Beautiful Removable Wallpaper Ideas Even Renters Can Love

Whether Beverly Hills Hotel-inspired palm leaves or simple grasscloth, it’s been hard to ignore the reemergence of wallcoverings. Of course, when you rent, you have to simply admire this trend from afar, right? Wrong. These tried-and-true tricks let you enjoy statement-making patterns or textures without sacrificing your security deposit (or your decor tastes).

Though you could easily cover a whole wall with removable wallpaper, don’t overlook the other surfaces that are practically begging for a (temporary) makeover.

The mural (above) behind the Murphy Bed in this NYC studio is elegant and creates a dreamy headboard of sorts. Only covering a portion of the wall is also a great cost savings.

Kathy from Up to Date Interiors solved the eternal problem of plain kitchen cabinets by covering the doors with removable wallpaper from Walls Need Love. (She also made Swiss Cross decals to update the white backsplash tile.) We even checked in with her a year later to see how the cabinets were holding up (spoiler: “It still looks new.”)

If you fear that such an overhaul would shock your landlord (and your sanity), try a smaller-scale change by using temporary wallpaper on your kitchen backsplash. Naomi and Sage from Plaster and Disaster used the Tiles pattern by SwagPaper to introduce a little color to a kitchen counter.

Though you could use removable wallpaper for this Miles Redd-inspired sideboard makeover by PMQ For Two, this particular project used inexpensive wallpaper samples.

If your rental has a fireplace, it’s likely non-functional (especially in more “vintage” buildings). You can create a colorful “screen” to fill in the fireplace a la Hunted Interiors by gluing a scrap of wallpaper to a foam core board measured and cut to size.

For more ambitious DIYers, this room divider screen project would make an even bigger impact within the space. Style At Home created this screen by covering bi-fold doors with a bold wallpaper.

These molding-framed panels by Summer Thornton are admittedly very aspirational (and are installed on the wall), but they present the inspiration for a DIY version. To recreate the look of these framed panels, apply peel-and-stick paper (or glue conventional wallpaper panels) to a large piece of foam board, then create a custom frame using bamboo molding. Or, you can cover a large canvas (available at Michaels) with wallpaper and skip the frame.

Renters and owners alike can add some color and pattern to their home by adding removable wallpaper to their stair risers. Camilla chose a trendy pineapple print here which she can easily remove when she moves out.

For a less-intense DIY, you can follow the lead of A Beautiful Mess and frame a wallpaper sample.

What do you think? Would you try any of these in your rental?