Remember how back in the fall I gave this lovely brown tile wall a makeover with (temporary) headboard wallpaper? Well, it turned out that that idea was great in theory, but it turned out to be an epic fail. No matter what I tried, the adhesive just never held well and the wallpaper started falling down in strips. Not ideal.
So back to the drawing board I went. One of my original ideas was contact paper, but I never jumped on it until I discovered the beautiful options Design Your Wall had on their website. I posted about my finds on Facebook and soon after got an email from Dennia, the representative for d-c-fix (who is the contact paper supplier for Design Your Wall), asking if we might be able to work together. My answer? Why yes! I believe we can :).
A big thanks to d-c-fix for helping me solve this problem wall once and for all!
I chose the Whitewood Matte contact paper, which has a very subtle wood grain look to it. This is not your run of the mill contact paper, y'all, it's super high quality. It's made in Germany, so you know they've engineered this product beautifully!
Dennia was kind enough to send me a simple installation kit along with the instructions for how to apply it.
I loved having the smoother tool and razor handy. No need to provide my own special tools. (If you're looking for the installation kit on the Design Your Wall website, you won't find it yet - it's hopefully coming soon!) Those two things, plus a metal-edge ruler were all I needed to install the product.
First, I wiped down the tile with Windex to ensure there was no dust or grime that would mess with the adhesive, then I went to town installing it vertically, one sheet at a time, all the way across the wall. I followed the instructions on the packaging and found it to be very easy to do - using the smoother tool made it so I really didn't have issues with bubbles. I did have to reposition pieces a couple of times to make them straight, but that was an easy fix. I left some overhang on the top and bottom so I could trim it precisely at the edges so it would look flush. On Dennia's advice, I also overlapped the pieces a little bit at the seams so there wouldn't be any gaps where the pieces joined together.
When it came to trimming off the excess, I found that the easiest way to keep the razor going in a straight line was to press a metal-edge ruler against the wall and run the razor blade in-between.
Then after that installation, I was left with a beautiful white wall with a subtle wood grain texture. I think it's fabulous!
I also took down our big, black box of a TV and replaced it with a vintage map of Martha's Vineyard. I'm actually thinking about leaving it there and figuring out another place for the TV since we hardly ever watch it. It's just kind of an eyesore with all these cords hanging down the side...I'd much rather look at pretty art instead.
The contact paper brightens up the room so much and frames that fireplace nicely. I know it's really difficult to see the pretty wood grain texture in photos, but trust me, it's there. :) I choose to leave the tile alone around the fireplace since it's wood-burning and I don't know how that adhesive would react to heat.
I'm thrilled with the quality and look of this contact paper from d-c-fix and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is in the market - renters especially! It's such a great non-permanent solution that can really transform a room. I've got about half a roll of contact paper left and now I'm thinking about other places I can use it in our home. Time to do some brainstorming!
*I was generously provided with a roll of contact paper from d-c-fix for this project. It was a pleasure collaborating with them, but as always, my good opinion of them is all my own! See the footer of this blog for my full disclosure.
