Cassie Bustamante

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How to Wallpaper a Closet: Nursery Closet Update featuring Wallpaper Direct

March 29, 2018 by Cassie 21 Comments

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Good morning!  Monday I shared with you the recent addition of our crib, and teased you by telling you about wallpaper the closet last weekend.  Today is the day I am going to show it off and explain to you how to wallpaper a closet (as well as a couple of how nots- learn from my mistakes!). Wallpaper Direct was kind enough to supply me with the wallpaper and tool kit for this project.  (I was not otherwise compensated).  A couple of months ago, I received 4 samples of papers I had selected from them, including a dragon paper I used in my design plan which I truly thought would be the winner.  However, when the samples arrived, another paper pulled on our family’s heartstrings and the colors seemed perfect for the space.  Are you ready to see what we chose? (There is one affiliate link in this post.)

How to wallpaper a closet- dinosaur wallpaper

We went with the Dotty Dinosaurs in blue & stone, which is currently on sale and pretty inexpensive!  I’ve mentioned before when I showed you our dinosaur mobile that our family has a soft spot for dinosaurs.  Sawyer was obsessed as a toddler and knew all of the types of dinosaurs as well as all of their facts.  He had the Pottery Barn kids dino rug, and every book we could find about dinosaurs.  To this day, he still does, and is a huge Jurassic Park fan.  Because of his interest, the rest of us love dinosaurs as well!  This paper was the perfect fit and we felt could grow with him into boyhood, at least for a while.

Dinosaur Closet Wallpaper

From start to finish, papering the closet took about 3-4 hours of time, and probably would have taken less had I papered walls before.  Once I got going, it became much easier.  Of course, this doesn’t include all of the prep work that had to go into creating this tiny space.  To really show you how far it’s come, I am going to take you back to where we started.

Nursery Closet Before

Gross, huh?  When it was Emmy’s closet it wasn’t so bad, but I never got around to painting all of the trim as you can see, or removing the old closet hardware from the top.  When it was her room it looked like this:

We had a lot to do to get this closet ready for paper.  I wanted to remove the existing ugly bamboo paper covered shelves and replace with just one wood shelf; remove the worn old almond colored bracket and replace with a bright white one from D Lawless hardware; sand, prime, and paint trim; fill holes and prime walls.  Here’s a close up of that ugly original bracket…

I sanded all of the trim, filled all of the holes, and tried to remove the top shelf… that last part is a “tried” because I instead got it wedged and realized it couldn’t be removed without the wood supports coming out, so Chris had to finish that job. See the photo below…. oops!

Once he was able to get that out, we removed the second shelf, but left the supports for that one.  I filled more holes, and got everything ready for him to prime the walls with water based primer and the trim with oil based.  After he primed everything I painted the trim as well as the wood supports, and we were officially ready to hang paper!

Wallpaper Prep work

As I mentioned the people at Wallpaper Direct were kind enough to send a kit including all of the tools I needed as well as the wallpaper adhesive concentrate.  They included a guide on how to hang it, and I loosely followed that but also just trusted my gut at certain times.

Wallpaper Tool Kit from Wallpaper Direct

Because I was working with a closet that featured the wall mounted wood closet shelf supports, I began by papering the bottom section underneath the support and did the top section after I finished the bottom.  I am going to break this part down into step by step instructions for you.

