Installing removable wallpaper

My childhood homes all had wallpaper but my adult homes? Never. It\’s not because I had a bad 80\’s experience with floral print but because I either moved a lot or rented and found that painted walls were just easier and more cost effective.

But I\’ve always loved the drama of wallpaper and have a slight obsession with it; I always snap pictures to Instagram or collect pictures in my Wallpaper Pinterest Board.

So I was determined in my new home to have wallpaper somewhere. I initially thought on some plain pantry doors but the opening and closing of them is already scuffing the paint – I worried about wear and tare on paper. I thought about peek-a-boo places like cupboards or doors but nothing really fit.

Whilst browsing Hygge and West\’s wallpaper selection, I found Folklore, a large, bold print that was so beautiful that I instantly knew what I\’d wall paper. A 14\’ wall on a landing that connects the first floor to the second.

Going up or coming down all you see is a high white ceiling and a door out to the backyard. I\’d thought about curtains over the door, prints above it, but couldn\’t think of anything that\’d bring both drama to the space but at the same time not be too overwhelming since I look at this several times a day. There\’s no hiding this space.

The Folklore print was perfect for so many reasons. The red was vibrant but not harsh – it was a very Danish red. The pattern looked Scandinavian to me but the pattern actually comes from the Otomi people in Mexico. I measured out the walls and the door, and sent the measurements to Hygge and West who helped determine how many tiles I\’d need. I\’d made the decision to go with removable wallpaper because I\’d always been curious about it – how does it apply? How does it last? How does it come off? The latter was important just in case the red was too dramatic and I wanted to take it down. So I needed tiles versus roles and ended up using about 16.

I wasn\’t familiar with tiles or how removable wallpaper looked so when I got them and saw that they weren\’t trimmed (meaning, there were white edges around them), I knew I\’d need to hire a professional to install. My cutting and pasting skills are what had me fail art twice in school so I didn\’t want to mess with tiles that\’d be going up on the walls!

My installer told me that removable wallpaper is really better for smaller projects – like cupboards and doors. The reasons? With rolls, you glue it to the wall and that glue allows you to move the role around to really line things up perfect. And because you\’re not trimming tiles you get cleaner, crisper seams. So removable wallpaper provides challenges in larger spaces.It took the installer about 2.5 hours to cut and paste all the tiles to the wall. When he was done, I was really, really impressed. It had changed the whole look of the space.It was exactly what I was hoping for – hygge, dramatic but not overpowering. The door goes to the backyard and you can see a lot of nature through the glass and the pattern compliments that. The pattern was the perfect size as well – I think anything smaller for this space would have seemed to busy or harsh.

I didn\’t notice any seam issues either close up or far away, so all in all I\’m really happy with the removable wallpaper tiles. I\’d just suggest if you\’re going to use them for a larger space to get a professional – it makes a huge difference.

(If you want to know more about why I chose this pattern and my home overall, you can read about it in Hygge & Wests’s book, Hygge Home: Design for a Cosy Life.)