Guest author Emma Jeffery from the blog Hello Beautiful makes over her daughter’s dollhouse with custom wallpaper.


dollhouse

Have you indulged by ordering Spoonflower’s lovely wallpaper yet? Perhaps you have a few 12” x 24” (30.5 x 61 cm) wallpaper samples hanging around from a recent order that are too pretty not to be used for something wonderful? Or perhaps you feel you need a bit of practice hanging wallpaper before you tackle your own living room wall?

I’ve never hung wallpaper before, but from growing up and watching my dad do it, I assumed it was all about long trestle tables, wide brushes and overflowing buckets of cold, sloppy glue. So I was happily surprised to learn that Spoonflower’s wallpaper already has an adhesive backing, that simply needs to be immersed in water to activate. No mess, easy clean-up and overalls are probably surplus to requirements (always a bonus in my book!) Still, I did decide to start off small-scale and ease myself slowly into this exciting and colorful new adventure of wall coverings.

A few months ago my daughter was given this beautiful 3-story home (sigh, if only it was adult-sized) that was rescued from an abandoned and unloved situation. I knew that with a little love and TLC, it could shake off its dusty coverings and peeling paint, to be beautiful once more.

house before
Of course, it may have been better to survey for any structural damage, assess the age of the shake shingle roof and at the very least, order a termite inspection, but in keeping with the crazy world of home-ownership, my daughter and I were determined to start work on making it beautiful above all else.

original walls
I started by removing the original wallpaper, which was easy to do because of its age. It was pretty cool to discover some hidden, handwritten notes on the bare wood from the original construction.

writing

I then measured the walls and spaces under the windows and cut the wallpaper to the appropriate size. I preferred to use a standard paper cutter for cutting.

paper cutter
Next, I followed Spoonflower’s application instructions by submerging the wallpaper in water. Because of the scale of my project I was able to use a large dish, but for a larger project Spoonflower recommends you use a trough or the bathtub.

I then simply hung the wallpaper, using a sponge to squeeze out the excess glue and air bubbles. After allowing it to dry, I trimmed any excess with a small craft knife.

new walls
The walls look lovely and my daughter’s enthusiasm for playing with the house has suddenly and instantly been reignited. It helps that I let her pick and choose the wallpaper from Spoonflower’s marketplace of wallpaper designs. She picked designs by PaperSparrow and Kayajoy.

dollhouse close

I’m now feeling pretty confident about scaling up and wallpapering something adult-sized. But Mr Rabbit’s not feeling as good about having to lay new carpet in his house.

Mr. Rabbit


About Our Guest Blogger

Emma Jeffery, Spoonflower guest bloggerHi! I’m Emma, and as well as working on the Fiskars Design Team, I blog over at hellobeautifulblog.blogspot.com/

I’m an obsessive sewer, often leaping into projects with more enthusiasm than talent, more bravado than skill and more good luck than anything else. This technique has worked well for me so far and more often than not, I make things I love, even if they’re not absolutely perfect. And though I’m no expert, I have a passion for fabric, color and design. I know what I like and what I like makes me smile.