The Walk-In Closet Wallpaper Is Up!
I spent yesterday afternoon and evening doing the project I’ve been anxiously anticipating for a while now. I got the wallpaper up on the window wall and above the washer and dryer cabinets! This single project transformed the room more than any other single project, and I absolutely love how it looks. I’m so glad that I decided to use wallpaper on these areas instead of the tile that I had originally considered!
The wallpaper I used is this Taylor wallpaper from Jupiter10.
Before I started hanging the wallpaper, I decided that it would be so much easier if I remove the top trim from the window. Thank goodness I no longer install my trim using loads of construction adhesive like I used to years ago! Since I only use nails to install trim these days, it was fairly easy to remove with no damage to the wall.
And then I decided to also remove the side trim pieces as well. The least amount of precise trimming I have to do on wallpaper, the better. I’m not so skilled at the precise trimming of wallpaper, so I try to work with my strengths and weaknesses to get the best outcome possible.
I wanted my first piece to be one of the full-length pieces of wallpaper, and then work out from there. So I marked from the side of the cabinet on the right wall, and measured out three sections that were 20.5 inches wide (the width of the wallpaper) until I reached the first section that would go from ceiling to floor, and I used my level to draw a perfectly vertical line as my starting point. It’s kind of faint, but perhaps you can see it here about 19 inches to the right of the window.
After I got that piece on, I moved to the right and worked my way around the window.
And of course, with each new piece that went up, I had to stand back and admire it and make sure it looked good from the entrance to the room.
I was so relieved once I got all of the wallpaper around the window. I was so nervous about this because I had zero confidence that I could actually get that second full length of wallpaper to meet up perfectly with the short pieces I had applied above and below the window.
And you know what? They didn’t meet perfectly, but the wallpaper is so busy that I doubt anyone would ever notice. So that’s a win for busy wallpaper! 😀
Once I got those pieces on around the window, I could work my way out from there and around to the areas above the washer and dryer cabinets. And here’s what it looks like now!
I love it so much! And you can see that I did my best to line up the height of the pattern in the wallpapered section of the cabinets with the pattern on the back wall. It’s probably not perfect, but I think it looks pretty good.
I didn’t have time to reinstall the window trim, so I’ll do that this weekend. I’ll also be continuing the crown molding around these walls, and all of the trim will be painted the same blue that’s on the cabinets.
And you can see that I’m terrible at trimming wallpaper. This is why I try to do wallpaper before I install trim if I can. I’m capable of trimming wallpaper much cleaner than that if I absolutely have to (if the trim is already installed), but I’m almost never pleased with my trimming ability no matter how careful I am. So I much prefer to install wallpaper before trim.
I can also see some of the seams, even though I spent so much time and effort trying to hide them and get them perfectly lined up. So I’m going to buy paint to match all of the dark colors and use a tiny art brush and see if I can get them to disappear.
I had previously said that I was going to paint the whole wall dark blue before hanging the wallpaper to see if that would solve that problem, but I ran into two issues with that. First, I looked up how long paint needs to dry before you can hang wallpaper on it. It needs to fully cure, and that can take up to 30 days. I wasn’t willing to wait that long. But also, the problem isn’t that the wall is showing through the seams. The problem is that the white edges of the wallpaper show on the really dark areas. But a tiny bit of paint will solve that problem. And really, this wallpaper is so busy that I doubt anyone else would notice.
Since I removed most of the window trim before hanging the wallpaper, that meant that the only areas where I needed clean cuts were around the window sill. I think I did a pretty good job on those areas. They’re not perfect, but in the whole scheme of things, no one is going to be inspecting the wallpaper next to the window sill. 😀
Anyway, I’m so excited that I can check another project off of the list for this room. That’s two big projects that I’ve finished this week. I have several small projects (mostly trim) that still need to be done, and then that leaves two big projects — building the island and remaking the chandelier. Those are pretty big, but I think I’m still on track to finish this room by the end of this month!