  1. Prepare your adhesive.  Mix your concentrate according to its directions and how much you will need for your space.  You want to do this first, because often it has to sit for 5 minutes before you can use it.
  2. Measure the height of the first section of wallpaper and cut your piece to be that height plus 4-6″, leaving 2-3″ extra on each end.
  3. Using a wallpaper paste brush, paint the adhesive onto your wall a little wider than the section of paper.  Be sure to cover completely, but in a light coat.  You want no dry sections, but also not so much that the excessive moisture causes bubbling in the paper.
  4. Starting in a corner (unless you need a certain layout for your pattern), mount your first piece of paper to the adhesive, using the plumb bomb to check that it is straight.  While the adhesive is damp, you can remove as needed, or adjust on the wall, so take your time to make it straight. I only checked my first piece and then just worked from there, aligning to the edge of the previously mounted piece.
  5. Once you have it where you want it, use the wallpaper brush as well as the wallpaper smoother to make sure you get all of the air bubbles out.  To be honest, I did not use the brush much.  Also, some bubbles might show up after smoothing, but they should eventually go away as they dry. After using the smoother, some of the adhesive will most likely leak out of the edge.  Use a damp sponge to remove any adhesive from the surface of the paper.  At this point, this is what my closet looked like.
  6. Hanging wallpaper in a closet
  7. Repeat the process, but now you want to make sure that you cut the piece with those extra inches on the ends AND making sure your pattern aligns.  Here you can see my seam and the pattern lining up.lining up wallpaper pattern
  8. Repeat these steps until you get to the end, where you will also cut your piece width wise, again leaving a couple extra inches on the side you will trim in the corner.
  9. Allow the paste to dry a bit, then using a razor, carefully trim the paper at the top and bottom, following the edge of your molding, corner, or ceiling, depending on where you are at.  There may be some areas that lift off a bit. It’s OK!  You can see below where mine lifted at the edge as well as a seam where it lifted.Trimmed paper lifting. 
  10. Using a smaller paint brush, simply paint some adhesive underneath the gap and press the paper to the wall again.  Use a sponge to clean the excess adhesive.  Once you do that, you’ll be fine!  (Note, you can see my adhesive dripping, so be sure to clean with a damp sponge!)Painting under paper lifting
  11. I repeated the same for the top of the closet, and simply kept the pattern cohesive, starting it as if the paper had continued behind the wood shelf support.

I do want to mention one thing that I totally messed up because I didn’t know how to do it…. cutting around something.  In the future, I will simply notch out cuts to help me fit paper in and trim it after, but this time, I attempted to measure and cut and as you can see, it didn’t work out so well… You know what though?  It’s a closet, and it was my first time papering a wall, so I am going to just let it go and be happy with the fruits of my imperfect labor.

Oops cutting paper mistake

After all was said and done, I was thrilled!  The original plan was to add a stained wood shelf, but After painting the supports, I decided that the shelf would look better painted as well. The new bracket also looks much better, although our metal rod sits a little off from it.  Oh well.  I am not going to stress about that!White painted shelf

The original plan also called for velvet curtains inside of the closet, but I’ve decided to leave those off for now to really show off the paper.  The curtain rod is there so should I ever change my mind I can easily add them.

How to hang wallpaper in a closet

Someone asked me if we had a nursery theme, and we do not… the colors are cohesive, but it’s just filled with things we love, from dinosaurs to animals to cozy textures.  I wanted to show you how the wallpaper works with the rest of the room so far.

Boy Nursery in White, Gray, Blue, Textures

On the opposite side, you can see all of the clothes we’ve gathered piled up under the changing table.  Emmy and I organized them by size so once we get the dresser into the closet and some hangers, they’ll have a home.

Dinosaur Nursery Wallpaper Closet Tutorial

I also wanted to mention that cute little polar bear head on the skinny piece of wall between the door and closet. See him there?

Dinosaur Wallpaper in boys Room

Emmy and I found him at Target on clearance for $2 back in January or February.  He’s a miniature version of the Pillowfort animal head decor and he’s a perfect size for that little spot.

Polar Bear Head from target

So far, I think this might be my favorite element of the nursery.   It’s the one that challenged me the most, adds a touch of fun and pattern in an unexpected place, and will hopefully inspire out little man to love dinosaurs like his big brother does.

A huge heartfelt thank you to Wallpaper Direct for partnering with me on this project and helping me create the nursery of my dreams. 🙂

Easy Wallpaper Instructions

Now that I have one closet under my belt, the sky is the limit!  Of course, time is not limitless, so there is that.  Hope you all h ave a great weekend!

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Filed Under: making our home, My House, Nursery, Wall Treatment

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Comments

  1. Emy says

    March 29, 2018 at 7:07 am

    That dinosaur wallpaper is the coolest! I love how it makes a pattern from far away too.

