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Brilliant ideas for upcycling with wallpaper

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The great thing about upcycling with wallpaper is that not only does it come in thousands of cool designs it is quite robust and flexible making it easier to stick to objects than ordinary paper.

Over the last few years, wallpaper has come back in fashion and there are loads of fantastic designs out there. Wallpaper is not just for walls, you can decorate loads of things with it. As many great design houses produce their own wallpapers it can be a cheap way of getting that designer look.

My friend Wendy loves Orla Kiely prints and has found an affordable way to get Orla Kiely into her home by using wallpaper. I’ll show you how wallpaper can be used to transform furniture and fixings in your home.

wallpapered table

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Ideas for Upcycling with Wallpaper

The wallpaper ideas I will discuss here are.

  1. Kitchen trash can upcycle
  2. Upcycling tables with wallpaper
  3. Lampshade upcycles
  4. Mirror frame transformation with wallpaper

1. Bin (trash can) upcycling with wallpaper

 Wallpaper is great for transforming a mundane kitchen bin into something better looking. For this transformation, all you need is:

Quarter roll of wallpaper. Choose your wallpaper carefully. Make sure you have a design pattern that will fit. Bear in mind that a roll of wallpaper will most likely not be wide enough to go round the bin in one go and you will be using 2 or 3 pieces, so think about pattern join.

We used an Orla Kiely Stem pattern for our bin.

Wallpaper bin transformation

What else you need

How To Upcycle A Trash Can With Wallpaper

1.. Firstly, if you can, remove the handles of your bin. If not don’t worry you can work around these.

2. Next, to help the wallpaper paste to stick to your bin you will need to key it. To do this mix a solution of 25% PVA (Elmers) glue to 75% water, cover the bin, and leave to dry.

3. Next, measure the height of your bin carefully, and add a couple of mm to make sure. You can always trim the wallpaper later if you need too. Also, measure the circumference of the bin. This will be the width of the wallpaper needed. For the bin in this wallpaper upcycle, the circumference was 2 and bit widths of the wallpaper roll.

4. Next, cut each width of wallpaper you will need to the bin height. Make sure you cut it where the repeat pattern will match, this may involve cutting the piece further down the roll. One of your pieces is also likely to be only part of a rolls width.

Wallpaper Bin Tutorial

6. Next, cover your first width of paper liberally with wallpaper paste, and place on the bin. You should be able to move it around quite easily to make sure it is straight ( a spirit level may help with this).

Top tip: When placing your first piece of wallpaper you may want to consider that there will be a join and ensure that this is at the back of the bin where it will be less visible.

However, I have found that the join is normally only noticeable if you look very carefully. When you are happy with the position of your paper use the wallpaper brush to remove any bubbles

7. Then, cover the next piece in the paste and line up next to the first piece on the bin. If you have not been able to take your handles off you may have to cut around them using wallpaper scissors.

Make sure that the wallpaper is flush with the top and bottom of the bin, if not trim accordingly. Brush as before and repeat with the third piece if needed.

8. Most wallpaper is wipe-clean so you can leave the covered bin as it is, but if you want to make sure of better protection from spills I suggest you apply a final coat of waterproof varnish or PVA. When finished re-attach any handles that were removed.

Wallpapered bin

2. Transforming Tables by Upcycling with Wallpaper

You can transform any old table with wallpaper from small side tables to large dining room tables. It is really easy to do and can bring a new lease of life into an old table and turn something ordinary into something cool and interesting.

Orla Kiely Wallpaper table

What you need to consider when upcycling tables with wallpaper

There is a full tutorial for decoupaging table tops with wallpaper on Pillarboxblue but here I will discuss some of the basics you need to consider.

First, layout your wallpaper first to make sure that your chosen design will work. In most cases, the wallpaper will not be wide enough to cover the table so you will need to make sure that you can match the repeat pattern when laying in strips.

Top tip: Geometric patterns work well with tables and smaller patterns are easier to match.

  • You can use wallpaper paste to stick your paper to the table. However, before you start make sure the tabletop is clean and sand lightly to establish a key.
  • Like when putting wallpaper on the wall use a brush to get rid of any air bubbles and trim the excess with wallpaper scissors
  • You will need to protect your table afterward, I recommend coating it with at least 2 coats of waterproof varnish.
Wallpaper coverd side tables

3. Upcycling Lamp Shades With Wallpaper

Would you like a Marimekko or Orla Kiely lampshade? They are so easy to make yourself ! You might want to check out my tutorial on how to wallpaper lampshades to match your decor.

