Paper a Book Wall
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“There are many inexpensive things you can do to make a room interesting,” says Alex Calderwood of the Ace Hotel in Portland, Oregon. This book-page wallpaper is one of our three favorites to re-create at home.
Posted by ReadyMade
Written by Keith Mulvihill
“This is a cross between wallpaper and a mural,” says Johnne Eschleman, of Portland, Oregon, who worked for about 18 months as the resident artist for the Ace Hotel’s New York location.
Skill Level
Easy
Active Time
Weekend
Cost
$
- Old books
- Wheat wallpaper paste
- Transparency of illustration
- Wide-tipped paint pen
- Protective finish
- White latex paint
Materials
- 2- or 4-inch paintbrush
- Overhead projector
Tools
Take apart the book: Pull off the cover and peel back the glued binding to remove complete, untorn pages. Neatly stack the pages with finished edges facing the same direction.
Follow steps 2-4 for making a mural.
Work across the wall from left to right, top to bottom. Overlap the pages by laying the straight edge over the ragged edge. If the last page in each row doesn’t fit exactly, measure and cut the dry page before applying to the wall. Allow to dry overnight.
Choose your illustration and make a black-and-white transparency for an overhead projector by photocopying your image onto a sheet of transparency film.
Tape the transparency to the overhead projector, aligning the image to exactly where you want it to appear on the wall.
Lightly trace the image with a pencil, or work directly with the wide-tipped paint pen. The ship design was created with a bold oil-based Sharpie paint marker. The translucent white was made by thinning white latex paint with water.
Once your design is completely dry, add a protective finish or fixative. If you use polyurethane, it may cause the paint-pen pigment to bleed. Apply gingerly with a smooth, nontextured roller, rolling over the surface of the illustration only once.
