DIY Navy Grasscloth Wallpaper Tutorial (for under $40)

Grasscloth wallpaper is timeless. But also expensive. See how to DIY grasscloth wallpaper for a cheap grasscloth wallpaper alternative. This navy grasscloth wallpaper completely transformed our bathroom- and for under $40! 

I should have titled this post: When there’s a will, there is a way.

But let me start from the beginning.

A few weeks back, the Big Sweet had a week-long work conference. This happens every year and every year I get myself through the week by planning to tackle a big project. This year, I decided it would be adding DIY Navy Grasscloth wallpaper to the powder bathroom.

When we moved in almost 6 years ago, I painted this powder room a light aqua and brown and hung a random collection of mirrors. Along with Mr. Moose. I even painted the ceiling blue. And then I checked the box.

Powder room, done.

But after six years, I was OVER IT and you know I can’t leave anything alone. So I decided it was time to give this tiny little powder room a facelift. I knew I wanted to go bold in this little tiny space because, well, I could.  I was just waiting for inspiration to strike. And strike it did.

Have y’all heard of Draper James yet? It is a lifestyle brand started by Reese Witherspoon and the flagship store is located in Nashville. (ps- Reese come on down south!!)  I follow them on Instagram and when I saw this aahhhh-mazing navy grasscloth wallpaper from her store, I was smitten. #navyismylovelanguage after all.

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I mean, could she be any more adorable? But I digress.

OK, so when I fall asleep dreaming and wake up thinking about something, I seriously start thinking of a way to pull it off in my own home. So I started researching navy grasscloth wallpaper. But then I was smacked with the reality- her store used Phillip Jeffries wallpaper and the best I could tell it was going to be WAY out of this homegirl’s price range. Really any legit grasscloth wallpaper was going to be out of my budget…

But like I said, when there’s a will, there’s a way. And I started looking for ways I could pull it off on my budget.  I found this pre-pasted “grasscloth” wallpaper from Lowes.    Although this paper came in a natural color, I figured I could try to paint it navy to achieve a DIY navy grasscloth wallpaper. In the store, it was actually only  $15.73 a roll and I needed two rolls, so for around a $40 investment I figured it was worth a shot. (Note: I have NEVER attempted a wallpaper project before)

Supplies Needed for DIY Navy Grasscloth Wallpaper Project

• Allen & Roth pre-pasted “grasscloth” wallpaper from Lowes
• Hale Navy paint ( I had a half gallon left over from the master bedroom and foyer projects)
• Air bubble smoother (yes, that is the technical name)
• Water bottle sprayer

Step 1: DIY Navy Grasscloth Wallpaper Tutorial

To start, measure the wall and cut the panels. Since the grasscloth wallpaper only came in natural, I started by giving each panel a good coverage of navy paint.

Because I wanted to be sure that the grasscloth texture would show through, at first I tried using less coverage and watered down the paint. But that was an epic fail.  With a little trial and error, I realized that even with three coats of paint you would still be able to see the texture…and YES, it took 3 coats for it to get full coverage.

Step 2: DIY Navy Grasscloth Wallpaper Tutorial

Then I just started pasting it up to the wall panel by panel. This paper is prepasted so you just have to wet it and apply it to the wall. It is pretty user friendly and I would just spray the top of the panel and affix it. Once I knew it was level, I would squirt the rest of the paper and smooth it out using the smoother tool. I started a little assembly line of painting panels in the garage and then getting them up on the wall…the corners were tricky but I just played around with it until it worked. (remember- I have NEVER attempted to hang wallpaper before)

This is about when I started REALLLLLLLLY doubting my decision to tackle the powder bathroom with wallpaper. What was I thinking? So I called my neighbor over for reinforcements. Thankfully she loved it and confirmed I needed to keep on going.

And she brought wine. When in doubt, drink wine.

OK. I can do this. So I kept going.

But then…Ey-yey-yey. I really didn’t think this through! I needed to remove the light fixture in order to wallpaper around it.

But, I did it y’all. It may have included a couple calls to my Dad. (“so, how exactly do you rewire the white wires and black wires… and what is this extra wire hanging here for?”) And a couple google searches.

But I did it all by myself. If I can do this, you can too. I promise!

PHEW! We made it!!

Step 3: DIY Navy Grasscloth Wallpaper Tutorial

Once all of the panels are up, touch up the edges and seams with paint to give it a crisp edge. Also because my house is 65 years old, the walls are not straight and I did my best to make it all straight with painters tape.

For a $40 investment and a week of working on it, I am so happy with the way the painted grasscloth turned out.

This powder room is off the kitchen/dining area close to the family room and gets used all the time. I am so happy to have it feel more like “me” now.

I must say the painted grasscloth looks much better in person because it’s hard to capture the texture in photographs. Here is a close up of the texture. Y’all- IT IS DEFINITELY NOT real grasscloth. Maybe someday we will splurge for the real deal. But I love the texture it adds to the tiny space for now.

The jury is still out on whether I am going to hang more art on the walls and repaint the ceiling (it is still light aqua). This is definitely one of those projects that was ALOT of work, but SO worth it in the end.

See that yellow canvas art? Yes, I knocked-it off it using inspiration from the Draper James picture. Inspiration really is everywhere! Thanks Reese.  This room isn’t quite done but I am pretty sure the hard part is OVER!

So, I’ll stand it in and hold a vase of Camellias clipped from the yard. Because taking pictures of a bathroom is kind of awkward. Might as well make it more awkward.

I love the way the DIY navy painted grasscloth wallpaper turned out. If I can do it- SO CAN YOU!

xoxo-

Heather