Decorate an Entire Wall Without Paint
Are you stuck somewhere you aren't allowed to paint the walls? Do you not want to deal with the time and the mess? Do you want something that is too complicated to paint or too dark to paint over when you move? This tutorial will give you the guidelines to decorate your entire wall using fabric instead of paint or wallpaper!
Steps
- Find out exactly how far it is from the ceiling to the floor of the wall you want to cover, and how wide side to side. The inch measurement here will likely be close but not exactly what the room is measured at on your floor plan. Write this information down to use later.
- Browse your local fabric stores or online and find a pattern of fabric that you like. Upholstery weight fabric is good for this project, although lighter fabric could possibly work. Don't pick something too heavy, faux fur or leather aside from being insanely expensive are likely too heavy for this project.
- Remember that while this is easier to put up than paint, it's more expensive and you won't be changing it very often. Be choosy, pick something you know; you will like for a while! All rules about good taste, tackiness, and matching your decoration apply here.
- Figure out how wide the fabric is. Wider is better in this case so if you are torn between two designs, choose the wider one. Now, figure out how many "widths" of fabric it will take to add up to the height of your wall plus {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} at the top, {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} at the bottom, and an inch for every seam that will have to be sewn. For 2 widths- {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}}. For {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}}. The width of your wall * how many widths you just calculated will be the length of fabric you will need. If you are trying to match a pattern or stripes so they line up, you will need extra (how much you may want to ask a sewing friend for help if you can't figure out yourself - it will vary depending on the pattern in your fabric). Add about {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} to this measurement to be on the safe side.
- Buy the fabric in one length or the lengths of the individual pieces you will need (width of the wall + a few inches). Try to avoid having any other lengths as it means extra seams. If you allow the person at the counter to cut your fabric, make sure they're reasonably consistent and straight with their cuts. (Some places are lazy and try to get away with otherwise).
- Buy a spool of upholstery thread that matches your fabric, and a needle for your sewing machine that will handle the thickness of what you're sewing.
- Pin the pieces together lengthwise so that you can sew them into one large panel. Match all the sides up on one end, and if the others are a little uneven trim after sewing. Remember that we allocated an inch per seam of fabric total, so each side gets {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}}. Sew one straight line over each seam to hold it better than the pins, then a triple straight line, followed by a zig zag stitch. This is a lot of weight to hold. Be careful, go slow, this is a lot of fabric to work with and handle, and a lot of seam to take out if you mess up. It's pretty simple though.
- Trim the end you didn't line up so it's mostly even.
- Hem the bottom, and both sides. If you overbought fabric for reuse on a larger wall later you can make a huge hem to just fold it back.
- Buy screws. These need to be heavy-duty enough to hold the fabric and you may need anchors depending on your wall. If you have a choice of colors pick something that will match your fabric. You'll also need a drill and drill bit, a staple gun, and staples for the gun. If you used lightweight fabric, you may want to pick up some small nuts to sew into the bottom hem to weight it down if needed. You'll also need some 1*2" boards, length total to the width of your wall (you'll probably have to cut one of the pieces but most hardware stores will make a cut for free like this- a handsaw will also do if you do it yourself.)
- Lay the fabric out so that you can access the entire top edge. Place the boards on top of the fabric at the top, so that you can fold the edge of the fabric over the side and onto the top of the boards. Use the staples and staple gun to secure the fabric, starting at one end and working to the other, and holding it taught (width wise not height.)
- Hold the boards up at the top of your wall, against the other walls and the ceiling. Have 1-2 people hold the boards, while another person will be doing the securing.
- Drill a hole through the front of the fabric, the board, and into the wall for the screw. Take the boards down and mount anchors if you're using them. Put the screws into these holes. You will be able to see the head of the screw on the "nice" side of the wall. If the color matches, or coordinates, nobody will ever notice. If it doesn't, once you're finished mounting them take a bit of acrylic paint that matches your fabric and paint the screw heads. (Ok, we lied, you might use $1 worth of paint that never touches your wall).
- Add those nuts to the bottom hem if the fabric doesn't hang straight enough. Only use enough to weight it down to hang straight.
- Tack the fabric to the wall down the sides in a few places if needed. Tiny nails, staples, or thumbtacks will all do the trick. Whatever looks best and will do the least amount of damage to the wall behind it.
- Enjoy your awesome wall! To take it down gather your friends again and go in reverse, untack, then unscrew it, then take the fabric off the board and roll it up to cart off for whatever. A bit of DAP and touch-up paint will take care of the screw holes.
Tips
- This is a minimum 2 person job once you get to the hanging part, and it's best if one of them is familiar and has some experience with tools.
- If you have a really short ceiling or small room, leaving some extra on the pieces and simply folding it over and putting a hem in that you can take out later will let you reuse your favorite fabric in your next room if it's larger! Great way to get more out of the money you're spending!
- Coupons or sales are your best bet for saving on your fabric. This is something you're going to keep for a while if you think you can get a better price so it's worth waiting a little to save some serious cash.
- Borrow a friend to help out with the hanging, however, it should take less than one afternoon or evening (A couple hours at most).
Warnings
- Make sure to use anchors and screws that will support the weight of the board and the fabric. No crashing down on people!
- Fabric does rub against a wall, so when you take it down you may need to deal with that. Magic Erasers works well for this. Just remember to give yourself enough time when you move out to think about this.
- This will put screw holes in your wall, if your landlord won't allow this, don't do it!
Things You'll Need
- Fabric
- Staple Gun
- Staples
- Ladder/Step stool to reach your ceiling
- Screws
- Anchors (optional, see instructions and ask your local handy friend if you need them)
- Sewing Machine
- Upholstery thread
- 1x2" boards
- Tape measure
- pencil
- Scissors
- Sewing pins
- Drill
- Drill bit for screw holes (size depends on screws)
- Acrylic Paint that matches or coordinates fabric, brush. (This will NOT go on your wall).
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