly! Very pretty, and cant wait to see the final look! So glad you shared your creative inspiration with Sunday’s Best – your creativity helped make the party a success!

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    1. Oh awesome I bet it looks so cool! Thank you so much for hosting! I look forward to next weeks!

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  6. I love this so so so much!!!!!!!!!

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    1. Thank you so much Kristen! I really appreciate it! I hope you have a blessed day!

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  7. how your blog from a link in another blog and would like to do this wall treatment. one question - did you put tape JUST in the 4 corners OR did you run a strip down each side? absolutely LOVED the glitter wall decoration. beyond clever!

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    1. Hey there! So sorry it took so long for me to respond I JUST now saw this comment! i used it in the four corners and the center but would recommend doing as much as you can! or use the spray adhesive! Good luck , let me know how it goes!! :)

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  8. This is such a great look! I think I can pull it off in my guest bathroom! Question for you: What kind of double sided tape is that???

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    1. Hey there! If you do it in your bathroom you may want to mod-podge it so that it is water proof. If you do it and it starts to buckle or peel it's quite easy to fix. I am not too sure how it would work in a room that gets damp.. I used some heavy duty German tape.. If you own your home you could use spray sticky tack... it would work really well! Let me know how it works!! Thank you so much and have a blessed day!

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  9. Lucky me I found a copy of Shakespeare's Complete Works for $2 at Goodwill and I did this project! I do in fact have a much nicer copy of his works and the one I tore (yes, sacrilege I know) isn't worth anything. Long story short I did a wall in my living room and I used liquid starch instead of tape. Ummm, it turned out AWESOME!!!

    The next day I helped my neighbor paper her wall with Jane Eyre!

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    1. No way! How cool is that! I am thinking of doing this again in my barn! I just love it so much! I would love to see pics of how yours turned out! Can you e-mail me a few? xo

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  10. Sure! I'll email you the before and after shots.

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  11. planning on doing this with a bunch of comic books I bought on a trip to Sweden :) Would anyone happen to know if the comic books will bleed through?

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Thanks for the lovely comments! Each and everyone means so much to me! xo

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