DIY: An Economical Wallpaper Alternative - Remodelista
Photos by Justine Hand, except where noted. When we moved into our historical New England home, my four-year-old daughter, Solvi, selected a small corner room as her own. Then I found what seemed like an ingenious solution: a paint roller that mimics the effect of wallpaper. I’m not going to lie, it was NOT easy. Photo via The Painted House. Clare Bosanquet, owner of The Painted House, found the original rollers in a market in Romania, where people have been using them as economical alternatives to wallpaper for the last century or so. For our project, Solvi and I chose The Painted House’s whimsical bird pattern, which we felt was perfect for our historic home. I was inspired by Farrow & Ball’s Wisteria Wallpaper (yes, one of the patterns Michelle chose for her bathroom), which costs $295 per roll. The supplies include everything you would normally need to paint a room. And don’t forget those gloves, they are your new best friend. The first step is to apply the base coat. For both, I used Benjamin Moore’s Aura paint, which is expensive (although not wallpaper expensive) but offers excellent control and coverage. Clare provides links to helpful step-by-step videos here, which I will augment with tips from my experiences. In my set, the prongs on the paint roller were ever so slightly shorter than those on the roller, so my pattern roller would get stuck and start sliding (as opposed to rolling) down the wall. You need to saturate your paint roller well; I used a matching Linen White in matte for my bird pattern (it is very important that you use a matte finish for both the base and cover coat, or your roller will slip). My first piece of advice on this step is practice, practice, practice. The hiccup in this plan was that it is much easier to apply the pattern to the more porous paper, so that when I got to the walls my technique fell apart and the roller started slipping and smudging the paint. That way you won’t have to repaint your base over egregious mistakes (like I did). An example of the alternating pattern on my walls. With my high ceilings (9 feet), applying the paint was tricky because I had to start at the top of the ladder and walk down it while maintaining a straight line. The finished product: Solvi’s room is light and airy. And that’s a good thing, because now my son Oliver wants a deer pattern in his room. Solvi’s antique day bed also got a makeover in glossy Linen White. Now one final question: to paint the floor or not? Ideally, I’d love to do something like Izabella’s whitewashed Scandi floors, but until then, I’m not sure whether to paint them or leave them as is.