If you follow along on my YouTube channel, then you know I am systematically working my way through my entire home revamping every single room. I have completed (almost) the dining room and the kitchen. The kitchen is awaiting new appliances and counters while the dining room is simply awaiting the addition of the antique beams on the ceiling. They have both come out beautiful, even more beautiful than I could’ve ever expected. They are so much lighter and brighter. The natural light my dining room now gets is mind blowing from where it was.
I wanted to do what I thought would be an easy revamp this time around, so I chose my hallway as the next “room” to be upgraded. We use it every day as it connects one half of the house to the other and I just couldn’t take the dark and dreariness of it any longer. It was dark and not very well decorated. I just threw some pictures up when I moved in, and they were just lackluster sitting on the wall. It was time… but what was I going to do to it? In keeping with my light and bright farmhouse cottage vibe, as well as the color pallet I have chosen to go throughout the home, I decided to find a white based wallpaper to use on an accent wall and then use the rest of the White Opulence paint by Benjamin Moore that I had left over from the dining room on the other three walls. As you can see, the original wall color was what the majority of the house had in it: Jackson Brown. It’s a dull, blahh brown that looks like a toddler pooped their pants and then painted the walls with it. It was literally disgusting and dingy looking regardless of the limited lighting the room offered.
I’ve always been a huge proponent of wallpaper. I’ve used it throughout the years in my own homes as well as in clients’ homes. I simply adore the personality it brings to a room, far beyond what paint can do alone. The choices and possibilities are endless with wallpaper. There’s literally something for everyone. I knew I wanted to find one that was light and bright but that also had a beautiful, antiquated look to it. I wasn’t looking for loud and bold for this space. I took a trip down to my local decorating center. I’m truly grateful that we have one in our town. I know you can buy wallpaper off the Internet, but I am an instant gratification kind of girl and I need to see it and feel it on the spot. I don’t have the patience to wait for it to come in the mail, and don’t get me started that I need to purchase a sample to see if I like it. That process just isn’t for me. I prefer to go to my local center and peruse the multiple books they have right there already. They are loaded with various patterns, textures, colors and themes. It really can be overwhelming to some but take my advice on this and it won’t be. Start by having somewhat of an idea of what you’re looking for. This is as simple as asking yourself what kind of design are you attracted to and what kind of vision do you see in this space? This simply means do you prefer geometrics, florals, plaids, birds etc. You get the idea. Once you have an idea of what you want you will be able to narrow your choices down. All the wallpaper books are themed. And by having your specific idea in mind you will be able to find wallpaper books that fit your vision. You won’t need to go through them all. You’ll be able to find the books that fit your vision based off their titles. If you cannot narrow down a specific type, then you can narrow down a specific theme such as Farmhouse, Kitchen and Bath, Country Cottages etc. This will be less daunting than going through them all.
Another great feature of using your local decorating center is the fact that you can take the sample books home!! It’s just like checking out a book at the library. My local decorating center just takes down my name and phone number and then the books I want to bring home. There is no charge for this with them. I prefer this option as it allows me to see how the different papers will look on the wall. I just have my husband hold them up so I can stand back and see for myself how it looks in the space. This is also great so that you can see exactly how the color will be in your space with your lighting. There’s nothing worse than putting up a wall color or wallpaper and then having the tone of it change completely from what you thought it would be. That can literally ruin a design. So, I always bring the books home so that I can see the different papers in my living spaces and know exactly what the final result will be. I was able to narrow down my selection to three different prints. From there I was able to narrow it down to the absolute best for my space. I ended up choosing a wallpaper from the Magnolia collection. I loved the antiquated details the print offered, and the color was perfect for my overall theme and pallet. It keeps the line of sight cohesive and that’s also an important element of design.
