These days we've been searching around for removable or reversible design ideas. Not so much because we rent but because we have a hard time committing; we like knowing we can change our minds. This is the main reason we've avoided any kind of wallpaper. It's normally expensive, hard to put up an then, sort of permanent. But after reading about a way to make removable wallpaper our of fabric we already own, we're definitely warming to the idea, especially for a small area that would benefit from a little something something and not take 4 days to accomplish:
We've read rave reviews of mixing lightweight fabric with starch and applying it to walls. We don't have the courage to try this in an entire room, but for an accent wall or the space beneath a window, it could be perfect. And since the adhesive is starch, mixing a bit of water when you're done will help it pull right off.
Supplies:
lightweight fabric with a pattern and palette you love
(for some inspiration check out these etsy sellers, these eco friendly fabrics and this post on how to stamp your own fabric)
fabric starch
sponge or paint roller
pan
To Install Fabric Wallpaper (Linit Craft Ideas):
1. Wash the wall to remove any dirt or film.
2. Measure from the floor to the ceiling and add a couple extra inches. Cut the fabric accordingly. If fabric has a design, be sure to match the design before cutting the next panel as when using wallpaper.
3. Pour starch into a clean pan or spray on if using stiffener (see Tip section if using spray stiffener). Apply starch to the top half of the wall with a sponge, paint roller or spray on if using spray stiffener.
4. Smooth fabric into place at the top of the wall, leaving about one inch to be trimmed later. Use push pins to hold the fabric temporarily in place. Apply more starch going down the wall as needed until you get to the floor, leave approximately one inch overlap at floor level.
5. Apply starch to the top of the fabric, brushing and smoothing the fabric in place to remove bubbles and wrinkles. Be sure the starch penetrates the fabric evenly.
6. Work your way down the panel, continuing to sponge or spray starch onto the wall, smoothing the fabric, and applying more starch.
7. Position the second panel, matching the design along the edge. Repeat steps.
8. Around windows and doors, leave a one inch overlap as with the ceiling and floor.
9. Fabric overlap should be cut when the fabric is completely dry. It will then cut clean and easily and any shrinkage will have occurred before you trim.
To Remove Fabric From Wall:
Peel one corner loose, then gently begin to peel the fabric off of the wall panel by panel. If the fabric does not peel easily, dampen the fabric with water using a wet sponge and it should come right off.
Has anyone tried this? Have any tips to share?
[Image from Madison and Grow]
Here are some of the other reversible design ideas for renters we've posted on Apartment Therapy.
100 DIY Ideas for the 3-Day Weekend
Danielle's Charming, Classic Walk-Up
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
White Enamel Flatwa...
How To Cook Fluffy, Tasty Quinoa
Perfect Summer Cocktail Recipe: Honey Bourbon Lemonade
Would putting fabric on walls pose a fire threat?
I thought about trying this with an accent wall in my last apartment but was too wary of whether or not the moisture from the starch would damage the walls. Instead, I rigged up a hanging apparatus using wooden dowels mounted close to the wall so that the hanging fabric panel gave the impression of wallpaper.
Make sure your fabric doesn't bleed first! I stained my walls and have to repaint
I Did this in My daughters room, a couple years ago!
It turned out just great, and stayed up on the wall just great! I dont think it would be a Fire hazzard any more than curtains. (Which by the way is what I used..A shower curtain)
I really like the way it looks, I think I will do it again!
~The Rhinestone Contessa
wouldn't a lightweight fabric get stretched and saggy, especially when wet? This sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.
It sounds a lot easier than it is. Messy and time consuming.
Great idea JH.
There are manufacturers that actually make removable wallpaper - why go to all the trouble of using fabric?
Question about the Kitchen- Does anyone know where to get these types of kitchen cabinets? glossy and modern looking?
I've been doing this for years.
1) It's a two person job, but one wall is perfectly doable in a day.
2) It isn't any messier than regular wallpaper.
3) The fabric won't bleed onto the wall as long as you actually follow instructions and wash it first.
4) It isn't a fire hazard - drywall burns too, you know.
5) Always use lightweight cotton, nothing sheer or stretchy.
This tends to be much cheaper and easier than wallpaper, and it stays on until you decide to remove it. Once you do, it comes off clean as a whistle. You can also do this on furniture, not just walls.
ladylola, Ikea has a couple of glossy door styles in their rubrik/applad/akrum line.
i like JH's idea best. It's less risk as a renter and doesn't sound as messy.
Yes! Thank you for this. I'm a renter and have been eyeing the removable wallpaper that you've posted before, but I'd love to do it on my own.
I did this in my apartment one wall over some atrocious paneling. I actually used a king sized flat sheet. After the starch dried, I just trimmed the side and bottom that were too long. I love how it turned out, and I always get compliments on it. But, it is definately a two person job! Best of luck!
I love this idea! Can someone please reccomend what kind of starch to buy and where one might buy it?
thanks!
ohe-
I used Sta-Flo liquid starch. You can buy it at any Wal/K/Tar/Shopmart. Hope that helps.
thanks for the tip!
Anyone know where that elephant print fabric is from please? I love it!
Can you put this up over existing wallpaper? Will it cause damage to the wallpaper?
Could you tell me how you deal with selvages at the edge of the fabric? Thanks.
Can you do this with lace??
what type of fabric is best for this???
im taking my brothers room and he has a very bright green wall so i want a fabric that will not show the paint through it..what should i use?
