Stairwell wallpaper project reveal!

Stairwell wallpaper project reveal!

• 11.22.2024

It doesn’t feel like that long ago that I learned to install traditional pasted wallpaper, but I realize I have now done six rooms in my house, and I love it so much! It really makes such an impact. It’s a bit more of a pain than painting, but really only a little.

I recently redid this project in 2019--my idea of redoing a space in 2019 was basically painting it white and adding some black and gray. :P This house felt so old and dusty, and that was my reaction to it. But now I am trying to complement it a little more, although still working with what I have, which is lots of white trim.

Stairwell wallpaper project

This stairwell goes down to our basement, which two years ago we had finished out with drywall and added a bathroom, so it’s actually a relatively nice space to play, plus I do laundry there. So I walk through this stairwell quite frequently, but it was always a little dingy and plain.

It’s also the door out to the trash can area and driveway so it’s a holding spot for things I want outside of the kitchen. I added some hooks to make it more functional before, but it was still really lacking in looks.

It’s right off the kitchen where I’ve recently been trying to add some traditional style and warmth, like with my vintage plate walls.

I wanted wallpaper for some texture and pattern, but nothing too bold, and I didn’t want to repaint the trim so I didn’t want something with color on color. (If I was the space from scratch, I might choose a trim color from the wallpaper pattern.) Wallpaper: Edvin in Willow Green by Sandberg Wallpaper.

The space has a lot of funky angles! I did this by myself almost entirely on one Sunday morning and evening. I played that Norah Jones album from like 2001 to keep the vibes calm, which helped!

Here’s the before from 2019:

And here’s how it looked shortly after we bought the house:

The stairwell going down to the basement from the outside… And what that used to look like.

Of course I hung some art!

The paper is Edvin in Willow Green, from Sandberg Wallpaper. They have some incredible historic inspired styles! I also used their powdered wallpaper paste, which you mix with water, incredible idea because all you're shipping or buying from the store is the powder and then you just add water. And it worked great!

Other sources linked (where possible) below.