Travel-Themed Nursery
My cousin is having a baby in December and asked if I would help hang wallpaper in her travel-themed nursery. She and her husband have traveled all over the world, so it only seems fitting that their future baby starts developing the travel bug early on!
This antique airplane wallpaper from Spoonflower is super high quality, which makes it very easy to install. Since it was such a dark color, they asked to wallpaper just one wall, opposite the crib. Keep reading for my tips on how to hang peel and stick wallpaper to kickstart your own travel-themed nursery!
All in all this took me about 1.5 hours from start to finish. The wall was about 8 feet long, and only had one outlet. Here are the materials you’ll need:
Materials:
level
pencil
ladder
exacto knife
paper towel
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First, use a level and pencil to draw a plumb line. Most homes (read: pretty much all) don’t have perfectly straight walls, so this line will be the jumping off point for the wallpaper.
Gently peel the backing off the wallpaper, line it up on the plumb line, and smooth it onto the wall.
Line up the pattern repeat for the next wallpaper panel. There may be some paper overlap - that’s totally fine! This part takes the longest, but it’s best to take your time to ensure the wallpaper lines up properly.
I have a trick for smoothing out the wallpaper! Use a damp paper towel with the smoother tool and start in the middle with outward strokes. The paper towel gets all the bumps and bubbles out without making a mark on the wallpaper itself.
Use an exacto knife to trim the paper at the top of the wall and the baseboards. Continue repeating until the whole wall is covered.
My cousin and her husband found this fantastic vintage pie safe to use as a changing table. I love how the richness of the wood looks against the black wallpaper!
And because everyone loves a good before and after:
It’s amazing how much one element changes the room. The wallpaper makes it look brighter and more modern. And of course, adds more character. Even if you start with a simple, builder-grade home, there are so many small adjustments you can make to personalize your space.
As a thank-you, my cousin surprised me with custom DIY Darling cookies! She is so thoughtful (and so talented!) Check out her custom cookie-making business Cookie Thief Bakery.
I can’t wait to meet Baby A in December! I hope the whole family enjoys their travel-themed nursery, and I was so honored to help out in a small way.
Check out the other nurseries I’ve helped with here and here.