Me vs. Wallpaper Panel: Part One

Sometimes it's okay to fail. At least that's what I'm telling myself when it comes to this project. I actually find it kind of refreshing when bloggers share their failures because it shows that they're real people. So, here's the REAL Lindsay coming atcha.

I started this project with this inspiration image in mind. I love EVERYTHING about this dining room.

[source]

And here is our dining room for reference.

Wallpaper panel. (Planned to go where the scrolly thing is now.) Beautiful and a perfect temporary solution for us renters. I knew I didn't have the budget for the kind of wallpaper I wanted, and I searched high and low for a lovely fabric, but didn't find anything like what I had in mind. Eventually, I ended up in the arts and crafts store, in front of the scrapbook paper shelves. 

I'll share with you my creation process, then the sad tale of why it didn't work out this time around. 

Ok, so here's the paper I chose. Sort of a graphic floral print on a buttery yellow background. I luuurve it. 

Oh, and there are sparkles on the paper. But you can't really see that unless you're right up close, so I chose to ignore it. 

I broke down a cardboard box to adhere the paper to.  I actually ended up taping two boxes together so that it would be long enough to span from ceiling to floor. 

(Can you tell I did a little bit of walking back and forth on the cardboard?? Whoops.)

I suppose one could just stick the paper right to the wall, but we've got textured walls, so I didn't think that would work. 

So I used this spray adhesive to spray the backs of the 12 x 12 paper and glue them to the cardboard. It stayed tacky just long enough for me to make sure each piece lined up perfectly. 

I had to stop several times because the spray trigger started sticking to my finger and coming out of the can. Annoying, but kind of funny.

The process actually went really smoothly and I was getting very excited at this point. I thought it looked great and couldn't wait to see it on the wall! 

I used some candle holders and books and things to hold down the particularly stubborn pages throughout the process. 

Ok, so here it is right after I got it up on the wall. You should have seen me struggling with that thing, trying not to bend it at all. Man, that was an interesting 10 minutes. 

I used 3M Command strips to attach the cardboard to the wall. I use those things for everything and they always do a great job. 

So, yeah, I'm keeping it real. My dining room table normally looks like that when I'm painting, which is pretty often these days. I realize this is an awful ''reveal'' photo.

So, that is basically what it looked like when I left for the East Coast a few days later. I wasn't totally finished with it yet, but I figured I could seal the few peeling papers once I got back. 

Well, the sad story is that a week later, when Chris got in from his ship, most of the papers were completely peeled up and falling down. One of the guys from the ship who came over to our hous was very confused about my "art" on the walls. Chris assured him that he had no idea what I was trying to make, but he was sure  that it wasn't supposed to look like that and that it probably didn't look so sad when I had left the week before. 

(Have I mentioned how great my husband is? He has such confidence in my design/art skills and never doubts me.)

I don't really understand why the spray adhesive didn't work. I've seen it work on much tougher things than paper and cardboard. I'm pretty disappointed but not beaten yet. 

I will conquer this wallpaper panel, if it's the last thing I do!

Stay tuned this fall for Part Two, where I fix said 'wallpaper' panel and end up with a beautiful dining area, reminiscent of my inspiration.

(Now I have to figure out how to fix it...)