I Didn’t Want to Wallpaper a Whole Room, So I Did This $287 Project Instead
I have a tendency to become infatuated with patterned wallpapers (my current unrequited loves include House of Hackney’s Hollyhocks Wallpaper in Summer and Soane Britain’s Mawar Wallpaper in Chestnut). However, any time I’ve gotten the urge to deck a whole room in a designer wallpaper, I’ve calculated how much it would cost to cover an entire room in one of these lovely designs and subsequently shied away from the idea.
I left my design dreams safely in my Instagram account’s saved photos, with one exception — Mind the Gap’s Jardin Sauvage wallpaper.
The pattern depicts a whimsical, Renaissance-inspired forest in striking muted pink and green tones. Sure, I knew I could never summon the courage (or spare change) for a whole-room installation, but I also knew that if I could get my hands on just a few rolls, I could come up with a way to incorporate it into my home.
I drew inspiration from a vintage room divider screen I once scored off of Facebook Marketplace, and I decided to make my own screen and cover it in my new wallpaper.
Supplies I used to make my wallpapered divider:
Three rolls of wallpaper, which in total measured 61.5 inches wide and 118 inches tall: $167
Two 3/4” MDF panels, purchased and cut by staff at The Home Depot: $98
Wallcovering adhesive: $12.45
Butt hinges: $9.99
Primer (leftover from another project)
Black semigloss paint (leftover from another project)
Paint brush and roller (leftover from another project)
Sandpaper (leftover from another project)
Box cutter
1/2” felt furniture pads
Total cost: $287.44
How I made the DIY divider:
I decided to skip any sawing and have my screen dividers panels pre-cut for me, and I’d definitely recommend this if you, like me and my NYC apartment, don’t have room for tools or a big woodworking project in your place. My two biggest expenses were the wallpaper itself and the MDF panels.
I gave each panel a light sanding and primed and painted the panel edges and one side of each panel in black semigloss paint. I applied the wallpaper on the other side. My wallpaper required adhesive, but you could also choose a peel-and-stick option to save a step and a supply. If you go the adhesive route, I recommend working in foot-long sections, painting on about a foot of adhesive, then lining up the wallpaper and smoothing it down. Repeat that process until all of your panels are covered, and trim around the edges.
Once the wallpaper adhesive is dried, I recommend adding two felt furniture pads to the bottom of each panel. The MDF boards are pretty heavy, so this prevents scuffing and makes it easier to slide the panels across the floor so you can actually use your screen. Next, you’ll be ready to add hinges to the screen, which gets a little complicated. You’ll want to make sure to do it in the right order.
How to add hinges to the folding screen:
Stack the panels on top of each other on the floor the way in which they would appear as if the room divider screen were fully folded up. Make note of which side of each panel will face the front (where the wallpaper shows when unfolded) and the back (where the paint shows when unfolded). For me, this looked like:
Floor
Panel 1, wallpaper side up
Panel 2, wallpaper side down
Panel 3, wallpaper side up
Panel 4, wallpaper side down
2. Screw in hinges (I used black butt hinges to blend in with the black paint) to attach the panels to each other. It’s important that you alternate using the front and back side of the panels. I had a pack of eight hinges, so for me this looked like:
3 hinges to attach Panel 1 to Panel 2, on the back side
2 hinges to attach Panel 2 to Panel 3, on the front side
3 hinges to attach Panel 3 to Panel 4, on the back side
Note: this might take some trial and error to get laid out correctly. As long as you’re not screwing into the wallpaper, it’s OK to make a happy accident and try again! If you want to skip the stacking and screwing hinges, you could also buy a ready-made, no-frills wooden room divider and add your own personal flair to it with wallpaper over top, but the convenience might cost you a bit extra.
I couldn’t be happier with how this turned out — and at a total cost of less than $300, I would definitely consider doing this again in other rooms of my home. It looks super high-end and adds a nice touch of color and texture to an otherwise neutral space.
Further Reading
I Tried the 90/90 Rule and My Closet Is Now Fully Decluttered
We Tested (and Rated!) All the Sofas at Ashley — Here Are the Best to Suit Your Style and Space
