Contact Paper DIY Wallpaper

I’ve been wanting to give our laundry room/mudroom combo a makeover, basically since we moved into our new-to-us home last year. Don’t get me wrong…I am THANKFUL for this space! Not only does it represent us having an attached garage (this is where we come into the house every day), but also that we have a main-level laundry room. I have wanted both these things for so long…so I shouldn’t complain.

There have been a few pain points in the space for a while, though, so it’s finally time to take care of them—on a budget, of course. I will be sharing lots about this over the next few weeks, as we address some of the things I haven’t liked, but for now, I’m sharing the start of a little makeover I did last weekend to the closet in the room. Step one to the makeover—clearing out, painting, and adding Duck brand contact paper, to the back of the closet, as wallpaper. This is a super easy, budget-friendly DIY project—great for any space!

When we first moved in, I was so careful to have everything in its place, super organized, and pared down. Over the last few months, though, things have been creeping back into the house that were either unnecessary or that needed to find a new home. I’m slowly purging all the things and trying to find the best place for them to be stored.

I want the closet to be both functional and pretty to look at…obviously. We had too many coats, cleaning products and tools, and random things stashed in there. So, the first step was to remove EVERYTHING. I made piles on the floor to determine what could eventually stay, what needed to be donated, and what needed to find a new home. For just being the two of us, Jason and I have so many coats! Honestly, he’s more of a culprit than I am…but don’t tell him that. We also have a lot of cleaning supplies that we don’t use too often, since we’ve budgeted for someone to clean for us twice a month. Would you be interested in a post on that?

The things that are getting to stay in the closet are: outerwear we use daily (seasonal items went to the basement and overflow got donated), our stick vacuum (I use it often), and a few other daily essentials. Everything else has found a new home or has gotten donated—I’m slowly learning that less is more…otherwise, you just spend all your time managing “stuff”.

After removing everything we’d been storing in the closet, we also took out the hanging bar. I want the closet to feel more open and not just a sea of coats. I’m adding hooks and hanging organizers to the doors soon—that will be another post. I also added a storage bench from Facebook Marketplace that I scored for $30. Trying to do this on a budget is forcing me to get creative. We’ll use the bench to store those unsightly things that used to end up scattered all over the closet floor. If it doesn’t fit in the bench…we probably don’t need it.

Now, the fun part…

I knew I wanted something special in the closet, but didn’t want to spend a lot of money—budget-friendly project, remember? I was walking through Walmart one day and found myself in one of the kitchen aisles. PS…if you haven’t shopped Walmart lately, you really should. They’ve totally upped their game…on pretty much everything! So, I’m in Walmart and came upon the contact paper, and not just any contact paper, but some really cute stuff! I ended up buying one with a cute blue/green check print—you can find it HERE. I wasn’t sure how much I would need, so I bought three rolls, assuming that would be enough for the smallish space—and I could always return what I didn’t need.

Once I had the contact paper, I headed to our local Ace Hardware to pick out some paint. I wanted one that matched the paper…and found that Benjamin Moore Wythe Blue matched almost perfectly! I’ve wanted to use this color for a long time, so I was excited to find it as a match!

The next step…summoning a boost of energy to actually get the painting and papering done. Ha! I made the time last Saturday and, while it took longer than anticipated, I love how it turned out! I’ll hopefully help you avoid a couple of the mistakes that I made, that ended up making it take longer than it should have—more on that below.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

-Contact Paper

-Paint

-Paint Brush

-Paint Roller

-Scissors

-Razor Blade

-Paint Pan/Paint Cup

-Tape Measure

-Cleaner/Degreaser

-Drywall Putty

-Drywall Putty Knife

-220 Grit Sandpaper

1. The first thing I did was to tape off the floor and the trim around the door. I’m a messy painter and didn’t want to take any chances. I ended up painting the floor trim inside the closet the same color as the walls, so I didn’t need to tape off the top. (Also, now I want to paint all the floor trim in the whole house…) However, I wish I would have taped off the back wall where the contact paper was going. Like I mentioned, I’m a messy painter and got so much paint on the back wall. Later I found out…the darker paint I was using to accent the contact paper, totally bled through the paper when I went to install it. So, save yourself some time and a near breakdown, by either painting a little more carefully than I do, or tape it off!

2. Once I had everything taped, I started painting! Okay, next thing that set me back…I didn’t prepare enough for this project by looking through my supplies. I assumed I had paint brushes and rollers to get the job done, but I only had a couple of random cheap ones from past projects. I didn’t have time to go to the store and buy new, so I used what I had. Cheap supplies can often make things go slower or add more steps to the project, though, so next time I will make sure I have the right brushes and rollers! Other than that, the painting went well. I was able to cover in one heavier coat and a second, lighter coat. I really like the Benjamin Moore paint and will work with it again. I rolled as much of the closet first and then cut in all the trim. I like instant gratification, so this seems to be a good method for me.

