Three Ways to Repurpose Wallpaper

The word may be WALLpaper, but what’s to stop you from using it in other ways around your space? If you answered absolutely nothing, then you would be correct!

Whether you’ve found yourself with some leftover wallpaper from a project, have samples that you don’t want to just toss, or are looking for a creative way to elevate your space without changing up your walls, we’re here to help with a few ways you can easily repurpose wallpaper. We’re giving you three options but who are we kidding, the possibilities are endless.

1. Practice shelf love.

Bookcases and shelves hold bits and pieces of our lives. Wedding and family photos, cookbooks with recipes that have filled your home with smells of freshly baked goods or savory holiday meals, the plates you received as a wedding present 20 years ago, or those random bookends that you found at an antique store while away on vacation. They give glimpses into who we are and what we love. Why not take it a step further and add another personal touch with wallpaper? If you’ve already installed wallpaper on a wall in your home and have a bit leftover, it’s a great way to add some consistency and flow with the repetition of a design element that’s elsewhere in your space. Or, if you want to incorporate patterns into the design of your space but want to start small, this is an easy way to dip your toe in the water!

This section of open shelving in a customer’s kitchen was a nice way to feature their specialty dinnerware and wine glasses, but wasn’t quite living up to its potential. They chose our Amor Lisbon wallpaper that mimics a tiled backsplash to make the shelving and what they styled it with stand out among a sea of white cabinets.

2. It's all in the details!

If you’re as obsessed with subtle details as we are or are simply wanting to play it even safer when experimenting with patterns, drawers lined with a fun design are like the sprinkles on the icing on the cake. Whether it’s in the drawers of your dresser, nightstand, kitchen cabinets, or bathroom vanity, that small design element is sure to bring a bit of joy to your day. 

Jason and Cait Pappas from Nest Out West restored a one of a kind antique dress crafted in the late 1800’s for their daughter’s nursery (excuse us while we shed a tear because how sweet is that?) and was looking for a way to echo the color scheme of the other design elements in the room. While the dresser would have been breathtaking without the lined drawers, our Flowers for Sasha pattern ended up being the perfect way to add that final touch of personality. A true chef’s kiss moment if you ask us.

Check out their reel of the whole process here and see more on their website here!

3. Switch it, change it, rearrange it.

Gallery walls and framed prints are one of the best ways to add a personal touch to a space, but if you’re anything like us, you like to switch things up every now and then. If you’ve ordered wallpaper samples to test out a pattern before buying an entire wall and find yourself not needing it, don’t even think about tossing it! Trimming down and framing a sample is an easy way to add a pop color or visual interest to a gallery wall that’s maybe looked the same way for years.

This customer loved their gallery wall but had leftover samples that paired well together and took that opportunity to add some variation to their dining room and echo some blue from a rug in their entry way. An easy swap that paid off in a big way!

Whatever the case, our founder always says that wallpaper is meant to be FUN. Don’t be afraid to take a chance and try one of these ways to repurpose your wallpaper or, better yet, try something completely different! We can’t wait to see what you come up with.