Being home for 6 months and picking apart every detail of my home finally spurred me to complete my long awaited master bedroom refresh.
Here’s a little backstory. Because every blog post needs a back story (*insert eye roll from those of you here to get to the makeover stuff*) When I moved into my home 7 years ago the ENTIRE thing was painted in shades of brown. I am not exaggerating when I say this. It was like the realtor told the homeowners to go neutral (I can see the remnants of forest green and ruby red along the sockets) and they picked brown. Those of you who follow me know that brown is not my style. So I hastily went about painting the entire house top to bottom. I didn’t know a whole lot about painting back then and I was on a budget so I bought the cheapest flat finish paint I could find. Yes, flat finish. Little did I know that in a few short years tiny humans would come and swiftly destroy every flat painted surface with unmovable hand prints and scratches. Needless to say, within a few years it was time to paint the whole thing again.
So last year I picked out Magnolia ship lap wallpaper and an off white paint and promised to complete my master bedroom project. My wallpaper and best intentions sat in the garage for a whole year. Covid-19 hit and spending so much time in the house with a HUGE case of cabin fever finally kicked me into gear. Idle hands do the devil’s work and all that. So I dug out my decorating stuff, wallpaper and my very best painting clothes (I have lots now I’ve cleaned my closets out in the early corona virus clean out phase) and got to work. The whole project took 1.5 days and a lot of elbow grease but I am so pleased with the results.
My bedroom was painted what was meant to be grey but turned out blue (yes I know I should have tested). The colour was always a muddy blue, if that’s a thing. So to start with I painted the whole thing in “Mushroom Mousse” from Lowes. When you’re painting and intend to wallpaper it is always a good idea to paint a little of the wall you intend to wallpaper in the corners in case you don’t get it perfect.
Once that was dry I got started on the wallpaper. I’ve wallpapered before but never with pre-pasted. This necessitated a call to my dad first who talked me through it. Then it was go time. Here’s how I did it…
- Make a VERY straight line (I used string with scissors on the bottom that I held from the ceiling to get a straight line – gravity is marvelous) down the centre of the wall from ceiling to floor. This is the line you will use to hang the first piece. It is VERY important that this is straight. I cannot stress this enough.
- DO NOT measure the wall and then cut the paper. That is a folly as your wall/baseboard is not 100% straight and you will never cut the right amount. Put the roll up to the wall and measure how long a piece of paper you need. You will want to leave an inch or so at the top and bottom to make sure you have enough. It is WAY easier to cut the excess.
- Cut the paper to the size measured using VERY sharp scissors (the same ones you used to do the straight line is just dandy).
- Now wet the entire back of the paper using a spray bottle. I just used a plant mister but apparently you can get fancy wallpapering ones. (I should also mention I did this on the floor but honestly you should use a papering table unless you like ice skating on incredibly slippery wood floors). Make sure you get the edges nice and wet so they don’t peel up.
- Put the paper up to the line and press it in place. Use a plastic wallpaper scraper to get the bubbles out.
- Then using a razor cut the excess at the ceiling and baseboard.
- Use a seam roller to get those edges stuck down reeealll good.
- admire
- on to the next piece. Hold the paper to your first piece and find where the design repeats. It is really important that this is perfect or your whole wall will be off.
- Follow the same process.
- For plug sockets and switches I put the wet paper to the wall and then pressed around the sockets with my finger nail. Then take the paper back off the wall (yes you can do this). When you take it off you can see an indent in the paste where the plug is and you can cut. Make sure you go easy here as its easier to cut more. I did the same for door frames. I like the look of cutting the frame out of the paper rather than papering a tiny bit across the top of the door. Less seams = better.
- Keep going until you finish your whole wall. You did it you gorgeous wallpapering wizard!
Then I waited for it to dry and put the room back together. Here is the final result
It was maddening as the paper pattern was slightly off but you can’t really notice. I love how the paper looks and it’s a lot cleaner than real wood but still gives that rustic effect.
My rug is from well woven. It is the Cotton stem collection and I love it. For such a neutral room I needed a pop so the colours in this rug are perfect. I love it so much.
I finished off the look with accessories from Homesense in the acccent colours I have throughout my home.
What do you think? I LOVE it! Finally I have a room that is a full on grown up master free of kiddie finger prints (for now).
Love,
Jo
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