I know, I know, I know...what I'm about to suggest might just make you cringe or even throw up in your mouth a little bit. Add drama (not trauma) to your bedroom by introducing fun wallpaper! Hands down, removing wallpaper is just about my least favorite job (well, I guess I'd hate working in a coal mine too or driving a bus in New York City). No matter how many products there are on the market or big-boobed bimbos online offering tips to easily remove wallpaper, it's always a dirty job (I've found using a steamer, water bottle filled with hot water, a good scraper and lots of patience is the best way). Putting it up, however, is an entirely different story. For staging jobs or temporary designs (or for clients like me who change their minds as often as they change their under garments), I love to use temporary papers and have blogged about them many times. They're beautiful, easy to work with and relatively inexpensive. For a more elegant look, however, I like to splurge and use real wallpaper and one of my favorite sites is www.muralsyourway.com where you can actually upload your own image and design a wallpaper specifically for you. At about $150/roll (covers a wall of about 12' wide by 9' tall) it isn't the cheapest alternative, but boy is it dramatic and the end result is guaranteed to put a giant smile on your face!
WALL STREET:
Because wallpaper tends to be fairly expensive, I like to use in sparingly yet in a dramatic way. Placing it on one wall is an easy way to achieve that. Placing it on the ceiling, even another (my Aunt Rita did this years ago and when I heard I wasn't so sure, then saw it..truly spectacular..wallpaper on the walls and all the way up the ceiling, with dramatic beams that broke the pattern slightly, it was an incredibly beautiful design). Wallpapering a half bath or even a walk-in closet is also dramatic, unexpected and beautiful. If you still twitch at the thought of wallpapering, I suggest two things: Well, three. 1.) a therapist, then..
2.) Try purchasing large, frameless frames and placing the wallpaper in each frame, matching up the pattern properly. Place at least six in a wall behind a sofa or bed and enjoy the drama added to the room.
3.) Buy large canvases (for painting) at an arts and crafts store and use wallpaper glue to attach the wallpaper. I've done this same application (with a large canvas) to attach fabric for a headboard. Easy, inexpensive, gorgeous and NO MESS!
Whatever it is you do, do something to make your space your own..then send me a picture!
