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If you follow me on Instagram (@kylatori) chances are you’ve already seen little snippets of this wall. I couldn’t keep it hidden because I am just SO excited! In our last house I did a black and white striped wall, although the stripes were vertical and much more narrow. I added an antique mirror, wainscoting on the bottom half of the wall, and a funky light fixture. With anything this narrow you definitely want to break up the pattern somehow because it can get dizzying.
I remember when I was putting up this wallpaper with my mom and Shaun came home, took one look at the wall and said, “No”. The wainscoting and the mirror weren’t up at that time so it was very busy. Once he saw everything all put together he ended up really loving it but it’s a process, guys! Trust me on this one. It’s going to look crazy in the middle of you doing it but just go with it.
Statement walls are my absolute favorite thing to do in a space, apparently…if you couldn’t tell ;)! However they definitely aren’t the easiest. Although none of my favorite projects have ever been simple. I always start by taking a look at my space and figuring out which design I’m going to go with, which area I’m going to design, and then I start picking out wallpaper. I’m obviously partial to dining nooks. Other fun areas to do statement walls in are bedrooms (especially masters) using the wall right behind the bed, small nooks in foyers or hallways, and half baths that are super teeny-tiny. Believe it or not creating a busy space in a small area has a really unique effect.
So I found this wallpaper by Serena & Lily and I had to have it! I absolutely love their stuff. As soon as they restock these in black I’ll be purchasing them for the kitchen. I do have to say that this wallpaper was the first wallpaper I’ve worked with that you have to put up horizontally opposed to vertically so that means unless you are a professional you should have at least one other person helping you put this up. I have very little patience and as soon as this came in the mail (seriously, like 20 minutes later) I tried putting it on the wall. By myself. And I ended up swimming in a pile of pasted, crinkled wallpaper and had to order another roll because I had gone through a whole roll trying to do it myself. Don’t do that. This is how your wall will look for 2 1/2 weeks while you wait for the other roll and simultaneously pray that the pattern matches up.
This was my first time wallpapering around an outlet because at the last house we did wainscoting on the bottom half of the wall where the outlet was. I used this YouTube tutorial step by step and it was a lifesaver! Needless to say we got the rest of the wallpaper up and I let it dry and set for at least 24 hours and then I began to decorate.
Dining Table: Here | Chairs: Here | Light Fixture: Here
Mirrored Console Table: Here | Ginger Jar: Here | Basket: Here
I started with this mirrored console table that I adore and I just started filling it with colorful coffee table books and decorations. I threw in a ginger jar which is my other obsession (next to coffee table books) and a plant to bring some life to the room.
“Grace”: Here | “Styled”: Here | Sea Urchin: Here
“Oscar de la Renta”: Here | “Absolutely Beautiful Things”: Here | “The Little Dictionary of Fashion”: Here
Again I just decorated with items that I love and didn’t worry too much about mixing colors and patterns. I thought colorful coffee table books would go best here to break up some of the black and white. I’m sure you’ll also notice that I don’t have a real photo in this Kate Spade frame. Shaun bought it for me for Christmas and we joked about how happy this girl looks and how we felt bad replacing her so I usually tell people this is my cousin Karen. I may replace it one day but for now…everyone, meet Karen.
Frame: Here | “All in Good Taste”: Here | “Things We Love”: Here | “Places to Go People to See”: Here
Pineapple Shot Glasses: Here
Don’t be afraid to do something crazy to liven a space up. People call me bold for doing black and white stripes and I will agree that yes, I am a bold person. But like I said before – do something that screams “you” in a space and people will love and appreciate it. If you’re unsure about a particular wallpaper you can always order a sample and tape it to the wall and stare at it for a few days. If you think wallpaper may be too crazy for you there is always paint, artwork, shelving units, and unique pieces of furniture that can help to create a statement wall. But if you’re feeling brave…go ahead, order that wallpaper you’ve been wanting! 😉
