DIY Framed Wallpaper Panels

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I am obsessed (OBSESSED!) with Dorothy Draper’s Brazilliance wallpaper. It’s so vibrant and colourful and tropical; such a bold statement and so iconic of Hollywood Regency style. I wanted to do my whole powder room from floor to ceiling with it. Unfortunately, my husband has different feelings about this vivid wallpaper. So, like the good wife that I am, I waited until he was away before I put it up!

Kidding…sort of…I did wait until he was away, but I didn’t do our entire bathroom. Rather, I made three panels of wallpaper and “hid” them in a wall niche behind our front door. Marriage is all about compromise, right? I get my wallpaper somewhere in our house, and he doesn’t get my wallpaper in the most used bathroom of our house.

I got the idea of doing the Brazilliance wallpaper in panels from a designer I love, Maria Barros. I saw these two pictures on her Instagram and knew it would be perfect for my house. I don’t actually think her paper is Brazilliance but rather the more muted Martinique, but it’s the same idea. I also liked how she matched the frame colour to her wainscotting and decided it was DIY time!

Picture source: Maria Barros personal Instagram

Picture source: Maria Barros personal Instagram

The Martinique wallpaper was made famous at the Beverley Hills Hotel by Don Lopez, then came the Brazilliance wallpaper by Dorothy Draper at the Greenbrier Hotel. You can read more about them here in this great article by AgentofStyle.  Both wallpapers are iconic. Both are also expensive. Really expensive. More than I was willing to pay, even for just three panels. So I actually got mine as a roll of banana leaf wall decal from the lovely Etsy shop Rocky Mountain Decals.

Picture source: The Greenbrier Hotel

As you can see I even went so far as to decorate the niche to mimic the Greenbrier. I’ve got turquoise and white stripes, black and white checks, shiny black, a touch of red, and a fuchsia orchid in a grey pot. Nailed it, right?

I got the idea for doing the diy picture frames from ABeautifulMess but modified her directions to make it even easier.

DIY Wallpaper Panels

Materials
-wood cut to size (I used 1″ish thick by 2″ish wide pieces, see my note in step two)
–Gorilla Wood Glue
-sawtooth hangers with complimentary nails
-primer and paint (I used pre-primed wood to eliminate the need to prime)
-nail to hang on your wall

Tools
-hammer
-paintbrush

one: hang up your wallpaper or in my case wall decal. That way you really know exactly how big your frame needs to be, even with careful measuring and math.

two: get your wood cut to the size you need. I made the bottom and top of the frame have the extra length to accommodate the sides of the frames. I measured so there would be 0.25″ of all the sides of the wallpaper covered by the frame so no gaps of wall would be visible. WARNING: in Canada, a piece of wood labeled as 2″ wide is NOT 2″ wide. It’s like 1 2/3″ wide. I don’t know why. It’s bullshit. Why is it labeled as 2″ if it isn’t 2″?! Apparently this is standard here, even for things like bricks and patio stones. Sigh. As you can tell, I presumed my 2″ wide wood was 2″ wide and thus when I got home and was ready to make the frames, my cuts were all wrong and the tops and bottoms of the frame were too long. Good thing I had my wallpaper up and lined it all up before I glued! But taking my two under two back to the hardware store for a second time to wait in line for the wood cutting was irritating to say the least!

three: glue the edges together using Gorilla Wood Glue and leave it to dry for 24 hours.

four: hammer the sawtooth hanger to the middle of the top using the nails it comes with–make sure the nails are thinner than your wood thickness. If your frame is gigantic you will need more than one hanger to keep the frame level. If you’re painting your frame do it now. I bought my wood pre-primed so I could go straight to the paint. Let that dry for 24 hours.

five: hang your frame onto your wallpaper. Boom, done!

Easy!  And PS, my husband doesn’t hate it!

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Jonathan Adler Quaaludes Jar: Jonathan Adler, also available at The Modern Shop

Banana Leaf Wall Decal: Rocky Mountain Decals

Tray, flower, box: Winners/Home Sense

Camera: Olympus O-MD E-M10 Mark II with 14-42mm IIR lens