The vast improvement in the quality of wallpapers available today has made this product even more useful. If you are thinking of making over your home interior, make sure to save all the extra wallpaper from the project for future use and perhaps even invest in a few rolls of creative wallpaper designs.
To get the creativity flowing, here are eight ideas that you can use to improve the style of your home interior further.
1. Use wallpaper as a border for big and wide painted walls.
If you have used interior decorative concrete paint for some of your walls instead of wallpaper, create a sense of continuity by using long strips of wallpaper as a border, especially if the room doesn’t have molding between the ceiling and wall, or between the floor and the wall.
Creating straight strips can be a little tricky though, so make sure that you’re using sharp cutters and scissors to create clean lines.
2. Line cabinet drawers with wallpaper.
This is a popular shabby-chic strategy in customizing recycled or salvaged furniture. If the cabinet drawers are looking a little aged and painting them is not your idea of a quick solution for improving their appearance, the better option is just to use wallpaper as liners.
The great thing about this is that it’s easy to cut wallpaper to size, making the makeover project a breeze to complete. Also, you do not have to limit the cover to the insides of the drawers; you can also wallpaper the sides and front for complete uniformity.
3. Cover the wall behind the toilet with wallpaper.
This is another quick project to complete. If you want to make your bathroom more aesthetically appealing, use a bright, patterned wallpaper for the wall right behind the toilet; after all, this section of the bathroom doesn’t really get wet. Such an application will automatically liven up the bathroom by adding punches of vibrant colors and images.
This is a better alternative to hanging framed art, which may suddenly fall. Also, you can really use scraps of wallpaper for this project, and again bring a sense of continuity for the interior design of your home.
4. Frame your wallpaper.
Wallpaper designs these days are complete works of art. As such, they make fantastic and much cheaper substitutes for paintings.
Here’s a nifty little idea that’s not commonly used when it comes to framing wallpaper: Invest in a really big frame for a large piece of wallpaper, then attach another framed object to it. It could be a different piece of art or an ornately shaped mirror. With this DIY project, you can create a totally unique layered wall decor.
5. Replace vinyl tiles with thick wallpaper for kitchen or bathroom counters.
You may be thinking that no matter how thick wallpaper is, it will disintegrate over time with frequent contact with water. However, international interior design Rebecca Robeson says that with multiple coatings, you can get an impressively unique and heavy-duty countertop using wallpaper.
The multiple coatings will make the wallpaper water- and mold-resistant. At the same time, they will create a mirror-like finish to the material.
6. Turn it into a ceiling cover.
Wallpapered ceilings can make your home a bigger visual delight, and they make a lovely deviation from the conventional. They can give grand rooms a more elegant appearance because of the added texture and patterns.
Plus, for bedrooms, wallpapered ceilings can make lying down more interesting. Children’s imaginations will undoubtedly become stimulated when every time they lie down and wait for sleep to come, they can see lovely patterns and images.
7. Cover doors with it.
For the rooms that you didn’t cover with wallpaper, why not cover their doors with wallpaper? Custom-designed doors are all the rage these days. Some people use eye-catching colors of paint. Meanwhile, some invest in big doors made of metal treated to look like wood.
An easier and more cost-effective way to create fun doors is by using wallpaper. Peel-off wallpaper is particularly easy to use and cut to size, especially if your doors come with panels.
8. Create wall decals with it.
If you don’t mind putting a bit more work into decorating your home, consider cutting wallpapers into letters and figures to create one-of-a-kind decals. You can free-hand this or use a die-cut machine, which is actually sharp and sturdy enough for thick wallpapers.
As for the remaining scraps, you can put them through the die-cut machine again and create embellishments for journals and scrapbooks, or tree ornaments for the holidays. You can also use punchers and stencils that you can purchase from hobby stores if you do not have a die-cut machine.
There truly is no shortage of home improvement projects that you can be made better using high-quality wallpaper. You really are only limited by your imagination. So, the next time you’re thinking of changing your walls with wallpaper, do take the time to sit down and explore the many other applications for the material.
Author Bio
James Prathap is the General Manager at NGC Nafees, one of the leading distributors of wallpapers, floorings, and fabrics in the Middle East and South Asia. Formed three decades ago, the business also offers high-quality panoramics, coordinated fabrics, and creative stickers for residential and commercial projects.
