Before & After: Renter-Friendly Limewash Walls Add Charm to a City Apartment

Chelsey Brown, the founder of City Chic Decor and an author of the forthcoming book Shut the Front Door, loves experimenting with new, temporary DIY projects in her own space. One of her more recent endeavors? Transforming her apartment walls so they look as though they’re limewashed — all while following guidelines that are 100 percent landlord-approved. 

First, Brown coated her plain apartment walls in a plaster-look spray-and-stick wallpaper from The Home Depot, which she activated using a spray bottle. Brown notes that, in retrospect, installing the paper was the most challenging portion of her project. “Spraying water was so messy, and it would dry before the wallpaper was even up,” she notes.

Although this portion of the DIY required some extra patience, Brown knew she would thank herself for taking this route down the line upon moving out. “All you need to do is peel the wallpaper off and lightly clean the walls with water — that’s it,” she says of the removal process. 

Once the wallpaper was up, Brown applied joint compound on top of it, creating her own textural patterns to mimic the texture of limestone. After the joint compound dried, she painted over it using Behr’s Alpaca Blanket BWC-27). This warm buff color helped to finish off the surface and give it some uniformity around the relief created by the joint compound. 

Brown couldn’t be happier with how much character the wall makeover added to her space. “I don’t think I can ever go back to plain walls again — or even only walls with molding,” she says. “Also, I love that it’s every wall in the living room and not just a ‘feature wall’; I think that’s what makes this look so good and so special.” 

Because Brown mostly decorates with neutral furnishings, the larger pieces in her apartment pair nicely with the walls, too. “It all just feels so cohesive,” she says. “This texture complements so many different textures and textiles so well — woods and fabrics.”