Wallpaper

I am not a fan of wallpaper.  One of the first DIY projects I tackled by myself was stripping wallpaper out of the entry foyer of my Inner Circle house.  Amazingly in the opening description in that Facebook post I called it my most ambitious DIY project ever; that was in 2012.  I think I’ve beat that now.  Anyway stripping wallpaper has to be one of my least favorite projects to do.  I definitely had no intentions to hang any at my Henshaw home, until…………………….

My friend Joan shared that in her first apartment she hung wallpaper in her closets, so guest got a pleasant surprise when they opened them.  I loved that idea, so I started combing the Internet.  I was hoping to find something uplifting, positive, motivational, so a search for motivational wallpaper led me to a site called Murals Your Way.  That is where I found the perfect covering for inside my entry foyer closet (the only one I’m going to cover).  The artist is Valentina Ramos and her piece is called Follow Your Dreams.  It was perfect.

Since my closet wasn’t one of the standard sizes offered I placed a call to their help desk and spoke with Cheryl Alarcon.  She was an absolute delight to work with.  I ended up ordering a custom size and she provided me with this mock-up to show me the white space that would be at the top and bottom.  I ordered their SmartStick – peel and stick for smooth surfaces, but they also offer pre-pasted wallpaper and two commercial grade products.  Despite it’s size and thickness, it was easy to hang.

That closet is very narrow, not wide enough for a rod with hangers, it just had a shelf and a board with hooks that I did salvage during demo.  Using my same three-step process (denatured alcohol, Restor-a-Finish and Watco Rejuvenation Oil) I got the hook board and shelf cleaned up and installed.  Once the hooks and shelf were installed I dug out a door knob and put it in place.  That closet is for guest coats only, so I hope they’ll leave inspired.  Of course in the summer, when coats aren’t worn,  I’ll just have to show it off.

The only other wall to receive wallpaper is the master bath water closet.  When my parents built Inner Circle, they put wallpaper in most of the house.  When I was cleaning out the basement in preparation for the move I came across two boxes filled with remnants of all the original wallpaper.  The paper you see in the featured image was hung in the basement bathroom at Inner Circle.  There was just enough to cover the walls in front and behind the toilet, so my father hung it for me when he was here at Thanksgiving.  It fits in perfectly.