Ten fun ways to use leftover wallpaper scraps!
I hate wasting anything…especially something as beautiful as wallpaper. Thankfully there are so many fun home decor ideas that will use up your scraps.
Wallpaper remnants (at least the peel and stick versions) are thick enough to stand up to some wear and tear and are easy to work with.
When you hang wallpaper with a “repeat “(which most have), you’ll have a lot of excess leftover when you’re done with your project.
The repeat is the distance between where the repeated design matches up on each roll of wallpaper.
I always keep that excess just in case I need to patch up a spot sometime, but also because it’s just too pretty to throw away!
I walked around our house with this floral paper in my hands, looking for a spot that would make sense. It has all of the colors we use in our home, so it wasn’t long before I found a spot in our dining room.
I’ve always loved painting or treating the backs of our bookcases for a pretty accent.
Paint is the easiest choice of course! But I’ve also used fabric, wallpaper and even wrapping paper in the past.
The key is mounting it to something — that way you don’t have to try to awkwardly reach back and get the wallpaper just right in those tight spaces.
I use leftover cardboard or foam core boards as my “mount” — delivery boxes are perfect for this!:
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If you don’t have a mat, make sure you score it on something that won’t get damaged, like a cement floor.
After my foam board was cut to size, I found the easiest way to attach the peel and stick wallpaper was to lay it down on the sticky back:
Because these shelves are so skinny, I didn’t worry about the pattern matching up. That’s the beauty of this project — it doesn’t need to be perfect!
The board doesn’t have to be the exact right size either — you won’t notice minor imperfections.
I smoothed out my wallpaper (the peel and stick was easy to remove from the foam board and readjust), and then flipped it back like pictured above so I cut the excess off the sides with my knife.
This colorful pattern makes for such a pretty, unexpected surprise!:
If you tire of one design, you can reuse the boards to apply a new fabric or wallpaper.
Love this little hack and the pop of color it adds behind the accessories:
The best part about attaching the wallpaper to boards is that they can easily be removed and kept for later. I numbered the backs of these and just recently put them back inside each shelf for a quick decor change.
I also used this method a few months ago on the tall cabinet in our living room:
I only have one roll of this beautiful wallpaper (the colors weren’t right for the original project and I missed the return date), so it was perfect for this small piece of furniture!
I removed the shelves and attached the wallpaper to the back — it took about an hour and I love this discreet detail.
I’ve gathered a few more fun and unexpected ways to use wallpaper scraps to share with you!
You can order samples from most online wallpaper shops for a few bucks each!
That wall uses more than scraps, but you could create a similar look on a smaller scale.
Framing it out with trim is the key!
This project would be easiest with a pattern with no to little repeat so you don’t have to match up the design down the stairs.
Either glass or acrylic on top makes it so it’s easily cleaned!
A few more fun ideas for using leftover scraps of wallpaper:
- Stick it on the top of your photo mats for a pop of color on your gallery wall.
- Cover a drum lampshade with scraps (a cone shaped shade won’t work well for this).
- Use it as a background to dress up basket or shelf labels.
- Wrap it around a simple, flat mirror frame or picture frames.
- Save to use as pretty wrapping paper for small gifts.
- Cover your switch plates for an unexpected accent:
Have you tried any of these ideas with wallpaper remnants? This post actually gives me some ideas for future projects! 🙂
