This week's post is taking a different approach to creativity. My current living situation is in a mobile home that was built back in the 70s and has some... interesting... wallpaper. I have been wanting to decorate the master bedroom a certain way for a while but with the wallpaper I couldn't find anything to match it just right. So, I got the go ahead from my landlord to at least paint the walls white. However, I didn't want just white walls so I got inspired to starch fabric onto at least one wall. Wait, what did she say, starch fabric on the wall?? Yes! You heard right. It's a really simple process and is damage free to the existing walls and turns out looking AMAZING! I can't wait to walk you through this process!
Some tools you will need for this project is a large scraper, I purchased a vinyl applicator scraper but a putty knife may work as well. You will also need thumb tacks to keep the fabric in place while you're applying to the wall, a bucket, a craft knife, and a small paint roller.
First I started out by painting everything white, which took quite some time since the paint I got couldn't cover anything even if it wanted to. Four coats later and the flower wall paper was FINALLY covered! Even though I enjoyed finding different shapes in the wallpaper design I knew it needed a face lift. Below is a picture of what I was working with. The previous renters were heavy smokers so the yellow tint was also something to work with. I'm just thankful the house doesn't smell like smoke!
I took the border trim off to paint it white and then add it back on later to create a little bit more dynamic to the wall once it was covered with fabric. I went for a more "romantic" type approach to the fabric wall and went with a deep purple to match my curtains and complement my taupe colored headboard.
The fabric I decided to go with was a plain cotton fabric. As a heads up it will slightly shrink when you add the starch to it, so be prepared for that if you choose to do this project. The starch I went
with was Sta-Flo liquid starch by Purex. It is a concentrated starch so you can dilute it if you'd like. However, I wanted to make sure this fabric would stay completely and last a while so I didn't dilute it at all. I purchased the largest size I could find and thankfully I bought just enough. If you are doing a larger area than I did, I would recommend purchasing two or more.
The directions I found via YouTube stated to roll the starch on the back of the fabric and apply to the wall but I found it easiest to just saturate the fabric completely by dunking it in a bucket of the starch and applying it that way.
Once I got the fabric applied to the wall I went back over it with more starch by using the roller just to add an additional layer; this fabric isn't coming off for a while! Once the fabric is applied it is time to dry and cure! I placed a fan in front of my wall to help it dry and it took about 12 hours total. After it has dried you can go back through with your craft knife and cut off all the excess fabric.
Here is the final result! I am in absolute love with how it turned out. Once the furniture was added back in it just completed the look even more. I purchased the wolf portrait off of amazon thinking it was going to be stretched on a canvas frame, however, it was canvas poster so I was a little upset about that but I made it work!
I can't wait to add additional decorative pieces and paint my nightstands and dresser to give them a facelift as well. This process was so easy and I would definitely do it again. If y'all have any questions feel free to ask I'd be more than happy to help you!
Well, until next time...
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