Now that the wallpaper is up, I was curious to see what the artwork looks like in this area against the wallpaper. I love it! It almost looks like it was made to go in this room.
I still need to decide what to do with the frames. I won’t be keeping them black. I’ll either paint them the dark blue that I used on the top trim in the wallpapered cabinet section, or I’ll gold leaf them to match the closet rods and the cabinet/drawer pulls.
I’m leaning towards gold, but y’all can let me know your thoughts on that.
And as I look at these pictures, I’m also reminded that I still need countertops! I was going to use the same red oak that I have on the floors to make countertops, but I’m not so sure about that now. I might look into some other options, although low-cost countertop options aren’t abundant. And I don’t want to pay for stone or quartz for a walk-in closet. So that final decision has yet to be made.
Anyway, the wallpaper is done, and I couldn’t love it more. This is so much better than tile!
I wish all of you could see it in person. From the foyer, it’s so eye-catching and really packs a punch.
There’s a possibility that this — a walk-in closet — might end up being my favorite room in our house. 😀
It’s all coming together, and I think it’s turning out even better than what I had envisioned in my mind. That’s always a bonus!
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Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
Beautiful job, well done!!! Just think, a washer and dryer at your fingertips…I am always impressed with your ability to persevere until you get the “perfect look” for you. I would do the gold leaf on the frames. I like the idea of bringing the gold on that end of the room. I hope you get some rest and relaxation with Matt and for yourself this weekend.
The wallpaper looks great! Is there enough space between the artwork and the crown moulding for the sconces? Do you think you need the lights? I would go with gold frames for the artwork. Gold would stand out more than navy blue against the wallpaper.
I think there will be enough room, but I’ll know for sure after I get the crown molding up. I don’t think I need the lights, but I’d like to have them anyway. I enjoy having lighting that I can keep on all the time as nightlights that can stay on when all of the other lights are turned off. So I’ll put a really low wattage (equivalent) bulb in them and keep them on. They won’t be for task lighting since I already have the recessed lights above the washer and dryer for that.
It looks beautiful. Please matche the frames to the rods with gold. As for the tops of the washer /dryer, I would match them to the island top. What kind of island top do you plan to use? This room is magazine worthy! I hope you enjoy getting ready everyday in such a lovely room.
Sheila F.
I’ll definitely match all three countertops, so that’s what I’m still trying to decide on. I may even go with laminate! Since it’s not a kitchen or bathroom, I don’t need a high priced solid surface, and they can do amazing things with laminate these days. I just need something that looks pretty, and that I can use to fold laundry.
A downside to laminate is heat damage from hot pans, and that obviously wouldn’t be an issue here. Seems like a great choice.
I didn’t know you were a fan of laminate; it’s the perfect idea!
I have always liked it better than granite which is sooo overrated imho. And you’re right it’s come a long way since the red stuff that I grew up with in our kitchen😉
Do you need a full-blown countertop or would you be able to get by with red oak laminate sheets adhered to the plywood? Like you used the walnut laminate on your master bathroom cabinet? I think that would be more cost effective than a true countertop. It would also keep the tops more height-friendly for you.
I also vote for the gold on the frames. I don’t think the frames should disappear into the wallpaper.
Also, the wallpaper in the laundry area is fantastic! I also want to ask about the edge of the washer/dryer enclosures where they meet the wallpapered wall – that edge looks like white primer in your photos. Is it just the lighting?
Oh my gosh! That room is going to be stunning! Great job!
Yes it looks amazing and glad to see that inspector Cooper is also pleased. I vote gold for picture frames. And what about doing that faux marble paint finish on the w/d tops? You did a great job with that on your coffee table.
Too late for this time but for next time – a professional paper hanger that did a repair for us did the following: on paper with a charcoal background, she used an oil-based pastel (chalk) on the light edges of the wallpaper before she installed it. Hold the chalk perpendicular / at 90 degrees to the edge of the wallpaper and just go along the edge. Then install normally. No white edges where the seams are.
Brilliant! Who knew?
