I spent $13 to make this paper-covered wall. No joke! It's amazing what a pad of scrapbook paper and some glue dots can do.
Our basement is mostly unfinished, meaning it has cement floors and exposed brick walls. The one basement room that is finished is one big rectangular area. We use it as a craft room / workout room / kids' playroom. Until I win my dream $10,000 Pottery Barn Kids Makeover, I'm doing what I can as inexpensively as I can to make it pretty.
I bought a stack of the premium type 12 x 12 scrapbook paper. I chose the Vibrant Treated Paper Pad because it's super colorful - perfect for my kids' play area. And you can't tell from the pictures, but some of the sheets are embossed and some have some sparkly elements.
I refuse to buy anything full price at Hobby Lobby since they usually have 40% off coupons and tons of weekly specials. It's a matter of principal/obsession for me at this point. Anyway, 90 page stack of paper - $19.00 on sale for $10.00. Glue dots - $4.49 on sale for $2.25.
Disclaimer: I know for sure that those glue dots are going to be a complete pain to take off the wall later. I'm choosing to live recklessly in the now.
So I figured out how many sheets I needed up and across to cover the wall. Since the paper is 12 x 12, it was pretty easy to figure out. When I was doing the math, I noticed that I did have a few vertical inches left, so I left 2 inches at the top and bottom of the wall bare. I could have cut some of the paper to make it fit, but I really wanted perfect 12 inch squares, so I just left a little bit of the wall blank. I would suggest that if you do a wall like this you do an entire row across and an entire row down before you do anything else. Just to make sure they fit the way you want. After that you can go for it!
3 hours and 2 margaritas later it looked like this:
Well, it kind of looked like that. There might possibly have been some rehanging and staging and picking up of a zillion toys before this picture. And maybe it's because it was dang cheap to make, but that wall just makes me happy.
54 comments:
AWESOME!!!!!!!
I LOVE YOUR IDEAS!!
That is a wonderful idea!
My daughter has been bugging me to let her paint her room (she's 14) with polka dots or some such, she's not sure.
This would look soooo much cooler!
gorgeous! go on with your crafty bad self!
What an adorable idea!!! Great use of your Savy Frugalness! lol (if that is a word!)
Bravo!
You are the most creative person! AND the cleverest!!!
Darcy, What a cute idea! I love it!
Oh wow! I really love this! Now that really gives me ideas on what to do with all my scrapbook paper!!! Tahnk you so much for sharing this!
found this via parent hacks. I will be linking to this next sunday (on my weekly links post!)
so cute and I am so doing this!!!
Wonderful idea! And it turned out adorably!! Great job!
Super cute! I know exactly which scrapbooking tablet you used. I have a bunch of those as well. Great idea! Love the whimsy and the color!
kristen
Love your work and you are so clever to do something like that! What an inspiration to us all...
That looks awesome, love the idea. Blog looks great too!
Woman!! You Amaze Me!!!! :) I have a wall or two for you here!! :) LOL
so cute - now I'm inspired to try paper where I used to have fabric when have some free time next week. Looks great !!
LOVE IT!!!! Super duper jealous sister!!!!!!! xoxoxoxo
WOW! great idea, thanks so much for sharing both the idea and the how-to! love it!
Great idea - and great pictures. Thanks for sharing!
That reminds me of the floor my sister created for her nursery. She went to the carpeting stores and asked for samples that they were no longer using, and covered the entire nursery floor with carpet squares. It looked really fun, and it was free.
Hi I got the link to your blog on twitter. I love this! Can you help me understand this part though. Did you just put a glue dot in each corner of the 12x12 peice of paper? Are you worried about the paper being ripped off the wall easily? Or is it tacked down pretty well? Anyway, this is such a great idea! Thanks for sharing!
I just LOVE reading all your wonderful comments! It just makes my day! Thank you!
Anonymous, I put one large glue dot in each corner. A couple of my papers did start to bow out a little on the sides, so on those I just stuck an extra glue dot on each side. I'm not really worried about them getting ripped off, since I put them on a wall behind my kids' craft area. It's not really a wall they play by, they just do art there. But if a sheet or two of paper gets messed up, I plan on just replacing them individually. Thanks for your questions! :)
What a great idea! Would be so good for renters who cant really change the place! Very clever!