@clairemac: The elephant print fabric is from Umbrella prints on Etsy:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/19385737/hand-screenprinted-fabric-elephants-70cm
have done this in past apartments using full/queen/king size sheets depending on the wall size. have also covered icky shelves in linen closet this way. wear rubber gloves and old clothes; its sort of messy but totally easy on/off and i didnt need a second person to do it. you can either use the sheet hem as a design element or cut it off (use sharp x-acto or utility razor knife).
Has anyone applied this technique over wood paneling? If so, have you tried removing the fabric after some time? Did it ruin the wood finish?? Thanks for any suggestions!!
Hmm...this is a great idea. I think I'll try it on my kitchen cabinets (which are hideous cheap-o rental cardboard-looking things). We shall see!
fab
I rent a trailer and my walls have the hideous drywall that came with the trailer has anyone tried this on that yet?? I would love to do this and don't want to mess up the walls.
I'm a bit late to the game on this one, but my apt has textured walls. Has anyone tried it on textured walls and any ideas on prints (or colors) that would look good on stucco? I'm considering doing this for my bedroom since I can't decide on one particular color.
has anyone done this and had to take it down? i need to be sure it will not damage the landlords original poor wall paper choice or paint. they were VERY particular and made sure we knew that paint?wallpaper were not allowed.
I have the same question. I want to do this over the ugly apartment cabinets. You know the ugly pressboard covered with plastic looking stuff that looks like wood.... Has anyone tried this????
Ok, All you need is a cup of tax and fabric the equivelent to the size of the wall you're covering. You can tack it, pin it or nail it up in 123! I did this as a shortcut just to get a visual/idea of what I wanted and I never took it down, so whats the point in all the extra work? I dont understand. I got transparent tacks and literally stood on a fold-up chair, extended my arms above my head and tacked my fabric up. It doesnt even look like fabric at all. Of course, once my 30 second work was done I tweakef it here and there, spread it out morr there, tightened it more here etc etc and it looks beautiful. We couldnt believe the "demo" turned out to be the finished product. It really doesnt have to be complicatef. Ivehad it up over 8 or 9 months and its still the same eyecatching work that it was when it first went up. We take for grantted what the silliest, simplest, craziest sounding things can do. More-work or "more steps" doesnt mean "better" or "quality". Less is definitely more, on the
What is with this starch non-sense? Why are we making more work for ourselves? You might aswell do the wallpaper. The whole point of this is to achieve something beautiful through less work and frustration but all im reading is "work and frustration". My gosh Im so glad Im me.
I did an accent wall in a walk-in closet with this method. It looks awesome, but it was not easy. Not terribly messy, but definitely requires two people and a day's worth of work. The fabric was washed and dried before putting it up, and I found that once it was saturated with the starch, it would expand. The fabric I used had a semi-abstract pattern, so it was easier to camouflage where things didn't quite meet up correctly, but I wouldn't recommend using something with a geometric pattern.
Also, at one point we saw that there was a bubble in the middle of a section of fabric so we peeled it back to reapply to the wall. One small area had dried a little bit more than the rest, and it peeled the paint and the paper off of the drywall- leaving bare gypsum exposed. I would think that in order to remove the fabric from the wall safely, there would have to be a great deal of water used to break the bond between the two.
One advantage to using fabric would be finding prints that you couldn't find in wallpaper, and fabric is a little more accessible. I think is would be less unwieldy and perhaps more eco. I might try it, and I'm not much of a DIY!
With the starch, isn't there the chance of silverfish?! Also, how would you do this on a wall that is made of blocks, like my dorm room?!
ugh @california weather, it isn't nonsense and there isn't one point where the article says "easy wallpaper".... the point is that it's REMOVABLE, not easy, so renters can do it to personalise their home, also the cost of this is so much less than buying rolls of removable wallpaper... not everyone has a few hundred dollars to spend on a wall, y'know?
I am going to try this tomorrow in my teenage daughters room! She has a shabby chic shower curtain that she bought at target for $7 and has been looking for somewhere to use it that doesn't involve sewing.
thanks soooooo much for this post!
I've also done the fabric and tacks thing (no starch) which works okay as long as the wall doesn't have anyone coming into contact with it. If someone leans against the fabric it tends to tear around the tacks (or pulls them out of the wall) and your previously perfect fabric wall now looks slouchy and unkempt.
I'm looking forward to trying this starch method in my new apartment! Sounds like a great solution, but can anyone tell me if it has the same problems as I mentioned above? If someone leans against the wall will it pull the fabric off?
Does anyone know how this would work with plaster walls? I rent and have a wall with water damage making it look very ugly, and I'd love to cover it up.
I can't wait to try this in my new apartment.
I second an earlier question...how well does it work if people are leaning/touching the wall? Does it start lifting or anything?
I love this! It's a must try- easy to do. My instructions here http://www.decorellaknox.com/2012/08/how-to-wallpaper-with-fabric.html
I love this idea and would like to do it in my apartment. My only question is, does it matter what type of paint is on your walls? The paint in my apartment is a matte paint.
I love how people have asked questions about surfaces and how it applies to them but no one has actually answered the questions. I read through all the posts to find that some people had already asked the questions I was keen on hearing answers to. I want to know if it works on existing crappy and textured wallpaper. I own, but want to get a better idea of how it will look before committing to it. So, if I go ahead and do it for the moment, I will come back later and post how it went. I loved this idea, my husband wasn't keen while we were renting (because the property manager is a tyrant). I would love to hear more feedback on it.
I did this over varnished cedar walls (not as pretty as is sounds) in a small area and it worked great! Ours had grooves in it as well and we were able to stretch over the grooves to keep the pattern from being distorted. If you have a solid color fabric you can go into the grooves if you like that better.