I’ve done something similar. Just used acrylic paint and painted both sides of the rolls while still rolled up.
Sooo beautiful Kristi!! You are amazing! We found tile at Floor & Decor for the island we made. The tile measures 59″x 29.5″. We only needed one tile to cover the entire top. Wonder if that would work for the tops of your washer and dryer?
I looked at large format tile, but I couldn’t find any that would cover the entire thing. The washer and dryer countertops are 32″ x 36″, and the island is going to be 72″ x 30″.
I needed to read this today. Thanks for the idea Lynn. Also can we just stop for a minute to admire Cooper’s ears.
Wow can’t believe what a difference that backwall wallpaper makes. Gorgeous
Looks so good and you are cruising right along. Way to go!
IKEA for countertops. Cheap and they look and hold up great. No doubt they’d do well in your area.
Beautiful! Such a happy room to do laundry and get dressed! I’m with you on the gold trim of the frame too! That will tie in nicely. What about a tiled countertop in coral? Or to match the big flowers on the wallpaper? Do they make affordable tile like that? Or if you do have left over red oak, paint it to match the coral?
Marble countertops would be stunning in the closet. Do you have any local stone yards that sell remnants?
We do, but I think even remnant prices would be more than what I want to pay for a walk-in closet.
Absolutely beautiful!!! The artwork is perfect. I vote for gold frames. Can’t wait to see everything finished.
I’ve been watching for this post since 6:30 this morning and I was not disappointed!
That wall is icing on the cake. I was wondering what it would look like to have a touch of gold leaf on the white sconces and mirror. Just enough to tie in with the gold rods and possible frames. Just a thought.
This is stunning! I’d go with the gold for the frames. I think the blue would just disappear.
Stunning! Congrats.
IMHO frames would look lovely gold. Seems more feminine, softer, less modern like the rest of the room, provides transition from the art to the walls.
Stunning!
Love the idea of gold frames to coordinate with your brass and it’ll also pick up that hint of yellow in the wallpaper. Great choice. I do think you might be wrong about no one inspecting your work though. Your boy Cooper is looking at things pretty closely! 😍 but I’m sure he’ll agree this area is stunning. Right, Cooper??
It looks amazing! Gold-leaf the frames. Check the granite / marble shops and see if they have any “scraps” that they’d sell cheap. The seam in the wallpaper? I could see it when you focused the camera on it, but when you moved back to take pictures, it was gone.
It is stunning! The tile, while pretty, would have made it almost ho-hum compared to the wall paper.
Beauriful! I love how the gold light fixture pulls the yellow flowers in the paper so I think doing gold frames would be nice. What color are you going with on the window trim?
It’ll be the same color as the cabinets and crown molding.
Love it! Have you considered putting your closet island on locking wheels?
I have, but I think I’ve finally decided to just add feet like a dresser. I love turned wood, so I’d like to find some pretty, short, turned wood feet for it.
Love, love, love the wallpaper.
I am sure you are the only one who can see the seams. I personally like the black frames but you have to be happy.
What about LVT for top of w/d, in a light color to match floor. Easy to keep clean and pretty indestructible. Hope you and Matt have a blessed weekend.
It is such a lovely room that I would be tempted to put a small chair in there just to enjoy it. Love that Cooper is also enjoying the room and the view.
I’d go with gold on the art frame so it doesn’t disappear. It would make it classy like your light fixture.
You are going to want to live in your closet! It is delightful. It is beautiful. It is gorgeous. You have every reason to be proud of yourself. I was so excited to see the wallpaper in place. Now get your washer and dryer in place and you will almost be set. Why counter tops on the washer and dryer area? I’d bet you can get a scrap piece of stone someplace without costing too much.
I’m ready for you to move everything in and make it a closet. Then tear down the sunroom.
How about using the tile as a countertop?
I’d be open to that if I can find a style that doesn’t look like a throwback to the 80s. I plan to go later today to Lowe’s and Home Depot and maybe a local design store and look at the options.
