Papering the Walls

I'll admit it - sometimes I'm a tad bit afraid of color.

It's not that I don't like color.  I love color.  It's just that I can never guarantee that I will be staying in one location for an extended period of time.  I move about every two years - it's almost uncanny.

I'm constantly decorating around the idea that I'll be leaving soon and will probably regret painting the guest bathroom with something called "Chinchilla" when it comes time to sell.  (Side note: I actually love that color and will probably use it sometime soon.)

There are a few exceptions in my house, including my blue/turquoise guest bedroom.  I love how the walls in that room turned out.  But realistically - it's only that color because the guy I was living with at the time put his foot down and refused to allow me to paint one more room in the house another shade of tan.

So I am attempting to expand the color palette that I usually use.

And I have discovered something amazing - WALLPAPER.

Now to understand my aversion to wallpaper, you would have to revert back to the early 1990's when every inch of our house was covered in the floor-to-ceiling floral disaster that was the trend of the day.  I also spent many an hour using a spray bottle and scraper to remove said wallpaper.

So, needless to say, using it never occurred to me when I purchased a house of my own.

But wallpaper has come a long way.  The geometric prints and the fact that some of them are removable (yes, REMOVABLE!) have suddenly made wallpaper a viable option.

So to Houzz for inspiration I went.

Stunning, right? And not at all grandma-esque.

And there are versions available that you can apply, remove and even machine wash.  Definitely a nice option for those of us who have pets that tend to splash and fling things on every available surface.

That's right, Lexi.  I'm looking at you.

I like to start small.  And in my house I can really only think of one test area that is currently available - the wall surrounding my fireplace.  I originally wanted to put some type of stone from the floor to the ceiling, but that turns out to be suuuuuuper expensive and a bit out of my DIY area of expertise.  But wallpaper? That just might work.

Something like this.  Minus the gold painted deer head.  Because... just no.

Now wallpaper shopping I go! If/when I find something interesting, I'll be sure to let you know.

Jordan