Thursday, January 20, 2011

You Want to do What?

"You Want to do What?" is exactly what Nate said when I suggested that we use wallpaper in the dining room above the newly installed wainscoting.  I had seen some wallpaper in a clients home that looked phenomenal and was dying to do something similar.  Nate agreed to at least consider it, so off to Lowes we went to look through the books of wallpaper.  I knew that I wanted something with texture, and something that looked like a natural material (i.e. grasscloth, linen, etc.).  While looking through the books, the only thing that kept coming to mind was cheap, cheap, cheap.  Not inexpensive "cheap", but trashy "cheap".  Not the look we were hoping to achieve!  The other concern was the damage that wallpaper can cause to drywall when you attempt to remove it, and the pain the arse (I love an English accent) it is to remove wallpaper.

Not to be deterred, I started to do some research on using real fabric rather than wallpaper.  I found several websites dedicated to apartment living that suggested using fabric stiffener to apply the fabric to the walls.  When you were done renting the apartment you can take a warm wet sponge, wet down the fabric, and safely remove it from the drywall.  Wash the fabric and reuse!  This sounded like the solution!

I found a soft mocha colored linen fabric at JoAnn Fabrics which worked really well with the color scheme in the kitchen as well as the new hardwood floors.  Now, the task of applying it to the walls.

Nate was still not a huge fan of the idea, and was working on his own project in the Den (see that project here) so I attempted the project on my own.  First, I diluted the fabric stiffener with water so that the fabric remained pliable and soft.  I secured the fabric with push pins and applied the fabric stiffener with a paint roller.  One hour later and one wall was complete.  Well, not really.  It looked like complete crap!  There were bubbles everywhere, the fabric was slanted and it really didn't look like I had pictured it.  To make matters worse, our friends stopped by to see the house for the first time and made several comments about how terrible the fabric idea was.  I set out to prove them wrong!

After enough crying and yelling from me, Nate got the point that he should probably help.  This is definitely a project for two people!  We decided to run the fabric horizontally so that we did not have vertical seams like you would with wallpaper.  We were able to do this because of the wainscoting below.  The width of the fabric was larger than the height of the wall above the wainscoting.

We employed the push pin method again, and Nate did the rolling.  I followed behind using my hands to push out any air bubbles.  The fabric ends up quite wet from the fabric stiffener which helps it adhere to the wall better while it is "stiffening".  We did one wall at a time and allowed it to completely dry.  Once dry (about a day), we used a long straight edge and an exacto knife to trim off the excess fabric from the top, bottom, and two sides.  The fabric cuts amazingly well when it is stiff.  Once the edges were cut, we moved on to the adjacent wall and repeated all of the steps until the four walls were complete.

We ended up LOVING the final look and despite the pain in the butt it was to install, it was worth it.  It is a subtle detail but when you run your hand across the wall the texture feels incredible.  We can't imagine using a fabric with a pattern because it would be almost impossible to get things straight using this method.  By using the linen we didn't have that problem to consider.  If we ever stop loving the look of it, we can soak down the fabric and remove it from the wall all while leaving the drywall intact.  It was the perfect solution for us.

Drum roll please!
FINISHED DINING ROOM!
We completed the look by changing out the existing satin nickel chandelier with two drum shade chandeliers from Overstock.com.  The shade is a wood veneer which adds another texture to this room.  We were also able to buy a new table and upholstered chairs from Crate and Barrel with wedding gift cards.  The table is a dark espresso farm house style (we love the look of reclaimed wood and this table fit the bill), and the upholstered chairs have the same textural quality of the linen fabric which ties things together nicely. We had the buffet table from a great $99.00 Pottery Barn Outlet find (Nate just had to make some legs for it since they seemed to be missing!)  The table sits atop a jute rug that we bought at IKEA...again, another textural quality. We made a very bold statement with the drapes that my mother made for us using fabric (Iman Sultana Lattice in Noir) that I found at Calico Corners.  The fabric also has a textural quality to it due to the flocking of the pattern.  An avocado green band (Calico Corners Cobblestone in Avocado) was added to the drapes to bring some color to the room.

I LOVE MY DRAPES!

Nate took some reclaimed wood and made the trough on the table to hold the moss balls, again adding texture and color to the room.  We really love the results!  We have had three separate people sit at the table and tell us they feel like they are in a magazine.  So much for "You Want to do What?"!

28 comments:

  1. Coming over from YHL....love this. Thinking about trying the fabric idea in our hallway. www.thethreeofus.posterous.com

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  2. Came here from YHL too. I love the fabric! And your whole house. I couldn't finish the article though because I just got too confused about who everyone is? Is Michelle or Nate writing this and referring to themselves in the third person? The 'we' is throwing me. Off for more coffee!

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    1. I, Michele, am writing all of the posts. I am sorry for the confusion! I was new to this whole blogging thing and wasn't quite sure how to write these darn things! I did switch over in the more recent posts to just saying "I". The third person was beginning to confuse me too!! Thanks for stopping in!