In order to know how much wallpaper you need for your space you need to do a little measuring and then a little math. It’s an easy enough equation. This is an important step as each roll of wallpaper can only cover a certain number of square feet. You’ll want to make sure this number is accurate so that you get the same dye lot number when ordering your paper. This is important to keep the color tone of the paper the same. Different dye lot numbers equal different tones of the same color and are quite noticeable so make sure you measure accurately and do the math. It’s simple enough on our Smartphones today. First measure the space you will be covering. Take into account the measurements of any windows or doors that occupy that space and therefore will not require any wallpaper, obviously. Once you have those measurements you can find the square footage of the area to be papered. To find the square footage of the area multiply the length by the width. This number is the square footage number. Now do the same with the windows/door dimensions. Write all numbers down for easy reference. Subtract the window/doors square footage number from the area square footage number. This will tell you how much paper you need to order. Most paper is sold in double rolls only, so when you are looking at a book and looking at the price, double it. That’s only for a single roll… which they do not sell… but that’s how they price and market it… Hmmmmm…. The Conspiracy Theories there! Anyhow, now you have your square footage number for the area you will be papering. One more thing you need to take into consideration is the pattern repeat number (if any) on the wallpaper you ultimately choose. A pattern repeat number basically stands for the number of inches each length of wallpaper will take before lining up the pattern for a seamless look. Depending on the width of the wallpaper that means that roughly two square feet will be wasted each time I start another row and line my pattern up. This number must be taken into consideration when ordering the wallpaper. If you have any questions on how to figure that equation out you can call the manufacturer and they are more than happy to make sure you are ordering enough. For example, my chosen paper had a 12″ pattern repeat. For the width of my paper I would need to put up 5 1/2 rows for my wall width, so I needed to make sure I took into account roughly 10 more square feet that I would need for the overall space to ensure that I could line the pattern up seamlessly. I just added that to my original number I had already found and made sure I ordered enough to cover the space. It sounds much harder than it is. Cliff notes: Length X’s Width. Minus any negative areas, and add in the pattern repeat number.
I prepped my walls by removing the existing picture hardware and filling in the holes with spackle. Once it dried, I sanded it down nice and smooth suing a 220-grit sandpaper. You even want to do this on walls that will be covered in wallpaper. Always start with a smooth surface. You’ll see every flaw behind it of you don’t. I wanted to keep this makeover on a tight budget as well. I don’t really give myself a budget per say, but I want to spend as little as possible while achieving an amazing end result. I want that high-end look for less. Because I was wallpapering the largest wall in my hallway, I really didn’t need much paint to use on the other three walls, thanks to 3 single doorways and a large, double doorway. Plus, I have shiplap that goes halfway up my walls which also lessens the area to be painted and papered. I still had a decent amount of the White Opulence paint by Benjamin Moore that I used in my dining room so that’s what I was going to use in this small area. It costs zero dollars to use something you already have. I used a small detail brush and went around the ceiling perimeter and the wall openings and then used a roller with a fine knap to roll on two coats of the paint. You could instantly see the brightness factor going up by about a thousand. I also like to paint the ceiling line and the floor line of the area that I am wallpapering, especially if the colors are two significantly contrasting colors such as brown and white. By doing this, it ensures that you will not see any brown poking out above or below the wallpaper rows. My home is a 1960’s home and things settle and shift throughout the years which may change some things so by doing this small step I know that the finished look will be perfect and seamless. There’s nothing worse than working hard on something and having one little detail ruin it. This way the white just blends into the ceiling color as well as the chair rail line.
It was ready to put the wallpaper up but first I made sure that I had the proper tools for the job. That is an important step. Chances are you’ve paid a pretty penny for your wall covering. To make sure the job looks seamless and professional you have to make sure that you have a few tools for the job:
- You’ll need a wallpaper brush. This is used to smooth out the wallpaper once you apply it to the wall. You want to make sure you use an X pattern and always brush outwards from the center of each row you are putting up. This will ensure that you do not create any creases in your wallpaper, which is easy to do if you don’t heed my warning.
- I like to also have a plastic scraper/smoother on hand. That is also used the same way as the wallpaper brush, but I find that it actually gives me more ability to really push the paper down while holding the smoother on an angle. It also helps to get any excess wallpaper glue out from behind the paper.
