This DIY Fabric Wallpaper Is a Renter’s Best Friend
There’s this feeling I get when I (Maddie here, hello!) go to the local fabric shop: It’s like the maker’s equivalent of a kid in a candy store or a bookworm’s trip to the library. Often I set a mental alarm clock so I won’t lose track of time amongst the thousands of textiles, colors and prints to choose from. The fabric store is the ideal space to dream up new projects — a simple piece of cloth can become so many things! For most DIY projects, we at B+C are partial to cotton fabric. The textile is uber-versatile, super easy to work with and comes in endless patterns and hues. So today we’re teaming up with the folks at Cotton to make fabric wallpaper, aka our new favorite decor hack for renters. Check it out!
Fabric wallpaper is a renter’s best friend. Thanks to good ol’ liquid starch, it’s super easy to adhere to (and remove from!) your wall, and it looks just as good as traditional wallpaper. Another bonus: It’s CRAZY affordable.
Another perk of fabric wallpaper? It makes an amazing photo backdrop ;).
This particular cotton print caught my eye immediately. If you look closely, you can see that those black and white shapes are actually silhouettes of people! It’s totally funky in a good way.
Let’s get to it!
Materials + Tools:
— cotton fabric
— liquid starch
— measuring tape
— straightedge
— paint roller + cover
— small paint brush
— paint tray
— fabric scissors
— utility knife
— pencil
— thumbtacks
— electric fan (optional)
Instructions:
1. Measure the space you’ll be covering in cotton. Trace these dimensions onto the fabric using a straightedge and a pencil, then cut your cotton slightly bigger — you’ll want some extra fabric on all edges.
2. Carefully hang the cotton to the top of the wall using thumbtacks.
3. Pour the liquid starch into your paint tray and evenly coat the paint roller.
4. Lift up the cotton fabric, then coat the entire wall in liquid starch.
5. Carefully smooth down the fabric over the starch from top down, being sure to eliminate all bubbles and wrinkles as you go.
6. Apply a heavy coat of liquid starch to the top of the fabric using the paint roller. Make sure to fully saturate the cotton.
7. Seal the edges and hard-to-reach places with a paint brush. Then let the entire wall dry. (We set up a fan in front of the wallpaper to expedite the process.)
8. Once the wall is completely dry, carefully trim the edges with a sharp utility knife. Et voilà!
This faux window in B+C HQ’s kitchen DEFINITELY needed some TLC. Fabric wallpaper felt like the ideal solution — it’s easy to apply, easy to remove and would provide a pop of color AND pattern. Win, win, win!
Measure the space you’ll be covering in cotton. Trace these dimensions onto the fabric using a straightedge and a pencil, then cut your cotton slightly bigger — you’ll want some extra fabric on all edges.
Carefully hang the cotton to the top of the wall using thumbtacks.
Pour the liquid starch into your paint tray and evenly coat the paint roller.
Lift up the cotton fabric, then coat the entire wall in liquid starch.
Carefully smooth down the fabric over the starch from top down, being sure to eliminate all bubbles and wrinkles as you go.
Apply a heavy coat of liquid starch to the top of the fabric using the paint roller. Make sure to fully saturate the cotton.
Seal the edges and hard-to-reach places with a paint brush.
Once the entire wall has been saturated, let the liquid starch dry. (We set up a fan in front of the wallpaper to expedite the process.)
Once the wall is completely dry, carefully trim the edges with a sharp utility knife.
Look at that! A few yards of cotton and two coats of liquid starch just completely transformed our kitchen.
TBH, we’re probably going to spend a lot more time in this kitchen now.
And since we LOVE a good photo backdrop…
We couldn’t resist some silly photos in the sink.
I mean really, can you blame us?
From our kitchen to yours, thanks for tuning in!
Taking a stab at this DIY? We want to see the results! Share photos on Instagram with the hashtag #iamcreative and #CottonDIY so we can take a peek.
Advertisement by Cotton.
Author, Production + Styling: Maddie Bachelder
Photography: Chris Andre
Models: Maddie Bachelder + Kurt Andre
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