10 Wallpaper Ideas to Inspire Your Next Home Project!

Sources: Large handled vase (medium size)  |  Cane wrapped vase  | 12″ Square white wood frame  |  Coral  |  Brass pig bookend  |  Fluted white bowl  |  Faux succulents  |  Wood knot  | Wood trimmed box – no longer available  |  White ginger jar (similar) |  Stacked boxes  |   Landscape art  |  Blue planter – no longer available

3. Create a Wallpaper Book Cover

A great use for wallpaper remnants is to wrap them around books (just like you would for paper or fabric book covers) and stack them for seasonal decor! I wrapped a pair of books with colorful fabric for this spring look from a few years back but wallpaper would work beautifully too:

4. Wallpaper The Bottom, Add Molding to the Top

I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of rooms with molding on the bottom ⅓ of the wall and wallpaper on the top ⅔. I did this in my daughter’s bedroom in our old house, adding molding below the chair rail and {this powder blue grasscloth wallpaper} above it:

Room Sources:  Blue grasscloth wallpaper  |  Gold quatrefoil pendant  |  Canvas surf scene art  |  Blue fringed pillow covers  |  Leather weave bench  |  Acrylic lamp  |  Blue & white planter  | Duvet no longer available

But have you ever thought of doing the reverse? I hadn’t ever considered this wallpaper idea until I came across this Serena & Lily photo where the room is wallpapered below the chair rail and painted above it:

Sources: Blue patterned wallpaper  |  Spindle bed  |  Raffia nightstand  |  Brass band table lamp  |  Braided rug

I was surprised by what a great look it is! It would definitely be something I’d consider for a highly patterned wallpaper that might overwhelm the room in larger doses.

5. Line Your Drawers with Wallpaper

Instead of using shelf liner, line your drawers with wallpaper for a fun punch of color and pattern when you open them. Peel & stick wallpaper works best for this one! I had some of {this peel & stick wallpaper} leftover from wallpapering the accent wall in my girls’ room that I used to line the drawers of {this dresser} in their room:

It’s quick and easy to do and a great use for leftover wallpaper that would otherwise go unused. It would also be a fun place to use vinyl wall decals!

6. Wallpaper the Back of a Closet or Pantry

When we replaced the bifold doors on our bedroom closet with curtains, I decided I wanted to pretty up the inside of our closet too. Along with replacing the wood clothes rods with acrylic rods, we added {this beautiful paisley wallpaper} to the back wall:

I loved seeing that pretty wallpaper peek out every time I went to grab my clothes – this is a wallpaper idea I’d absolutely do again! You can check out my post about replacing our bifold doors with closet curtains {here} if you missed it. It would also be a fun thing to do to the inside of your pantry to take the boring out of putting your groceries away!

7. Wallpaper Stair Risers

This is an idea I’ve wanted to try for years but haven’t had any hardwood stairs to try them on! If you have uncarpeted hardwood stairs, have you ever thought of adding wallpaper to the risers? You could add a colorful mix of wallpapers such as these fun peel & stick options from Spoonflower:

You can shop Spoonflower’s huge selection of peel and stick wallpapers {here}.

Another option is to use a more subtle wallpaper pattern on the risers, as they did in our local Serena & Lily store with patterned grasscloth:

They’re both show-stoppers! I share other stair riser ideas {here} for more inspiration for dressing up your stairs!

8. Create Your Own Patterned Coasters

Another of my favorite wallpaper ideas is using wallpaper remnants or samples to create your own patterned coasters (thanks to “The Thinking Closet” for the inspiration for this one!). Simply cut a square of wallpaper just a bit smaller than the size of plain square coasters, adhere it to your coaster with glue, and brush Mod Podge on top to protect and seal it. I’m planning to try this out using these wallpaper samples I got for our bathroom:
I was hoping to do this quick project last week and have an “after” pic to share with you but… I’m still debating on which paper to use so am not ready to give up my samples just yet. Stay tuned – I’ll share a pic of my patterned coasters once I’ve knocked them out!

9. Frame Your Bed with Wallpaper

Think a full wall of wallpaper might be a little too much in your bedroom? How about framing your bed with molding and filling it with a gorgeous wallpaper:

Image by Serena & Lily – Sources: Wallpaper  |  Beaded chandelier  |  Upholstered bed  |  Wall sconces  |  Nightstands  |  Rattan bench

This is an especially great idea if the wallpaper you’ve fallen in love with is super pricey because a single roll should do the trick!

10. Wallpaper Your Kitchen Backsplash

Sometime down the road we’ll do a full renovation of the kitchen. But until then, I wanted to do a few inexpensive updates to make it a bit more “us”. After taking down the dated wallpaper, our kitchen looked like a sea of white, especially since we have no backsplash tile. I had some leftover wallpaper from my bookcase wallpapering project so on a whim, I decided to create a wallpaper backsplash. I’m so happy with how this wallpaper idea turned out – it ended up being one of my favorite kitchen remodel ideas on a budget since the cost is SO much less than tile:

Sources: Woven counter stools  |  Wallpaper  |  Marble film covering countertops  |  Pendant over island  |  Cabinet knobs  |  Round woven tray  |  White vase – no longer available  |  Faux leafy branches  |  Marble utensil holder

If you’re worried how wallpaper would hold up as a kitchen backsplash since it’s often exposed to water, {this varnish} in the dead flat finish is my secret weapon for sealing it. I used it on the wallpaper in our guest bathroom on the recommendation of a wallpaper pro and it worked beautifully without darkening or changing the look of the paper. You can read more about it in my post on bathroom wallpaper.