Fun Ways to Get Creative with Wallpaper
Updated on February 10, 2016
Wallpaper is a great way to spice up any room. The variety of colours, patterns and textures is practically unlimited! It’s a jazzier alternative to painting and it skips that unfortunate “freshly painted house” smell that lingers for weeks.
For very creative people, however, wallpaper is an even more versatile tool. With a little DIY work, the number of projects that you can create using wallpaper is practically endless.
Check out these creative project ideas that prove that wallpaper is for more than just the walls!
Bookshelves
Pasting wallpaper in a bright colour or an eye-catching pattern on the back panel of your old bookcase will transform it into a whole new piece of furniture. Choose a wallpaper that matches your current decor, something that contrasts it interestingly, or something you like so much that you just might switch up the rest of the room to suit it!(Photo source: DIY on the Cheap)
Closet Doors
Did you fall in love with a wallpaper that really makes a statement, but just too loud of a statement for the walls of your room? Try pasting it on the closet doors instead! The paper will still be bold and visible, but you’ll feel less overwhelmed when you enter the room.(Photo source: House Beautiful)
Ceilings
You can still get creative with wallpaper even if you are using it on the walls! In rooms with unique architectural angles, pasting the same uniform pattern on both the walls and the ceiling ties the room together so it looks less sectioned.(Photo source: My Home Ideas)
Headboards
Sure, you could use wallpaper to give an old headboard some flare. If you live in a small space, however, why not skip the bulky headboard and just create the illusion of one from the wallpaper itself? Choose a colour or pattern you love, sketch and cut out the shape of whatever style headboard you please, and paste the paper on the wall so it stands just behind your bed!(Photo source: Martha Stewart)
The underside of the staircase
If your staircase has a blank underside, why not make use of that space? It’s not the ideal place for pictures since it’s angled, but it’s still a great spot for some texture! Choose a patterned wallpaper that matches the decor scheme in your hallway and past it along the underside of the stairs.(Photo source: Apartment Therapy)
Doors
Perhaps you’d like to keep the decor inside your bedroom simple overall but you need one impressive stand-out area? Perhaps you’ve decided to go all out with texture and pattern and you’re looking for consistency? Wallpapering the door of a room can suit all kinds of aesthetics!(Photo source: House Beautiful)
Lampshades
Wallpaper is great for smaller accent pieces too! Try pasting it around the outside of a lampshade in order to give your room just a pop of colour or texture that coordinates with the rest of your decor.(Photo source: Martha Stewart)
Chairs
Chairs are an important feature in any house. Maybe you’ve kept an old chair neat the front door for when you put your shoes on or in your bedroom for when you style your hair. Has that old chair seen better days? Try giving it a new lease on life with some awesome wallpaper, some spray adhesive, and layer of gloss to seal it!
Shapes
If your walls are really what’s screaming for a facelift, wallpaper can still come to your rescue in creative ways. Instead of paper the entire wall, why not try just using cut out shapes? This gives your room a pop of colour, pattern, or texture without overwhelming the entire space. Arrange triangles in a patter, place strips at an angle across one wall, or scatter polka dots throughout the room!(Photo source: Stylecaster)
Staircases
We already talked about making over the underside of your stairs, but wallpaper is a great option for the stairs themselves as well! Liven up your journey to the second floor every day by pasting bright wallpaper on the front face of each step so it shows boldly when you look up from the bottom floor.(Photo source: DIY Network)
Picture frames
Hanging pictures around your home is a great way to decorate. It adds a personal touch and it’s a cost effective decor solution because you can change the pictures whenever you please. Once you’ve grown tired of those same old picture frames, however, you can still update things without throwing them out and getting new ones! Cover the frame in wallpaper for a change in colour or pattern accents.(Photo source: Laura Ashley)
More picture frames
Maybe you’ve already got some picture frames you love, but you don’t like how actual images look with the rest of your decor? Choose some wallpaper in complementary colours and patterns and use squares of each in place of pictures. Hang your decorative frames as a collage or pattern, or stand the frames on tables where the wallpaper complements nearby furniture pieces.(Photo source: Better Homes and Gardens)
Electrical plates
Even the fine details in your rooms should be considered a chance for decor! The plates covering light switches and electrical outlets are a good opportunity for subtle decoration or a little complementary pop of colour. Covering them with wallpaper helps them blend into the rest of your aesthetic rather than standing out in white contrast.(Photo source: Real Housewives of Riverton)
Dressers
There’s no limit to what you can do with some wallpaper and an old dresser! Do you want to give it a complete makeover? Wallpaper the entire thing! Would you rather have it look like an accent piece? Put wallpaper just on the fronts of the drawers and leave the rest natural. Are you still hoping for something more subtle? Consider wallpapering just the inside of the drawers and the long sides along the runners. This way, the paper will only peek out when the drawers are opened!(Photo source: Retrovilla)
Appliances
That’s right, even your washer and dryer can be spruced up with a little bit of wallpaper! If your laundry appliances are in the kitchen, blend them better into the decor with a some coloured patterned, or textured wallpaper. If they’re in a separate laundry room that guests won’t see, go crazy! Choose a wild paper that wouldn’t suit the rest of your house but that you just couldn’t resist.
Have you tried other wallpaper crafts that let you refresh your home and get creative with it? Tell us about them in the comments!