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The Golden Girl

Chicago Fashion and Lifestyle Blog

April 11, 2012

DIY fabric wallpaper

yellow fabric wallpaper yellow fabric wallpaper

DIY fabric wallpaper DIY fabric wallpaper

I feel for those of you who are apartment renters out there- you’re looking for a solution to somehow camouflage your hideous apartment features without losing your safety deposit, right? I was in your shoes once. The day I stumbled upon this faux “wallpaper” trick was the day that changed my life. I know it will change yours too (and your kitchen’s). Who would have thought to use fabric as wallpaper? As it turns out, its great wallpaper for renters!





What you need:

  • Fabric (I got my cute yellow”wallpaper” at Joann Fabric- more cute prints here. I think next time I might go for floral wallpaper!)
  • Fabric Stiffener or Starch (can buy here, or at your local craft store)
  • Sponge
  • Bowl

How-to:

  • Measure wall and cut desired fabric according to the surface you’d like to cover. I would recommend keeping the fabric in all one piece if possible, rather than applying it in multiple sections to avoid seeing the seams
  • After entire wall is wiped clean, first apply a bottom coat of stiffener to the surface you wish to cover
  • Apply fabric immediately after, securing with thumb tacks to hold the fabric up while it dries
  • Apply a second coat over the top of the fabric, drenching it with the stiffener
  • Let dry, remove thumb tacks
  • You’re done!

Time to move? Simply peel off the fabric and go!

Total Cost: About $100 bucks- cheapest backsplash I’ve ever heard of

Total time: About 3 hours (It will take much less time if you have less of an awkward area to cover- our backspash took some finesse)

Next on the kitchen hit list: utensil rack and new cabinet knobs. After this I’m hoping my kitchen will no longer look like the seventies threw up on it, but I guess only time will tell. Stay tuned!

Filed Under: DIY

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Comments

  1. A Little Diddy says

    November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    I see this was posted spring of last year. I'm curious to know how it held up? From a cooks point of view this doesn't seem practical; grease, moisture, dust and food splatter can wreck havoc on a tile back splash so I'm wondering how you'd keep a fabric back splash clean?
    It looks amazing though and a great temp idea for decorating a kitchen.

    Reply
  2. Grace says

    April 11, 2012 at 8:02 pm

    Looks awesome! Love the new blog 🙂

    Reply
  3. Jess Keys says

    April 13, 2012 at 5:55 am

    Thanks Grace!

    Reply
  4. A Little Diddy says

    September 6, 2013 at 12:06 am

    I see this was posted spring of last year. I'm curious to know how it held up? From a cooks point of view this doesn't seem practical; grease, moisture, dust and food splatter can wreck havoc on a tile back splash so I'm wondering how you'd keep a fabric back splash clean?
    It looks amazing though and a great temp idea for decorating a kitchen.

    Reply
  5. Jess Keys says

    September 6, 2013 at 4:26 pm

    Hi there! Thanks so much!

    It held up amazingly well! I have since moved but we cooked in the kitchen probably 4-5 nights per week and it never affected it. The starch actually acted as a coating, so it there were any splatters it wiped off fairly easily.

    However, something to note was that our stove/oven wasn't built into the counter, so I suppose if you do have one that is- it is likely to get more splatters as it's closer to the backsplash. If you decide to do it, let me know how it goes!

    Reply

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