There are loads of affordable lampshade kits in various sizes on the internet, and instead of using fabric, you can use wallpaper to make your lampshade.

These kits are really easy to use, and not only do you get to choose your own lampshade design you get to choose the size you want, not limiting you to what’s available in your home decoration store.

As with using wallpaper to cover a table, you will also need to make sure that the design of your wallpaper pattern is suitable for transformation into a lampshade.

Wallpaper lampshade
Wallpapered lampshde

4. Upcycling Mirrors and Frames With Wallpaper

I have posted a full tutorial on how to wallpaper furniture and in particular an IKEA mirror frame. Upcycling a mirror frame with wallpaper can really transform it from something mundane to a piece of art that hangs on the wall.

mirror close up

Scraps of wallpaper can be used to transform the frames of mirrors and pictures. I’ve even covered a mirror frame with fabric scraps before.

 If you use wallpaper for any home decoration crafts I would love to hear about them also if you have a particular design favourite.

As well as Orla Kiely and Marimekko, I love Designers Guild and Graham & Brown have some great contemporary wallpapers. Some designer wallpapers can be expensive but often I pick up odd rolls and part rolls cheaply on eBay.

If you like upcycling with wallpaper you might want to check out my amazing Marimekko Wallpapered Stairs or my DIY splashback (backsplash) using wallpaper.

There are also lots of crafts ideas for smaller wallpaper samples.

upcycling with wallpaper ideas

Reader Interactions

Comments

  5. Cherokee

    I have been looking for a new design for an old table I bought to refurbish for my dining room. Thanks for the great tips and idea to use wallpaper! I had some special paper I did not want to throw out, but didn’t know what to do with it. So you have helped me solve two of my problems.

    Reply

  7. Helen

    I love all of your upcycle projects!! So wonderful to see! I’m a big fan of upcycling and hoping the trend will continue to expand…
    You have really great ideas.
    Thanks for sharing,
    Helen Holley

    Reply

  8. Nana

    Doesn’t the Elmer’s glue peel off after a while? Do you use the white or the heavier construction (yellow) glue? Would Mod Podge work? LOL sorry about all the questions…I just remember peeling Elmer’s off my hands so many times as a kid!! 🙂

    Reply

    • Claire Armstrong

      I use what is called PVA glue in the UK and buy it from the builders yard, but with wallpaper that is only for the key. I then use wallpaper paste to stick the paper followed by a varnish. I’m sure modge podge works just as well. I use PVA because I can buy it in 5 Liter tubs very cheaply where as modge podge is rather more expensive.

      Reply

    • Claire Armstrong

      I don’t see why not I’ve covered a Formica table before, just make sure you key it first with diluted PVA glue.

      Reply

    • Claire Armstrong

      I’m not 100% sure about this, but have had a look round and apparently you can get a bar top varnish that would protect it well, and I can’t find anything that says yacht (marine) varnish isn’t safe once dried. I personally would cover the counter top in wallpaper, then apply at least 2 coats of yacht varnish. You could always use a glass chopping board on top of the counter if you are really concerned.

      Reply

    • Sondra

      You might want ask person at hardware store if there is one that is food safe. From what I hear and told if you are going to use it for food the regular version is not safe.

      Reply

  14. Julie

    What lovely ideas, I am a huge fan of that Orla Kiely design it looks lovely on the bin, I would worry about tea bag splashes making marks (we get a lot of those down the front of our kitchen bin) but as you say I guess a coat of varnish could fix that – or I could cover a waste paper bin instead. I like the picture frame idea too, so versatile with all the lovely papers out there – thanks so much.

    Reply

  16. Kara

    Love the covered trash can! I’ve been wanting a metal one for awhile, but have been holding back because they just aren’t pretty. I will totally have to do this!

    Reply

    • Claire Armstrong

      Thanks, it’s amazing how you can change a bit of old furniture with some bright patterned wallpaper and there are so many fantastic designs out there to choose from.

      Reply

  19. Cathy

    Wow what a creative idea!!! Love the lamp shade! I would love for you to share this over at my link party Making Memories Mondays going on now! 🙂
    Cathy

    Reply

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