Walls Republic Wallpaper Challenge

by The Chirping Frog

When I received an email from Hometalk inviting me to participate in a new "Share-a-thon" involving Walls Republic Wallpaper products I jumped at the opportunity. I love to hang wallpaper (yep, I'm weird that way) and the new products with updated patterns are simply fabulous.
I had over a dozen patterns to choose from with a variety of color selections. Decisions, decisions! I finally narrowed it down to two, and the winner is Tia (pattern # 97461) in the color Dove.
Now, what am I going to do with it?

walls republic wallpaper challenge, painted furniture, repurposing upcycling, wall decor

I opted to give this old bed I've had in my stash for a while a much needed make-over. Now I'm just waiting for the paper.

Here it is and I think I'm in love! Its gorgeous with a bit of a woven appearance, extremely thick (I've hung lots of paper and never had one this thick) and sparkly. Just enough sparkle, not over the top. Can't wait to get started!

First, I gave the entire bed a coat of paint then, measured and marked the center. I unrolled the paper enough to play with it and make some decisions about how I wanted the design to look. I opted to run the pattern horizontally instead of vertical, thought it worked better and gave a better view of the overall pattern (especially when the bed is made with pillows, you won't see much of the bottom pattern but the top two will be perfect).

I hung this the way I would a wall, leaving inches on either end and cutting off excess once I had it up (FYI, with thicker paper its easier to cut it down to exact size first). I found the center of the pattern and cut it to length, marking the center to match up with the mark I'd already made on the center of the bed.

I have never hung paper without "booking" it first. (Booking is where you apply glue to the paper, fold the glued sides down on themselves and allow it to sit for about five minutes before you hang, it activates pre-glued papers and changes the texture of the paper making it a little more malleable, more easily ripped, and also makes for a fairly messy hang).

This paper is a "paste the wall" product and you're advised not to get any glue on the front. If you've hung paper before, especially with "booking", you know that's darn near impossible. Well, not so with "pasting the wall". Very clean process (well, I'm messy and still wiped glue all over my pants, but that's just me).

Whenever I hang paper I use a knife such as this one and have plenty of extra blades on hand. A sharp knife is a must to cut paper after its up. You'll make a mess of it and shred the edges otherwise.

I use a roller and also keep a paintbrush on hand when applying glue to the wall or in this case, head/footboard. I noticed with "paste the wall" I wasn't getting enough glue around the edges and had to come back in with the paintbrush and add some, careful to keep it off the front.

I did do a sample to try and show you why you don't want glue on the front but it doesn't show up very well in the photos. Suffice it to say you WILL see the glue on the front. It's got a different sheen and texture and it WILL stick out like a sore thumb on your finished product. Normally when I hang I keep a bucket of soapy water and clean rags handy, wiping off the glue as I go. There's always glue everywhere. Even then, if you're not careful and change the water and rag frequently you'll still see evidence of glue when all is dried (won't notice it till it dries and its too late so frequently change water and rags please).

Thankfully, this process of "paste the wall" completely rids you of such a time wasting and messy process. Its kind of great!

Once the paper dried I came back in and added another coat of paint.

I really love how the bed turned out and can't wait to put it to use. Thanks Hometalk and Walls Republic for the opportunity and the lovely paper.

I have enough left-overs to play around with and have a couple ideas in mind of how to use them. The paper was easy to use (love the "paste the wall" process), high quality and an over-all beautiful product. For a variety of patterns, murals and a wallpaper calculator to help you figure quantities visit their website at www.wallsrepublic.com.

This is now months later and I've had the chance to get a room put together using the bed. I am still completely in love with it and how the project turned out. The fabric backdrop is a dropcloth that I stenciled for a stencil challenge. I love to play with pattern and thought these two worked pretty well together.

I "used what I had" for everything in the room. The dropcloth was one I'd bought to reupholster an outdoor piece of furniture but never got it started. The lamps were garage sale finds that I painted black and coated the interior of the shade with metallic paint (the same paint I used to stencil the dropcloth).

The end tables were goodwill finds from a couple months ago that I hadn't done anything with yet. I considered painting them but again, haven't had the chance to do anything yet. I really love them how they are. The bedding and throw pillows were taken from other areas of the house. I am hoping to add some accessories over time and personalize the room a little bit but for now it's a perfectly functional, beautiful guest room for very little cost.

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2 of 73 comments

Kris on Apr 30, 2015
would like to see a pic of it all finished and made up with bedding, pillows, etc. in the room it will be moved to. i can picture it in my head and would love to see how it really looks. post an update please :)

1 Reply
The Chirping Frog on Jun 28, 2015
For those of you looking for a finished picture, here's one for ya.

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