New Pantry With Wallpaper From Walls Republic

Marj MRC Creations
by Marj MRC Creations
$20
7 Days
Easy
When I was asked to use wallpaper from Walls Republic http://www.wallsrepublic.com/ in a new project, I was very excited! I had seen their papers online and they have gorgeous, and I mean gorgeous patterns. I chose to revamp our plain pantry cabinet that we use for extra food storage. If I could, I'd use this wallpaper on many more items around the house, including a number of walls as I just love this pattern I chose. It's called "Serenity Sand" and can be found here: http://www.wallsrepublic.com/R1373-p/r1373-parent.htm
Here are some pics of my project and steps I took to complete it. It took me a while to get it all done, but that was because of hiccups with the priming and painting of it. I had used a latex primer and had to wipe it all off, as it wouldn't adhere to the surface. I then used an oil based primer and it was okay. In all, I spent money on the adhesive for the wallpaper, and a few pennies to make the paint, using a homemade recipe for chalk paint found online. Enjoy!
Here's our pantry we use for extra food storage. It's that typical laminate, thin wood/cardboard cabinet that you find anywhere. It looks okay, but I thought I'd do something fun to jazz it up a bit.
With some sand paper, I scratched the surface of the doors I was planning on covering in wallpaper so it would adhere better. I also had to prime them, and the entire cabinet.
I used an oil based high-adhesive primer, Zinsser Cover Stain Primer Sealer, on the doors and on the surfaces of the pantry that I planned to paint with a homemade chalk paint. I like to prime before applying chalk paint, even if it's not always necessary, just because it is a cheaper way to cover up a dark surface (rather than use an extra coat of chalk paint) and it gives me peace of mind that the paint should stay on.
This door has chalk paint on the frame and primer inside the frame. I painted the inside of the doors, but papered the outside.
Here you see two coats of a cream coloured homemade chalk paint (made with plaster of paris - you can find the recipe anywhere online). I planned on decoupaging the shelves and left the back panel bare.
Time to measure and cut the beautiful Serenity Sands wallpaper. I measured at least FOUR times before cutting as I didn't want to waste any paper. The wallpaper from Walls Republic is of very high quality and handles so well. I had no trouble using it for my project.
Making sure I had the exact measurements for the frame of the door, as well as the inset, I then applied a wallpaper adhesive with a foam roller. I used Dynamic Clear Wallcovering Adhesive and it worked beautifully.
Isn't that pretty? I love the subtlety of the pattern. This project was a challenge in many ways, due to the laminate of the cabinet when it came to priming and painting, but the wallpapering was the easiest and most fun part of it all!
I decided to use pages of recipes from an old Pasta recipe book I was no longer using. I glued them to the shelves, then glued on top to seal, giving it three coats. Before gluing on top of the pages, I 'dirtied' them up a bit with some watered down brown acrylic paint, to make them look aged. There was some bubbling, okay - lots of bubbling, but I then sanded the shelves down lightly to tone that down a bit.
It was a messy job, but turned out nicely!
Here it is, all finished! The wallpaper is sturdy, washable and makes a plain cabinet look pretty. I love it!
Here's a view of the inside.
Have a look at Walls Republic wallpaper: http://www.wallsrepublic.com/ It is a high quality paper, easy to apply and with their amazing, beautiful array of patterns, there are many things you can do with it.
Frequently asked questions
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  1 question
  • Kim Sobaszek Kim Sobaszek on Feb 12, 2019

    Hi, I am curious how this wallpaper has held up over time to use? Any paper peeling or lifting?


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  • Marj MRC Creations Marj MRC Creations on Apr 14, 2015
    Thank you so much! You are too kind. I really loved this wallpaper! I do wish my project had been an easy one, but I had trouble with painting this slick surface. The easiest and most fun part was using the gorgeous wallpaper. Oh - and I made a terrible "oops!" but didn't notice until yesterday. I put the doors on upside down!!! LOL The pattern of the Serenity Sand paper has the little crown at the top of the motif, not the bottom. Oh boy. Hubby will be reattaching the doors properly and I'll edit and add pictures once that's done. Sorry about that! ;)
  • Joanie Joanie on Jul 19, 2017

    If this if what you like..........Enjoy!!

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