Installing Wallpaper in Our English Country-Inspired Spare Room

If you’re looking to really make a big impact in a space, there’s no greater tool than wallpaper for a complete and instant transformation. Today I’ll share the power of installing wallpaper and the change it made in our cute spare bedroom.

Last year, I decided to give Kennedy’s room a little bit of a refresh so that it would be a serene, fresh space for her to come home to during her breaks from University. I gave it fresh paint, new curtains, a few new furnishings, and started filling it with my favorite vintage and antique finds that I came across on my thrifting adventures. You can see how the space looked at that time in this post here: English Countryside Bedroom Update. Kennedy immediately dubbed it “the elevated peasant room” and the name kind of stuck. I loved how the room was turning into something that felt right at home in our 120-year-old farmhouse, but something was missing. If this was truly going to become an elevated peasant room, we were going to need pattern. Layers of delightful patterns and soft colors, combined with cozy textures, whimsical antiques, and hopefully a very robust collection of books. Looking at the wall behind the bed, I knew that it was exactly the place to begin with my pattern drenching, and I knew it was time to consider installing wallpaper to really make this space come together properly.

Pictured in this post: Rug | Beige check throw blanket | Wallpaper | Block print pillow cover | Stripe pillow cover | Black pleated lampshade | Faux hydrangea stems

Finding the Perfect Paper

One day, soon after the decision was made, in a moment that can only be described as decorating serendipity, I received an email from Bobbi Beck Wallpapers, a sustainable, luxury wallpaper manufacturer based in Cornwall, England. I quickly browsed their site and found a treasure trove of vintage-inspired wallpaper designs, each more perfect for my elevated peasant room than the last.

The oversized samples were sent out and in my hands, from England all the way to my home in Canada, in a matter of days. I consulted my friends over on Instagram, as well as Kennedy, and we settled on the Carrington paper in the beige colorway for its delightful, intricate rabbit, butterfly, and spring botanical motif. Animal wallpaper isn’t normally my thing, but this pattern is lovely in every way.

More home decoration inspiration: DIY Vintage Style Framed Prints

Making Pattern Work in an Already-Decorated Space

The challenge I faced when making this decision was how to add patterned paper without having to completely redo everything I’ve already done in this room. I wanted to sneak in a layer of pattern without throwing off the balance in a way that would require me to repaint, buy new furniture, or make other big purchases. This is, of course, the wrong way to go about this process, and truly kind of backwards, but this is proof that it can be done if you choose carefully.

I chose a paper with a tight color palette, only three tones of similar beige and cream colors. If you stand back, it almost looks like a textural surface rather than a bold pattern. This makes it easier to work with when pairing your paper with furnishings and decor pieces in other colors. I also made sure the color worked with the existing wall paint and trim paint colors so I didn’t need to repaint. The samples were very helpful for this part of the process.

You may think that you have to pick your wallpaper at the very beginning of your decorating process, but with great swatches and so many different available options, you can definitely add wallpaper to a room whenever you’re ready for it.

There are so many different types of wallpapers available on the market, including textured papers, woven grasscloth, murals, embossed paintable wallpaper, peel-and-stick wallpaper, removable wallpaper, and pre-pasted wall coverings. I really recommend you take your time choosing the right new wallpaper for your home and your skill level.

Home decorating tips for preparing for wallcoverings: How to Remove Vinyl Wallpaper Decals Without Damaging Walls

Hanging Wallpaper and Learning Lessons

After measuring and cutting the decorative wall covering with scissors so it would fit the wall and the pattern would line up, we were ready to hang it. Hanging a small amount of wallpaper, like what we were doing on this little half-wall, is normally a pretty quick and straightforward project, but of course, we ran into some issues, which were completely our own fault. 🙂

Thinking that we had hung wallpaper before and knew fairly well what we were doing, we just went ahead and got started with our paper and our wallpaper paste just like we’d done in the past. It turns out that relying on experience alone is not the best tactic, and you really (really) should read and follow the installation instructions for the particular wallpaper you’re working with.

Bobbi Beck’s website has very clear, easy-to-follow installation instructions, but at first, we just kind of glanced over them and then proceeded however we saw fit. The result was that our first piece just wasn’t sticking, was bubbling, and was getting wrinkled up on the wall, and it just didn’t look right. When I suggested that we cut a new piece and take a look at the actual instructions to see what we were missing, everything went seamlessly. Literally. The seams where one piece meets another were smooth, imperfection-free, and almost invisible. The rest of the paper stuck to the wall well, was easy to smooth out using the wallpaper smoother, and just looked right.

We first wet the back of the paper with a sponge, then folded it on itself to rest. While the paper rested, we applied adhesive to the wall using a roller and a paintbrush, being careful not to paste any other finishes. Then, we unfolded the paper and applied it to the wall, smoothing it evenly with a wallpaper scraper to prevent any risk of peeling or bubbles before trimming away the excess above the baseboard molding with a sharp utility knife blade.

Once we followed the instructions, the whole process of papering this feature wall took us a little under an hour. The moral of the story? Read the instructions and follow them exactly. In life and in wallpapering. 🙂

More DIY home projects: How to Successfully Paint a Lampshade

The Final Wallpapered Wall

Here’s how the finished wall turned out! I love the softness the subtle pattern adds to the room. From the other side of the space, the wallpaper looks like a traditional floral pattern, but I love that as you get closer, you see the bunnies and butterflies hiding in plain sight. It really completes the English country/elevated peasant vibe of the room and complements everything I already had in the space so beautifully.

Pictured above: Rug | Beige check throw blanket | Wallpaper | Block print pillow cover | Stripe pillow cover | Black pleated lampshade | Faux hydrangea stems

I used the addition of the wallpaper as an invitation to add some more pattern to the room as well, and I love how things are coming together to create a warm, elegant, and and welcoming space. I’ll tell you a bit more about those other additions like cushions and curtains in an upcoming post, and we can discuss where I added more beautiful pattern and how I chose each piece to make sure everything works together.

I’m so thrilled with how this project turned out and I’ve definitely caught the wallpaper bug. Which room should I do next? 🙂

Thank you so much to Bobbi Beck, a sustainable luxury wallpaper brand based in Cornwall, UK, for providing the wallpaper for this project.