Look! Rental Friendly Wallpaper Solution

Chicagoans Chelsea & Sean were unhappy with the thought of a drab hallway. They wanted to add pizzaz but didn't want to invest the effort into wallpapering a rental apartment. Instead, this savvy couple went to Paper Source and grabbed a wonderfully kitschy paper to tack on their wall.

Getting paper from your local Paper Source isn't a bad idea. They have a wide variety of styles from World maps to the amazing dog print seen above. Chelsea & Sean simply took the paper, pieced it together and placed it on the wall with understated tacks. Depending on the size of your wall, this can be a relatively cheap, damage-free solution to sprucing up a bare space.

Images: Meg Lewis

MORE WALLPAPER ON APARTMENT THERAPY:
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• Newspaper Wallpaper: Black & White, and Read All Over

Comments (31)

That's a great paper -
- but if you're going to go to the effort, at least get the pattern to line up!

or not... Y be Normal? Great job!

Ooh I LOVE IT!! It is so cool and I like that it is kinda kooky with a vintage vibe, right up my ally!!

Except that you'd had to fill all the tack holes when you move out. I'm not sold on the tack idea, though I do like the quirk of the print.

Great idea! Regarding the tack holes... you can mush a little white toothpaste into them to cover them up if they are not too obvious.

While this looks nice, I'm getting bored with all the wallpaper posts...

Using tacks in the wall isn't that bad.. an easy tack hole filler is white toothpaste!

Know what else is an easy tack hole filler? Spackle! Ugh. Keep your toothpaste out of my walls please. - Bitter landlord

p.s. Stay off my lawn!

Do the portraits of random hipsters come with the paper?

I'm not sure how sticking tacks in the wall is a "damage-free solution", but the effect of this particular wrapping paper is very nice.

Damage free solution is using STARCH! I have been waiting my whole life to give this tip about rentals and wall paper. I read this tip decades ago from a military wife that wallpapered her military housing by using simple STARCH! It goes up and stays up and then it can be removed without any holes or left over goo. I actually tried it and it worked like a dream. You can use the can starch for small projects or buy the kind in a bottle for big jobs!

I'd like it better if they did a better job of hanging it, and that black cord is really ugly. It's easy to use a white extension cord, or even clear. So glad I'm not their landlord.

I've used starch with paper and fabric, and it's a great solution.

I really like this and I'm not turned off by the tacks.

There's no rule that says you can’t have nails or tack holes in the walls of a rental space... If that were the case renters everywhere would have naked walls!

Nice work on making an otherwise tricky and pricey project easy, reusable and cost efficient!

Love it!

I have been looking at doing the exact same thing with the exact same paper. What are the chances? (A Chicagoan, renter, and PS employee too!)

Thanks for the starch tip!

I think you did a lovely job...looks fantastic! And who is going to go up and study it for imperfections...that is rather rude! Love the yellow dresser too! And I feel for you renting can be hard and now as a landlord I make sure my renters are happy! I let my tenants paint any color they want and if they need new carpet or tile...viola! It's their home for awhile!
Great post!!!

If you use starch, just be sure the paper or fabric doesn't have dye that will bleed onto the wall. I'm just sayin'.

Like spray starch for ironing?

I think it's great! Who cares about the cord, it's quirky!

oooh, I wanna know more about starch and paper!!!

I'm considering doing something similar, as I don't want to paint and need something better than the drab tan walls I have - provides no inspiration in my art room/home office. Plus you can switch up the wallpaper once you grow tired of it.

@ potpie: LOL!

WONDERFUL! Now I want to do this with my closet or something. ^.^

Question here about the use of starch. An papier mache artist friend says using starch or flour+water invites bugs and mildew. I'd hate my walls to look like bug-smashed windshields? Wallpaper past has some kind of retardant to stop that. Anyone know?

Cool idea - they have awesome papers at Kate's Paperie in NYC that could be used for this purpose.

I like the idea, and tack holes aren't that big of a deal. I may do it someday, or try the starch tip.

Oh, uh, am I REALLY seeing an outlet in the ceiling?? What a trip! Good job with the wallpaper by the way.

tacking every couple of feet seems alot harder than just hanging the wallpaper. if you're worried about getting it off the walls damage-free, just make sure you prime the surface (with clear or white wallpaper primer) and use a nonwoven product. they remove in full strips!

superfresco EASY is a great collection to start with and they have really helpful videos on their website:
http://superfrescoeasy.com/index

I've never heard of using starch before, great suggestion! Tacks still leave small holes that could potentially create problems with the landlord. Double stick tape works pretty great too, but starch... how interesting. Thanks Maruchy L!

umm.... it's wallpaper week?

Great look, and great little shout-out to Frontier Ruckus!

Yay for wallpaper week!!

Starch works great with fabric as well. Stays up, comes right down when you're ready to remove it. I would use purchased liquid starch instead of flour and water.

Can anyone help identify the tiny tacks used for this? Having trouble finding ones that blend like these!