You had been thinking of penny tiles for the floor in that area but it ended up it not been practical… but why about using penny tiles on those countertops?
Hmmm… I’ll have to think about that. 🤔
Hi Kristi:
STUNNING!!! When I saw the thumbnail picture, I did a big AAWWEE! You should be so proud of yourself! You have done a fabulous job and I am in envy of your talents. Also, your sharing of your knowledge and experience is much appreciated. THANK YOU!! I hope you and Matt have a great weekend!
Wow!!! it looks amazing, but please don’t put that “artwork” in there just to take up space and cover up that gorgeous wall paper. I’m sure you can find something else. Everything looks so high end and gorgeous and the art just doesn’t. before the paper was up I thought “ok it works” but I can’t say that anymore. I feel like in the back of your mind something is saying “it’s just a closet” You have said it a couple of times in today’s blog but this room is way more than just a closet and you’re going to spend a lot of time here-hello laundry! So unless it sparks joy don’t settle.
I’m anxious to see what you pick for the countertops.
I get it, but that artwork is very special and meaningful to me. I love it. And it’s sooooo sparkly in person. Unfortunately, the sparkles don’t ever come across in pictures. It looks like it’s covered in tiny diamonds because it’s so sparkly. It definitely sparks joy in me! I’m not settling. 🙂
I’m sure you don’t realize that Kristi MADE that artwork, and it is favorite motivational words of hers, otherwise you would not have said what you said. If you DID know that, it was rude, and you might want to apologize to her. I think it’s lovely and thought-provoking!
Curious what type of window covering you will use here?
I’m not sure. When I took the shade down, I actually thought about just leaving it off completely. I know I need privacy, but I don’t like the idea of having to close the shade completely because I don’t want to block the natural light from the room. So now I’m thinking about using the frosted glass privacy film on the window (which I think will still look nice from the outside) and just leave it at that. But I’ll make that final decision after I get the trim back on and painted and then finish up the rest of the trim.
I wondered this too but make sure it’s really really opaque.
Especially at night with the lights on!😳
I wallpapered a lot in the past. My living room has a dark burgundy paisley on the bottom half. So, of course you can see some seams. I purchased a marker in the color that matched similar, wiped it down the seam, then wiped off with a soft cloth. Cheaper and easier than painting the seams!
The wallpaper looks gorgeous! The floral pattern and pale blue cabinets give the room a sophisticated cottage feel to me.
The picture frames: I vote gold to create a more distinct boundary between the lighter-toned pictures and the wallpaper.
Congrats on the great progress!
And here I didn’t think this room could get any better, but here you are just making it happen. I love the wallpaper!!! My parents were great adherents to wallpaper and with my moving with the Military, I could never have wallpaper, that is what I really like about retirement, I can wallpaper whatever I want. It looks gorgeous. I am for the gold frame, if not white like mirror frame. Also, just a nice boring laminate for your countertops might be want you need so as not to make that side of the room too “heavy” with all that gorgeous paper. You are killing it in there, and I think Cooper just loves being in there too.
Cheers to you and Matt, and the Furballs!
Your washer and dryer should look amazing in there.
1. Team Gold for frames.
2. Every stone supplier has a “Boneyard”. Those are the cut off pieces when they do a job. Some of them are quite large. The first customer has already paid for that stone so they will sell the pieces cheap and, usually, will cut them to size for you.
You are right about the laminates being a whole lot nicer than they were years ago. But they aren’t cheap either.
What are you going to do with the bare wood next to W/D that is the end of the closets?
The ends will be finished like the cabinets. I just didn’t want to bother until the trim is attached, wood filled, sanded, and caulked. And I didn’t want to do that until the wallpaper was up.
I think Formica would make a nice clean counter over the appliances, and the selection of colors is wide enough that you can make a good choice. A light blue Formica would look great, or navy or pink…. Quick and cheap to install, too. I put gray Formica in my laundry room under the laundry sink and it looks spectacular. Got the Formica at Habitat ReStore for less than $20.
