I completely transformed a wall in my daughter’s bedroom by creating DIY wallpaper.
This is my first ever $100 room challenge, and I’m so excited about it but also a little nervous. The timeline of only a month, the budget of only $100 – it’s going to be tough, no doubt. But, I’m determined to transform my little girl’s room into her very own vintage dream land.
Before I get into it, I want to first thank the creator of this awesome challenge – Erin from Lemons, Lavender, & Laundry. Even though I haven’t participated before, I am no stranger to this challenge. Many of my blogger friends have participated in past challenges, so I have gotten to see some awesome room transformations. Plus, I had the opportunity to interview Erin on a recent episode of my podcast which was incredibly cool. We talked all about the $100 room challenge in the episode, and I specifically remember telling her afterward that I was planning to participate in the challenge the next time it rolled around. So here I am, diving into this challenge head on!
It didn’t take much consideration to pick a room for the challenge. My daughter’s bedroom has been in need of a makeover for some time now. Two-and-a-half years ago I created a beautiful nursery for her but she quickly outgrew it and when she did, we moved her into a slightly bigger room with a twin bed. I had high hopes for the space but could never seem to find the time to get her bedroom project finished. It seemed fitting to start the new year with a bang and transform her room into something beautiful.
Here’s what her bedroom looked like originally:
The first project I decided to do was the one that I was actually holding my breath for – the DIY wallpaper accent wall. First and foremost, we had to get down the wallpaper border that spanned the whole room. Then I had to paint. And only after that could I actually create a DIY wallpaper accent wall.
To be fair, Jason and I removed the wallpaper in December. I guess that means I’ll need to seize work on the room two days before the end of January to keep within the challenge! I knew that wallpaper removal was going to be a big job, so I wanted to get it out of the way early on. We had wallpaper remover gel from awhile ago so luckily we didn’t have to spend any money on that. Some of the wallpaper peeled right off but some of it was very difficult to get off.
Eventually though it was time for some new paint.
I spent new year’s day painting like a mad woman. I had a little bit of Glidden white paint leftover from an old project so I used that to paint Hannah’s room. In case you were wondering, yes, that’s the cheap-o WalMart paint. I did buy another gallon of it for this project because one coat wouldn’t cover the existing yellow paint.
I was happy to have a little paint left over because I wasn’t sure how the accent wall would turn out and if I would need to paint over my DIY wallpaper. Fortunately I didn’t need to use the extra paint; I’m tickled pink over my accent wall.
I considered a few options for an accent wall in her room before choosing to use a foam stamp. I thought about using wallpaper, but it’s pretty expensive. Plus, it’s tough to remove so if Hannah ended up not liking it a couple years down the road, I didn’t want to have to replace it. I also thought about wall decals and stenciling. Both seemed like decent options. But the wall decal wouldn’t span the whole wall and stenciling can be time consuming. I really wanted to do something that would make a large impact but also would be easy to do. That’s when I got the idea of using a foam stamp to make DIY wallpaper.
I wasn’t quite sure what type of design I would be able to make. I was initially thinking it would have to be something simple like small circles everywhere. I didn’t know what type of stamps Michael’s would have for this sort of project but I thought for sure they would at least have a circle.
I was thrilled when I found this foam stamp at Michael’s.
It knew it was the perfect vintage symbol to stamp all over the wall. I immediately bought it along with two containers of rose gold paint.
There are several rose gold paints at Michael’s but DecoArt carried my favorite rose gold hue.
TUTORIAL: HOW TO MAKE DIY WALLPAPER USING PAINT & A FOAM STAMP
- GATHER SUPPLIES
Supplies you’ll need:
- Stamp. I used this stamp.
- Paint. I used DecoArt Metallics paint in rose gold. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find it online to link to it, but hopefully if you can find it in your local store if you want to do this project.
- Small paint roller.
- Small paint tray.