- You need a seam roller. This is available in a plastic or wooden form. I personally like the wooden one but that is only a preference for me. They both will work. You’ll use this to roll over two connecting seams ensuring a flawless seal on the edges. You ultimately want the seams to be hidden and not visible in the end result so take your time lining it up and make sure to roll those seams.
- I like to have a couple new razor blades ready to cut the top and bottom of each row. When you put a row up on your space, you’ll go a little over on the top and the bottom. Always leave an extra inch or so on each length cut. Then you can go over those areas and trim them off using a sharp razor blade and your plastic smoother, which makes a great edger for trimming. Win win!
- Lastly, even though most wallpaper comes pre-pasted, meaning you only need to place it in water to activate the dried paste on the backside, I like to use a wallpaper paste. It makes me feel better and, in my mind, creates a much better adhesion.
Now make sure you can do this uninterrupted. There’s nothing worse than being in the middle of something and having to stop. That totally annoys me. Put some music on and start wallpapering. Take your time. Line things up and remember that you can re-lift the paper if you need to, to line things up better. Just take your time. That’s the biggest thing.
Now it’s time for the fun! I’ve been collecting vintage finds for months now, just waiting for the opportunity to create a Wall of Fabulousness. Most people call them Gallery Walls, but not me. I’m always a little extra with all that I do and creating a Gallery Wall just wasn’t good enough for me. I needed a Wall of Fabulousness. All my treasures were finally going to be displayed as a collection. I haven’t been this excited since Christmas Eve 1980. Everything that I had been collecting for this space was finally going on the walls, the shelves… wherever I found their homes to be. There are certain things that I collect, such as mirrors, baskets and vintage prints of kids and pets. I have amassed quite a bit of those items plus a variable number of different treasures. Enough in fact to do another Wall of Fabulousness somewhere else in my home, but that’s another blog post. Also, because I just painted and wallpapered this area, I did not want to put holes back up on the walls. At least if it could be avoided that is. I used clear Command hooks, clear thumb tacks and Command Strips, which are like Velcro pieces for the backs of things that don’t have a hanger on them. These are especially useful for someone like me who changes their minds so very, very often. I was able to hang up the majority of my treasures this way, and the few that needed more received actual picture hooks hammered in the walls. Luckily, there were only a few items that I felt needed a bit more behind them. It was nice to see my collections grouped together. There was a lot of editing in the process of getting the Hall of Fabulousness together, but the end result is pretty spectacular I must say.
The final piece to this puzzle was to give the sideboard table a makeover as well. It started out with a barn red color and wood tones. It even had wooden handles. For this space I decided to paint the piece using the Magnolia paint in the color Sir Drake. This is the paint I used on my kitchen island makeover, but I actually purchased it specifically for this piece. Using it in both rooms like that provides a cohesive look throughout, which as I have said before is a very important factor for creating the perfect, seamless space or spaces. I also replaced the hardware on the draws with some beautiful brass door pulls. Instead of stripping the top and making a mess, I decided to use the Retique It woodgrain kit that I used on the kitchen island top. I had plenty left over for this project and there was no mess from stripping and sanding. This piece came out beautiful and now makes a statement in the hallway adding to the overall fabulousness that space now has. I used two matching candlestick lamps that I had and put them on top of the sideboard piece. I like that much better than the original wall lights. Besides, I wasn’t willing to put those kinds of holes in my beautiful new paper so this just made the most sense.
The space came out magnificent, and I am so in love with my Hall of Fabulousness! Seeing my treasures and collections finally together in their intended spots warms my heart. AS a maximalist, this space really speaks to me. There is still a bit more room to add a few more treasures but for now, I think it’s pretty incredible. The space is lighter and brighter even with the lights off. The space feels more intentional and alive. There is a personality that this hallway now has that it lacked before, and the overall look is keeping the exact same vibe and design I am working so hard to achieve… One room at a time. If you’d like to watch the transformation of this room take place, you can view it on my YouTube channel by clicking here.https://youtu.be/rMyTq2eSGz4
