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Temporary Fabric Wallpaper- Perfect for the Holidays!

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hey there! I'm monica 

I pride myself on making amazing style and design accessible for everyone, regardless of location, budget, or ability! My design philosophy is rooted in authenticity + attainability - If I can do it, you can too! My work has been featured in countless publications, but I take the most pride in homeowners that have been personally inspired by my DIY ideas and have tried something in their own homes!

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Decorating for the holidays can be so much fun!  It can also be a fun time to try out a completely different style- because it’s temporary!!  Every year my Christmas looks a little different and I love trying new things, without making a long-term commitment.  For our Christmas episode of “Knock It Off” I helped Kristin go way, way outside her normal box.  We took her dining room from very country to modern just for the holidays!

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1-temporary fabric wallpaper

 How’s that for a transformation? Bye Bye Country- Hello Modern Christmas (but… just for now!)

This project worked great for the holidays, but you could also use it in your home anytime!  It’s only as temporary as you want it to be- it will stay up until you’re done with it.  When you’re done, just peel it off and wash the wall with soap and water- you’re back to normal!

So, here’s how you do it! 

1- Order fabulous fabric!  I got this black and white stripe from the Online Fabric Store  They have an amazing selection and are constantly running great deals!

2- Do some measuring and then cut your fabric down to size.  Use really good fabric scissors so that you don’t have frayed edges.

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The key to making this fabric wallpaper temporary is how you attach it to the wall.  Liquid Starch!  It’s the same starch you use for ironing, but it comes in liquid form- in a bottle.

Starch

Apply the starch to the wall with a paint roller, then place the fabric on the wall and roll more starch over it.  It will be drippy and messy, but I promise, it will dry nice and neat and pretty! If you want to make the job easier use a light staple gun or push pin to hold the fabric on the wall while you roll it.  It you do it close enough to the molding you’ll never see those itty bitty holes.  That’s my recommendation if you don’t have an extra set of hands like I did.

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The starch is kind of a murky-white color, but it does dry clear.  I was a little worried about the white in the fabric having a “wet look”, but it dried just fine! (Phew! There’s nothing like trying projects for the first time with a homeowner and an entire camera crew watching! LOL)

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Look how dramatically different those two walls are?  It makes me excited all over again! I loved transforming this room!!

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3- Tidy it up a bit! Now, even with the best measuring and fanciest scissors, it’s really hard to get perfect lines. We used inexpensive ribbon along the edges and at the fabric seams to hide all the rough parts.  This step really gives it a polished look!

FABRIC WALLPAPER

The process was quick and simple and made the biggest difference in this room.  It’s hard to rock a modern Christmas when you have sage green faux finished walls.  But, with this temporary wall treatment Kristin was able to get all modern and then transition right back to her comfort zone when she was done with it.

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I’ve gotta say- I really love it!  The deer head was a major score and I’d been dying to try some holiday taxidermy! He was just perfect on our new, modern walls.

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Fabric Wallpaper 2

If you haven’t seen the episode yet, you can click HERE to watch it online.

All this week we’ll be sharing lots of the DIY projects we did in these two Christmas rooms!

I’d love to know… What do you think of this holiday transformation?  

Would you ever try out a different style for the holidays? 

 

 

 

 

 

The comments +

  1. Amye says:

    I love this, and it seems like a great solution for apartment or dorm living too..but what happens when you try to take the fabric off in January? (follow-up post idea?)
    PS Now I have a mission to find antlers to decorate with ornaments!

  2. Andee says:

    I just love this idea! It looks amazing….you updated her country look which I thought brought out all her pretty things. Yes I will try this I just need to find a wall to do. Thanks for all your wonderful ideas. I just love your show and your creative ideas.

  3. […] Monday’s  temporary fabric wallpaper tutorial isn’t the only fun project we have for you from our holiday episode on Knock it Off.   Oh, and if you thought my Halloween pallet DIY was fun (although I think the overall response was 50/50- lol) , wait until you see what we did for Christmas! […]

  4. I’d also like to know what happens when you remove the fabric. Does it leave any sort of residue on the wall or do any damage to the paint underneath?

    • Monica says:

      Hey Christina,
      When you remove the fabric, you just need to wash the walls down with a bucket of warm water. I’ve also used a tiny dab of detergent just to make it smell nice and get it extra clean! It didn’t leave any residue or change the paint color at all. It’s awesome for rentals!! Thanks for reading!

  5. […] Switch up your style for the holidays with our temporary fabric wallpaper tutorial . […]

  6. Kayla says:

    I was wondering if this would work over wallpapered walls??

  7. Kimberly says:

    How did you get the ribbon to stay? Im going to do this in my apartment when I move in a few weeks

  8. Chelsea says:

    I started this project on a large wall I have in my rental studio. The wall needed five vertical panels to be covered, which I am overlapping because the stretching ends up with the seams not being straight (all good). I put up one panel and then ran out of the extra liquid starch I had on hand. Unfortunately, When I went to put up the next panel, the joints where I got fresh liquid starch on the fresh panel dried with whitish stains that look like excess starch that the fabric cannot absorb, and which dried flakily on the top of the fabric. I have thought about doing a lite coat of starch over everything to simply make all the stains “even” or rollering it with water to try to wash it out but am not sure if that will dissolve the starch or leave me with a new set of stains. Ultimately, I can always remove them from the wall, wash them, allow them to dry, and then rehang them but Its a lot of work, and this will likely happen again since I will still have overlap. Has anyone else had this problem and devised an on-wall solution? Or have thoughts on my current theories?

    Thanks!

  9. Emily larkin says:

    Hey! I love your fabric wall paper tutorial but I was wondering if this would work well on wood paneling? If you could email me an answer I would very much appreciate this!
    Have a blessed day!

  10. Shelly says:

    How long does this take to dry?

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