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  3. Popping in from Young House Love :) You have a beautiful home, and I love the fabric on the walls!!

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  4. I really want to try this now, but I'm not sure I have a place for it yet! So excited YHL crashed you guys!

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  5. Love it.
    How much would this cost (out of curiousity) I am thinking of DIYing this in our guestroom rather than painting, but not sure about the cost effectiveness.
    Looks amazing though!!

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    1. I got the linen with a 50% off coupon at JoAnn Fabric for $3.50 per yard. I believe that I bought 10 yds of fabric for that room. We also went through about 5 bottles of fabric stiffener (approximately $3.00 per bottle with coupon) so that works out to be about $50.00 not including the cost of the wood for the wainscoting. Not a whole lot more than painting if you get an inexpensive enough fabric.

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  6. Came here from YHL, congrats on the crash! Now lets see if I can convince my husband to add some wainscoting & fabric to our walls!

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  7. I love what you've done. I love the fabric on the walls and the drapes that your mom made in the dining room. I also love the downstairs powder room. I've been wanting to do something similar with a wall (or three walls) or tile. It looks like there is a lot of texture with the tile. Is it going to be a dust/dirt/splash magnet? I love the look, but don't want to do anything high maintenance. Thanks! (I'm here via YHL, too.)

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    1. We haven't had any issues yet and my husband is a clean freak!

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  8. Lovely house and what a cool idea! I wonder if there's any way you could take some close up photos some time? I'd love to do this in our family room. Is the fabric pretty stiff? I'm wondering if they got smeared with food or smudges if they'd be able to be wiped with a damp cloth or something.

    Also, can you see the seams in the fabric? I'm thinking burlap would be a cool natural texture.

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    1. I will definitely get you some close up pics! The fabric is definitely stiff. I am not sure how easily it would wipe down, we do go over it with a slightly damp cloth occasionally and that seems to work. No kids yet, so it hasn't had to endure any food flinging :)
      Because of the wainscoting we were able to run the fabric horizontally rather than vertically (like a true wallpaper would be) so are seams are in the corners and not noticeable. We do have two seems where the dining room enters the living room. They are a bit noticeable but not horrible. I will try to get a pic of that too for you.

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  9. another from YHL -- amazing! amazing! already love your blog...now if i could just get my fiance to allow me to wainscot and fabric our NYC apartment (and become a clean freak!) can't wait for more from you. xoxo

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  10. super cool and I love that I can possibly do this in my rental! One question though... you say the push pin method.. where are these push pins? Are they visible? How many did you use and where are they located? Thanks!

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    1. The push pins were only used to help hold the fabric up while we rolled the fabric stiffener on. Once the fabric was adhered and beginning to dry, we removed the push pins. The texture of the fabric is enough to hide the holes where the pins were used.

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  11. you guessed it, here from YHL ... you are actually the first house crash I've ever come to crash on the blog because I am totally in LOVE with your home. The fabric walls, the large map project and that garage has me drooling! if I still lived in MD I would pop over with a bottle of wine to hang in the back yard ... 'cause there was an invite sent, right?!?! Great projects!!! :)

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    1. You are welcome anytime! And we have plenty of wine to share :)

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  12. ps. I'm not sure if you know you have comment verification on ... it took me three tries to get through ... just wanted to let you know. have an awesome weekend!

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  13. here from .... YHL and just wanted to let you know that I'm another addition to your fan club. Amazing!
    Indeed , how to get husband to be handy and a cleanfreak. Ahhhhh. Dream on.
    Careful re. inviting YHL groupies to come by and have a glass of wine! You'll have to take reservations : ))

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  14. Gorgeous! I just love when something turns out amazing after EVERYONE thinks its going to be horrible!

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  15. Another visitor from YHL. LOVE your blog! And your house! Can't wait to try the fabric wallpaper. I do have a question though, at what ratio did you dilute the fabric stiffener?

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    1. Great question! It was about a 50/50 ratio. Hope that helps!!

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  16. Hey! Just saw the pictures of your house from YHL! It looks incredible! I can tell you guys have put a lot of thought and time into making such a gorgeous home!

    I have one question for you about the fabric wallpaper. We have the old thick textured paneling in our house that we want to cover without painting over in case we decide to sell it anytime soon. There are a lot of ridges and bumps in the paneling though where the slats meet. Do you think it would be possible to cover it with fabric or do you need a flat wall?

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    1. I am sure that it would work, but I have a feeling that the ridges would come through (which could actually be kind of cool!).

      My suggestion would be to buy 1/2 yard and try it out. The beauty of this is that if it doesn't work, wet it, and remove it!

      Good Luck!

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  17. Popping over from YHL. Glad to learn of your blog, as you two have done some great projects. The fabric wallpaper is especially of interest to me, as I just love the texture and look of grasscloth, but not the price. I do like the idea of a pattern, but I totally get what you mean about the pattern getting wonky with the method you used. Thanks for the inspiration!

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