I love the wallpaper! Yes to gold on the frames. This whole project is yummy!
Incredible. Amazing. Lovely.
And I mean you and the room!
Oh, definitely the gold on the frames. Kristi, you’ve done such a great job here. Congratulations.
I’m absolutely loving the wallpaper and everything about this project. I can’t wait to see the final result. I vote for gold leafing the frames.
For future reference, if you use tinted primer instead of paint on the walls, it typically cures in 3 days rather than 30. Also, for white walls and dark heavy paper, you only need to paint where the seams and edges will be. I’m sorry I didn’t mention this when you papered the jewelry area.
This looks amazing. Team Gold for the picture frames. And the artwork looks amazing there. The colors are perfect against the wallpaper in the spacing and size are perfect. Don’t you love it when a plan comes together!
God Leaf. And, have you checked out the cut formica at HD and Lowes? If I knew how to send a photo of my dressing table in my closet with paint, stain and wallpaper I would send it. I lived with construction board for 2 years because other options were so $$$. Husband convinced be to look at fancy edged formica and it looks like I had envisioned and was less than $100‼️ WHO KNEW❓
I haven’t looked yet, but I will! Formica has come a long way in recent years, so I’m definitely open to it.
I love it all!! Well done!
You did a great job with the wall paper!
For the art, I’d go with the same gold as the rods; I didn’t think it would be a big deal but now I’m realizing the gold will elevate the art and frame it beautifully against the dark background.
Is there any way to get a scrap of stone for your countertops? They don’t seem that big. At this point I’d be hard pressed to choose a perfect room; each one is so amazing but at the top I’d have to say the master bath. It’s oozes luxury. And the “ workroom “ is up there for its amazing space and storage and possibilities. Oh, the art I could make there! And the pantry…and the kitchen…and the tv area, living room…..((swoon))
Absolutely gorgeous!!! Love it so much!
My vote is for gold leaf on your frames. I love how well the art matches the wallpaper!
It is lovely! I was going to say that the art frames are so narrow, I would just leave them as is. But then as I scrolled further, the white mirror frame and white lights caught my eye, and I thought “what about white frames?” I’m sure you’ll say no, so my second vote is gold. (But I think you should carry the white somewhere for balance.)
Beautiful! Love the idea of gold for the frames.
Instead of large format tiles how about tiling the tops with smaller stone tiles, they are beautiful. And, would lay the tile very close together so that there is no room for grout. Floor & Decor have some great examples.
Gosh, it all looks SO wonderful…what an incredible area to work in as well! And it definitely can’t get more convenient than that…from laundry to hangers to the rod! Love the entire look! PS) We just purchased beautiful piece of Porcelain tile from Floor and Decor…going to use for back splash and a feature wall. 32″ X 64. They have about 10 choices in that size. They even have much larger. It is an incredible store, and everyone who sees it can’t believe how wonderful it looks…they all ask where we got it. It is like artwork. AND, there was at least 4-5 variants in the design…I think the full piece costs about $75.00 for us. (pieces vary in designs/price) Looking to use the same thing in my laundry room counters. I mentioned that store to you before…you should make a day and take a ride to the nearest one…you would love it! PS) they also have large square tile…40 X40.
Didn’t you have some leftover granite(?) countertop ages ago, from the hall bathroom or something? Because you have to buy the full length but you didn’t need all of it?
I used the rest in the hallway bathroom.
If you can get a stone stone offcut (those are some small pieces for above the appliances) it might be worth considering. Once in a while we soak things in bleach or dye before washing, and I’d hate for that to damage your counters, knowing how carefully you color-match them!
Wow! Beautiful!!!
Please no tile for countertops! It’s the grout that looks awful over time, plus I find tile to be dated for countertops.
So beautiful!
And my vote for picture frame is gold. 🙂
Oh, gold leaf the frames for sure! And you might check out a neutral formica countertop. They look nice and you can easily DIY the right shape. If you want to up grade to quartz in the future (maybe in tandem with your planned kitchen remodel) then you still can.