Customise Our Hallway Cupboards With Wallpaper

I  promised ages ago to give you a look at the hallway cupboards we wallpapered  .....

As I've mentioned before my dreams become reality when I converted the coat cupboard into a shoe cupboard complete with metal shelving, racks and baskets.

The other cupboard is for linen, with extra storage along the top for suitcases and the like.

The doors were old and would be too expensive to replace so we decided to wallpaper them instead.

Let me tell you about the wallpaper saga, I went to a few wallpaper shops and took some sample books of the papers home to see what they'd look like in my house but the cost was $150-$220 a roll and I'd need 2 rolls to do what I wanted because you need to match up the pattern. So I put it on hold.

When I went to Europe last year (where all these gorgeous papers are made) I made it my mission to bring something home. The last day we were in Amsterdam walking around in the rain when I spotted a wallpaper shop and bolted inside only to realise it was the same as back home, I'd need to order it in (which we didn't have time for) and the cost was about $100 Euros ($130 Aus) a roll.

Sulking as I walked out the door I passed another shop which was an art and craft shop and those magic words on the front window SALE and you wouldn't believe inside they had a whole floor full of wallpapers and it was all $5 Euros a roll ($6.65 Aus) - Yes I'm serious! 

I wasn't sure of the quality of the wallpaper but it was worth the risk so I picked up 3 matching rolls for less than $20 and managed to ram them into the suitcases and bring them home. There's 15 metres to a roll and we've only used 1.5 rolls so far. 

Ok so here you have it, it was pretty easy to put up so don't 

be scared to wallpaper you can do it! 

Firstly, clean the surface and remove the handles.

Buy a cheap paint tray and roller (so you can throw it away afterwards), wallpaper paste (we got ours from Bunnings), mix with water and stir well to get all the lumps out.

Pour it into tray and you are ready to paste.

You need a large bench to lay the paper out on (we used the kitchen bench). 

Lay out the paper and roll on the paste making sure its well covered, fold over so the paste doesn't get onto the print and then keep pasting along the roll until its all covered.

Coat the back of the cupboard doors with paste as well so that you have a bit more movement to get it straight, start at the top, leaving an overhang which you can trim later. 

With the overhang on the top, smooth it all the way down from the top to the bottom using a plastic scraper removing all the lumps as you go.

The first panel is easy, the next one along you need to line up the pattern on the paper. 

Cut around each panel with a sharp knife as you go. The first few panels we had to reapply the glue as it took us a while to get it straight, but once you've done a few you get a bit quicker. Once its dried a bit cut around the hinges and tidy up the paper - if you do it when the glue is still wet it can tear.

We picked some satin chrome handles (the shiny ones leave finger prints so I prefer the satin matt finish), measured, drilled and screwed them on.

What a difference it makes, from a boring hallway with old doors to something special when you walk through now. 

The paper is subtle pale grey, blue and white with a silver print through it that shimmers when the light is on and from different angles.

So there you have it, I've entered the world of wallpaper ... there's no going back now!

So what does it cost to customise your hallway cupboards, see cost breakdown below:

Doors Total $71

Wallpaper $12 (used 1.5 rolls)

Handles $44

Glue, Tray & Roller, Scraper $15

Shoe Cupboard Total $340

6 Shelves $138

1 Heel Shelf $28

2 Baskets $100

Brackets $53

Mirror (not shown yet) $20

Paint (already had) $0

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[All images my own]

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