Here's a good weekend project (and a way to recycle some of those unread books). DIY magazine has a perfectly easy "How To" on how to make a dictionary wall. To get started, you'll need this:
• Wallpaper liner + wallpaper adhesive
• Dictionary pages
• Decoupage medium
• Paint tray
• Paintbrush
• Wallpaper smoother
To get going, you'll need to...
• Begin by applying a wallpaper liner to the wall and let dry overnight. (We've always heard that wallpaper liners are a good for preparing uneven or textured walls for paper. DIY claims that using a liner will make it easier to remove the paper when you're ready for a change. For a project like this, a wallpaper primer might be all you need).
• Cut pages from your book. Pour decoupage medium into a small dish. Working one page at a time, place the page into a plastic tray and use a narrow paintbrush to coat the back with the medium.
• Position the page on the wall, and press flat with a plastic-edge wallpaper smoother.
• Once you've pasted all the pages, brush or roll on a thin coat of decoupage medium to seal your project.
For a bit more detail on how to work, see the DIY website. Let us know if you follow these instructions for an original accent wall. We think this would also look pretty awesome with postcards, diary pages, or take-out menus. What will you use?
Copyright © 2007 Apartment Therapy
this is so cool! If only I wasn't renting...
view suziegoombs's profile
I love this idea! And I was just wondering if I could part with my old dictionaries...
view jellyknits's profile
Find a book you have always liked and paper the bathroom: you'll never lack for reading material in the "throne room" again!
view Cate's profile
I'm tempted to do a whole room in the Cabinet of Curiosities or an old book of Audebon prints.
view Persephone's profile
I'm so in love with this idea!
Comic books for a kid's room, old dress patterns for a sewing room ... the possibilities are endless!
view brunocerous's profile
I love the way this looks, but I shudder at the thought of destroying books for it. Using a dictionary or other outdated reference book is one thing; tearing up immortal books like classics or childrens' books is quite another.
The downside reminds me of an article I read years ago about the LA library going from card catalogs to computerized catalogs; an artist had lined the elevator shafts with the old cards, and the article had a great line in it about rushing from floor to floor in search of a book, while the lost knowledge of its location whizzed by outside the elevator car.
But I do love the way it looks. I always wanted a table covered in old newspaper ads like they used to have at Wendy's.
view kostia's profile
I'm not particularly keen on the dictionary wall, but take a look at this: http://www.printrooms.com/home.html. Fabulous.
view Deborah's profile
Whoops, try this instead: http://www.printrooms.com/
view Deborah's profile
How about an outdated encyclopedia or book of maps?
I tried to convince my cousin to cover his bathroom in movie posters using this same technique. He's not sold on it...yet.
view mmadden's profile
Since I am renting, I may use this technique on the inside of my Ikea Granemo glass door book case. Thanks for a great idea.
view siska Ott's profile
I love how everyone's set on doing books that are tremendously earnest and self-improving... when the project positively demands to be done by randomly rearranging pages from the trashy best-sellers that go for 99 cents at Goodwill.
view wende in phoenix's profile