My daughter lives in an apartment and she saw this idea online and would love to do it in her bedroom.
She thinks they used tape to attach the paper.
Great idea!! And your wall looks fabulous! :)
This is seriously great!
Tip from my MIL--try hot glue. She's used it for years to put up posters in her room at school (teacher) and it holds forever but peels off easily without removing the paint. It even works on brick and cinderblock walls. I taught for 10 years and used it as well. She had a room she was in for many years, and just left stuff up and it stayed for as long as she needed it up. Amazing!
This is such a super awesome fabulous idea! I'm trying to think of which wall I can do it on at my house. . .
So clever! I must do this and soon.
PS - Your kids are adorable!
Such a great idea! That looks like so much fun.
Rock-o-licious idea....I just signed up to follow you....this Mama is totally impressed!
For your future removal...here's a tip: I work at Lowes in the paint & home decor depts....try Goof Off...it will be a time & LIFE saver!
creative blessings,Debbie
How creative! And inexpensive, too!
You are so clever!
This is beautiful!! What a wonderful (and inexpensive) decorating idea!
What did your kids think when they saw it?
LOVE it!! Great job!
Debbie - thanks for the smart idea with the Goof Off. I forgot all about that stuff - perfect!
SklyarKD - my kids loved it! Well, they loved it for about 1 minute, and then they didn't care one way or another. Oh well. I still love it! :)
amazing!! love it!
this is great!!!! My head is working over time and I'm wondering which wall in my house I can try this on!!!!
Ok....seriously CUTE! I totally had no clue that that was exposed wall at the top and bottom...totally thought it was decorative molding. So fun. Love the colors!
What a great idea! It looks so colorful and fun-plus it was frugal, which is of course awesome in my book!
it's... it's... wonderful!
This is brilliant! One of my babies has been peeling the paint off the walls in her room for some time now. No punishment can make her stop. I'm now thinking she should just go for it, and then I can paper the wall! Of course, that will probably get torn off too, but at least it would be easy to replace! Thank you for this fabulous idea. Love it!
NO way that is paper? Wow I'm so impressed! Ok do your kids not write on the walls? LOL Caden has gotten into this horrible habit, and the magic eraser has become my new best friend ;)
(Just randomed in from OnePrettyThing...) I LOVE this idea! I've been agonizing over how to decorate my DD's walls (which are currently nasty brown paneling), and this is the perfect solution! And it won't even matter if she goes crazy on it with a crayon, because it's already paper!
wicked! i love it, esp for a playroom!!
I LOVE this!!!!!!!! I have patchwork scrapbook squares all over my kitchen and I have never seen anything close until I saw your playroom!!!! Great job- it looks so happy :)
this is so cool! this is my first time on your site but i added you on my happy list because this is SO COOL! i want to go make something like this somewhere in my house...right now!
What a fun - and cheap- way to jazz the playroom up. SO fun! Now I'm trying to figure out where I can use this idea in my own home. Thanks for sharing it!
Loudonland.blogspot.com
What a great idea - looks fabulous!
LOVE it! So fun! My daughter might try it this summer in her room. (No margaritas for her!)
LOVE THIS IDEA!!! I have TONS of scrapbooking paper but I've never thought of papering the walls with it!!!
Thanks!! =)
FAB-U-LOUS!!! I so wish i could do this right now, however, we may be selling our house soon. BUT- when we move I am SOOOOO doing this somewhere in our next home!!! LOVE IT!!! Hmm... i ama teacher, maybe I can do this on my bulletin board to give it some UMPH!! :)
Your article was posted @ THC this week.
Thanks. Abi
I absolutely love this! I have been looking for ideas to decorate the nursery for a son that will be arriving in November. You've totally inspired me!
I have done lot of research on the web for Kids Playroom Ideas and find spacify to be comprehensive resource for Kids Playroom Furniture. Check it out.
luv luv luv it! Now I have to look at the rest of your blog!
I just had to follow you, your blog is just too fantastic not to. I love this idea!
My husband is right now in the process of finishing a playroom in our basement and I LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea! Thank you so much for sharing :-)
Wow this is something I could do and it would look good. lol Very creative!
lisastassforth@sbcglobal.net
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