    I’ve been eyeing those dinosaurs for a while and wishing my 14 year old would be into them. I’m glad you get to use them. <3

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      March 29, 2018 at 7:10 am

      haha! yeah not sure sawyer would want it in his room now, but he can enjoy it for his little brother!

      Reply
  2. [email protected] says

    March 29, 2018 at 9:57 am

    Love the paper so much. I hate wallpapering myself but you made it look and sound so super easy, Maybe I should give it another try too 😉

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      April 8, 2018 at 5:33 pm

      it honestly wasn’t as bad as i expected! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Kathy says

    March 29, 2018 at 10:03 am

    Your nursery is beautiful and so obviously put together with love! My daughter is expecting her first child (a girl) in May and we have had a lot of fun putting together her nursery in much the same way. I love your blog. Even though I’m old enough to be your mother, I love your design esthetic and can relate to all the ways you try to keep your home fresh and unique as well as your stories about your family. Best wishes on your new addition!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      April 8, 2018 at 5:33 pm

      thank you so much, kathy! i really appreciate that comment and am excited for you and your daughter! i am sure her baby girl’s nursery is beautiful and filled with love!

      Reply
  4. Kim says

    March 29, 2018 at 10:32 am

    I love this, Cassie! Such a great way to make a statement in the closet! And you already know I have a soft spot for dinosaurs too. ❤️❤️

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      April 8, 2018 at 5:32 pm

      thank you so much, kim! yes, i know you do!

      Reply
  5. Ellen Shook says

    March 29, 2018 at 8:29 pm

    Your wallpaper looks really good to me! You should have seen my first effort — it was tiny little pink roses on a pale blue background for a guest room. I got one section upside down and the rest were crooked! I didn’t see anything wrong with it till it was all dried and finished. Sigh… We just sold the house about a year after that so it became someone else’s problem! (I have gotten better since then.)

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      April 8, 2018 at 5:32 pm

      oh my gosh that is HILARIOUS! thank you for sharing that story with me! it really is hard the first time!

      Reply
  6. Haley says

    March 30, 2018 at 12:09 pm

    This looks so great! I love how it’s a cute pattern from afar and can’t even tell it’s dinosaurs right away.

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      April 8, 2018 at 5:31 pm

      thank you, haley!

      Reply
  7. Shelley | Crazy Wonderful says

    April 3, 2018 at 7:22 am

    Quite the closet transformation! I’m so in love with this paper. I especially love how it’s like a chameleon changing the closer you get to it. So cool!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      April 8, 2018 at 5:30 pm

      thank you so much, shelley! i am in love with the paper, too! 🙂

      Reply
  8. Lisa says

    April 8, 2018 at 8:34 am

    The wallpaper is such a fun detail in here! Love the soft colors too.

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      April 8, 2018 at 5:24 pm

      thank you, lisa! i am so happy with it!

      Reply
  9. Kathy says

    April 23, 2018 at 2:57 am

    Oh my gosh, the wallpaper print is so cute!!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      April 23, 2018 at 7:29 am

      Thank you, Kathy! I love the dinosaurs!

      Reply
  10. Jennifer Shaw says

    May 6, 2018 at 8:30 am

    Hi, How did you measure the closet so you knew how many rolls to buy? Thanks

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      May 14, 2018 at 3:34 pm

      hi jennifer! there is a calculator on the wallpaper direct website that i was able to use by plugging in my measurements.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Wallpapered Nursery Closet Reveal - Cassie Bustamante says:
    April 19, 2018 at 5:00 am

    […] You can read all of the details that went into prep as well as my step by step wallpaper tutorial here.  Once we had it all put together again and ready, it was time to fill it with the […]

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Cassie!

I believe that you don't have to spend a lot of money to live a beautiful life and be your best self.  Here you will find budget friendly ideas to live happily, healthily, sustainably, and most importantly authentically.  We all get one chance at this life, and this ordinary girl plans to make hers extraordinary. How about you? Read more...
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Hi! I'm Cassie.

Mother, wife, shop owner, blogger, writer, incurable diy-er, furniture painter, coffee and wine drinker, friend. Seeking happiness and passing it on. Read More…

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