DIY Fabric as Wallpaper

Use fabric as temporary wallpaper!

If you’ve ever wallpapered, then applying fabric to your walls will be a breeze. I attempted this is my bedroom and it came out better than I expected. An awesome thing to point out, it’s temporary! Unlike traditional wallpaper, the fabric will peel off leaving little residue that can easily be washed away. Here’s the method I used:

Needs:

Fabric
- Measure square footage of the wall you’ll be covering
- Cotton fabric will adhere the easiest
- Dark colors and patterns tend to be more forgiving

Fabric Starch
- I purchased a gallon of “Purex: Sta-Flo” off of Amazon. It can also be found at Walmart or Wegmans
Paint tray and roller
Scissors, tape-measure, sharpie or china marker, razor knife/box cutter, pushpins

Steps:

Cut your fabric to fit the length of your wall from ceiling to floor.
1. TIP: I left an extra 1″ fabric on the bottom to in order to make trimming easier later.
2. Keep an eye on your factory edges and make sure your patterns line up before cutting lengths of fabric. Otherwise you’ll end up Frankenstein-ing pieces together, not fun.

Pour the liquid starch into your paint tray and use a roller to apply a moderate coat onto the wall where the first length of fabric will be applied
Align the length of fabric so that it is even with the ceiling and use push pins to pin it in place at the top.
- TIP: Try not to stretch your fabric as you apply it to the wall. Let it hang relatively loosely so that the pattern and weave of the fabric remains in tact.
Press the length of fabric to the wall and make sure the edges are lining up nicely. Then use the roller to apply a thin coat of liquid starch ON TOP of the fabric.

Repeat the process down the wall.
- TIP: Leave excess fabric around window edges and at the bottom.
Allow the wall to dry Completely
Using a razor knife or box cutter, trim away excess fabric. Doing this after the fabric had dried and adhered to the wall helps to make more precise and straighter cuts. And is much easier than trying to measure fabric perfectly around trims.