2. SQUEEZE PAINT INTO PAINT TRAY.
3. APPLY PAINT FROM THE PAINT ROLLER TO THE FOAM STAMP.
Do not apply the paint directly from the paint container to the stamp. You’ll gather too much paint on the stamp. By using a roller, you’ll be able to easily spread out the paint evenly onto the stamp.
4. PRESS THE STAMP ONTO THE WALL IN DESIGNATED SPOTS.
Yes, it’s that easy!
For my specific wall, I chose not to measure for placement of the stamp on the wall. Not only did I think it would be quite difficult and time consuming but I also thought it would still look good without perfectly distanced stamps. I started at the top right corner and stamped downward in a line as evenly as I could. Then, I went to several inches to the left, where I thought the next row should go, and I stamped down the wall, alternating the spots of the previous stamps. I continued this method all the way across the wall. It was so simple!
I also chose not to do touch ups. Every stamp looks a bit different than the other, and I actually quite like it like that. Some stamps are faint while others are bold. Some stamps are missing the edges while others are smeared. Some are tilted – actually they’re all probably tilted to some degree. I think it adds to the vintage vibe I want in her room.
I took a step back every so often to take a photo and see how it was coming along. After I completed the first couple rows, I knew I was going to be happy with the end result.
Now that it’s done, I think it actually resembles wallpaper.
The best part about this DIY wallpaper project is that it only took me fifteen minutes. I honestly cannot think of an easier DIY project that I have done, and one that gave me such a big impact so quickly.
I was actually quite worried about this project because I wasn’t sure if I could get it done in a day. Painting the room took me a couple hours and pretty much exhausted me for the day so you can bet how happy I was after I realized how easy the accent wall would be to make!
Here are some before and after pictures!
It has come a long way already, and I can’t wait to share all my upcoming projects with you.
Here are my goals for the $100 room challenge:
2. Makeover the antique vanity cabinet in her room
3. Update the light fixture
4. Create some DIY wall art
5. Do something fun with the other corner in her room
6. Get some type of window treatment
That’s a lot of goals and a tight budget, but I’m already so happy with the progress.
Here’s a look at what I used for the DIY wallpaper and budget:
Glidden white paint (I had some but had to buy one gallon): $14.94
Paint roller: already owned
Paint bin: already owned
Foam stamp: $7.79 (It costs $12.99 in store but I had a 40% coupon. Oddly, the cost of this same stamp online is slightly higher.)
Rose gold paint (2): $3.98 (Each container was $1.99)
Total spent so far: $26.71
Budget: $100
Remaining balance: $73.29
I’m so excited for you to follow along next week. I’m planning to tackle the antique vanity cabinet next. Wish me luck!
I love that you are stamping the walls and getting rid of the wallpaper. I have to say I am not a fan of wallpaper at all, it just causes to many problems down the roads that are hard to fix, and paint is always easy to fix, so good choice. It looks amazing too!
Thank you, Jen! I’m so glad I decided to go with a paint alternative too. Have a great day!
Marly! I LOVE how this turned out! What a huge update with not much time, effort, or money! I really want to try this now. Can’t wait to see how the room turns out!
WOOHOO!!! I am SO happy to see you participating this time around!!! And I am absolutely in love with what you’ve already done! The white paint made that room look so much brighter, and I don’t think I every would have thought of a foam stamp to add an accent wall… I don’t think I realized they made such pretty foam stamps in that size. Amazing job! Can’t wait to see the rest!!!
Thank you so much, Erin! I’m so happy to be participating. It’s giving me some serious motivation to get the room done, which is something I desperately needed. 🙂
Wow, Marly — you are off to an amazing start with this refresh! I love that you used a stamp to achieve the look of wallpaper. Great idea. I’m not a fan of wallpaper, either, so I am always interested to hear the creative solutions that others come up with to give their walls a little personality.
Thank you so much, Kate! I am so happy with how it turned out. Have a great week!