faux wallpaper- wallpaper without the expense.

 

I adore wallpaper!  I always have, even in the 90’s when everyone was painstakingly tearing it down, nickel size piece by nickel size piece.

My mom put wallpaper in a few of my rooms when I was little.  My favorite was a floral Laura Ashley paper with huge cabbage roses and pink ribbon running through it.  It was so beautiful!

A good first impression and manageable size make a foyer a perfect candidate for wallpaper.   I’ve been looking at wallpaper for my foyer for quite some time and finally decided it just wasn’t affordable.  So I thought I might do a stencil…then I was inspired by a fabric swatch I fell in love with at JoAnne Fabrics.  I’m gonna use it(or something very similar) to slipcover my sofa.

It’s a subtle blue-ish grey herringbone pattern.   I think it was a special order that was either returned or never picked up because the last time I went to visit my fabric it was gone and the sales person didn’t recognize the swatch when I inquired about it.

I had some leftover gold Martha Stewart paint from another project so I decided to tackle the foyer walls. No money necessary.   I found the center of the wall and started from there.  I used chalk to mark vertical lines from floor to ceiling eight inches apart.

Then I made a template out of a random piece a cardboard cut into a triangle.  A carpenters speed square would be a perfect tool for this but I couldn’t find mine fast enough.
The cardboard or speed square ensures that the diagonal lines all end up the same angle from top to bottom.   It’s very easy for the lines to get too acute or obtuse in relation to the vertical chalk line.  I can’t believe I had an opportunity to use those geometry words in a real life application!!!!

I painted the lines freehand using my pinky finger to steady my hand as I went.  The lines are nowhere near perfect.  Some are fat and some are skinny.  The spacing is random as well.  All in all I really like the final results.  
If I could do it again I would use really skinny automotive tape sold at auto parts stores to mark the vertical lines, then paint the diagonal lines over the tape to make a really clean and sharp line where the diagonals meet.  I may still do that.  I have the other two walls to paint yet.

I haven’t decided what to do with the white canvas yet.  Nothing for the time being is probably best until the painting around the corner goes to it’s rightful owner.  It belongs to my sister-in-law who lives in Minnesota and we haven’t figured out how to ship it.    I’m enjoying it for now though.

So there you have it.  The foyer.  When we bought the house it had solid double doors and a huge(40″ x40″) closet smack dab in the middle of it.  Very awkward and very cave-like.  The closet was our first demo project.

What do you think?  I think I love it.

All it’s missing is a vintage persian rug.

Also…what do you think of my new chairs?  Found on craigslist just before July 4th.   I’ll tell you about those  mañana.