Between coats in the closet, I painted the shelves that go in the closet. I painted the underside and the front edge, using the same Wythe Blue and then installed the contact paper on top—since we’ll be pulling bins in and out…I thought that might be longer lasting.

3. As the paint was drying, I started getting the wall prepped to hang the contact paper. The first thing I did was to clean the wall. I should have done this for the painting, but I was impatient. I did make sure to do it for the paper, because I wanted to give it the best chance for good sticking power. I like to use Simple Green for anything like this. It’s a good degreaser and easy to work with—you can find it HERE. I used it on our fireplace makeover too. You can find that post HERE.

4. Once the wall was clean, I was ready to start installing the contact paper. Now, since the wall was broken up into 3 separate sections, I hung the paper in each one individually. I mentioned above that my messy painting ended up throwing a wrench into the project. The darker paint I had gotten on the back wall was showing through the contact paper. I attempted to cover the paint with white paint, but it was becoming a disaster…and I was on a deadline. Thankfully, the universe must have known that I was going to need a break that day, because the day before, I had RANDOMLY picked up 3 rolls of a different kind of contact paper. So, instead of the blue/green check pattern, I ended up using a terrazzo print. You can find that one HERE.

Friends…I’m so glad that I had messed up the painting and had to use the other contact paper! I love the contrast that it gives to the paint color and it was so much more forgiving than the check pattern would have been! So, I measured from the top of each segment to the bottom, then cutting the contact paper with a little extra length, just in case. Installing is pretty easy…just take your time.

5. I started by pulling the paper backing off the top portion of the contact paper. Then, I lined it up with the top of the wall, starting on one side of the closet. Once it was stuck down to the wall, I continued pulling the backing off and smoothing more contact paper onto the wall. Here’s where things can get a little tricky. Walls, trim, and corners are not always square, so the contact paper isn’t necessarily going to look like it’s on straight. I chose to have it straight at the top and deal with it on the edges as necessary.

6. Since I was dealing with the center supports for the shelves, I installed the contact paper on either side of the wall and then cut a strip to go in the middle to finish. Here’s where I was really happy that I ended up using the terrazzo print contact paper. Friends, it was so easy to use…I didn’t have to line up any patterns! Thank heaven for little helps like that on projects!

7. Now, the center brackets made cutting the paper a little tricky. How I did it was to measure a piece that would cover the whole space, installed it up to the point where the brace started, then cut angled slits in the contact paper that would allow it to fall on either side of the brace, and then cut off the extra. Hindsight, I should have taken a picture or video of this, but I’m learning…be patient with me. The best part about this particular pattern is that I was able to cut a few small pieces to fill in where necessary.

8. To install the contact paper wallpaper, I started with the middle portion of the wall first, so I was able to get one section, mostly done, quickly. I left the middle open and moved to the bottom segment, again leaving the middle open. Then, I installed the paper to the top segment. There wasn’t a brace there, so I was able to paper the entire space—installing on both sides and then cutting a piece for the middle. Once that was done, I moved back down the wall, cutting the middle pieces and trimming to go around the braces.

9. After that, all that was left was to put the shelves back in! Now…here’s the last time that the project didn’t go exactly how I would have wanted it to. I was putting the second shelf back in and it slipped out of my hand, falling to the ground, taking a chunk of wall, trim, and wallpaper out with it. Whomp, whomp. No time for shedding tears that day, though. I quickly touched up the paint and trim, put the shelf in (with extra care this time), and then……the savior of the day, cut a piece of the contact paper and easily covered the hole because the pattern was so forgiving!

I am absolutely in love with the progress so far on this DIY project and can’t wait to show you what I have planned for the rest! Also, I’m excited to have a functioning closet again, as our guest bathroom is currently being used as a temporary closet…and that’s stressing me out a bit.

If you’ve been thinking about using wallpaper in your home, before you even spend money on peel n stick, I think contact paper is a great place to start. Buy the best you can…it will have the best stickability—is that a word?? Contact paper is very forgiving and easy to work with. Bonus, it comes in so many fun patterns and styles these days…and you can usually buy a roll for around $5. This project has cost around $93 so far, including the paint, contact paper, baskets, and storage bench. That is a budget-friendly DIY in my eyes!

If you decide to try a contact paper wallpaper DIY in your own home, I would love for you to share it on Instagram and tag me so I can see! You can find me on Instagram HERE.