Fabric Wallpaper

If I had my way, I would purchase rolls of temporary wallpaper from domesticate's shop on Spoonflower and go crazy with color and design.  Alas, those rolls are $60 each and . . . I really in no way have that kind of money.  There are, however, alternatives for renters in search of ways to put temporary color and pattern on the walls.  Sometimes those options can be pretty affordable.  

I decided to go with hanging fabric on the walls.  I was especially intrigued by the idea of using fabric starch to adhere fabric to the walls.  Starch is supposed to work as wallpaper paste, but release cleanly.  

That is totally not what I did in my test case-our hallway linen closet.

I have no idea whether liquid starch is easy to come by in Savannah or not.  I didn't even look for any.  As I may have mentioned before, our apartment is painted with flat paint.  I can't clean the walls without leaving marks so I was not willing to take any chances with liquid anything.  Plus, that was way too many steps.

I decided to go with tools and materials I had on hand--some batik from my fabric stash and my handy staple gun.  I can not remember why or when I bought this batik but I am 90% certain it came from JoAnn's.

It took maybe a yard and a half to do the closet interior.  I washed and pressed the fabric first, then measured my walls and cut pieces to fit.  Why yes that is Bushido Brown.

I removed each shelf and stapled as close to the edge of the fabric as possible.  I was worried that the staples would show at first, but the print does a great job distracting the eye.

On a side note, removing the shelves (they aren't attached to anything-they just rest on these supports) uncovered all kinds of gross goodies from previous tenants.  As you can see, this spray paint job they did in this apartment is . . . . not that thorough at all.

Measuring and trimming before stapling was by far the easiest way to do the whole project.  If you look up the process on the web, you'll probably see pictures of a straight edge and a box cutter or something to trim the excess edges.

That . . .  is utter bullshit.  The razor blade trim method worked-but not at all well.  Just measure, trim, and staple.  Then stand up and decide it looks good enough from your regular point of view.

Overall, I was pleased with how my fabric wallpaper test run turned out.  This was essentially a zero dollar upgrade since I used stuff I already had and did not purchase anything especially for the project.

So pleased, in fact, that I got really ambitious.  More on that later.

Feathering the Nest: Ephemera Walls

I have been working really hard at living in Savannah and trying to like it.  

Sometimes this feels impossible in an apartment covered in flat paint (!) in what looks like a custom shade of dingy white that has been aging ungracefully since the seventies.  I'm making peace with living in Savannah and I am making peace with living in our apartment by slowly, very slowly, living in it.  (Groundbreaking!)  

Seriously-in many ways, our apartment is just a place we sleep in, briefly, before getting back on the road to somewhere and something else.  It isn't a place we draw any particular joy or comfort from.  It isn't a place we want to spend much time in.  These are ideal attributes for places that discourage loiterers.  It's not what you want from your home.

Focusing more time and attention on feathering the nest is slowly starting to change that.

My favorite inexpensive decoration in our place is the ephemera wall.  The calendar I use to keep track of our various work schedules was looking a little lonely.  Leftover pushpins, a $3 box of small binder clips from Target, and various photos, postcards, art work, and paper ephemera has made for an interesting, colorful, and ever-growing display.  It is also relatively low damage-all of this stuff is hung with pushpins.  (Cause I just don't give a f&*$@)  You could just as easily use poster putty or sticky tak-the less gangsta and more rental-friendly option.  (Fun fact: I actually have an unopened package of sticky tak in the same drawer I got the pushpins from.  I am HARDCORE)

My favorite pieces are my stepson's watercolor drawing of a bat, the Arkansas sticker which I loved so much I included it twice, and the card from an old school library card catalog.  It's from a Ted Dekker book.  Never read him.  From the details on the card, probably won't.  I just love the nostalgia factor.

I also love the Fannie Lou Hamer print and quote.  It's not really visible in this image, but this print is just a color copy of a pin from Pinterest.  11x17 posters are available for purchase from the original website and I am going to replace my bootleg version with the real deal.  It's just too good.  The quote says, ""Sometimes it seem like to tell the truth today is to run the risk of being killed. But if I fall, I'll fall five feet four inches forward in the fight for freedom. I'm not backing off."

"I'm not backing off."  Damn right.

Fun With Paper

I love pretty things but pretty things often cost a ton.  However, as I troll around the internets I find all kinds of cool ideas for fun things to do with paper that look arty, sculptural, or just plain fun.

Observe.

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Zig Zag tissue paper streamers from Jordan Ferney/Oh Happy Day.  These are pretty and somewhat unusual party decorations that have the added benefit of being really light which makes them easier to hang.  They are also really easy to make.

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 Or how about the humble crepe paper streamer?  Closely layered on a wall provides a beautiful, softly textured backdrop.  You can also manipulate the texture.  Look at these ruffled versions.

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 Gorgeous right?  Definitely fun with paper!