Design

Greta’s New Room: Grasscloth VS. Stencils. It’s on.

November 12, 2012

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Before signing off for the weekend on Friday, I left you with the official inspiration picture (found here) for Greta’s big-girl room.  It’s actually Gossip Girl’s, Serena’s room at Columbia and from the moment I laid eyes  on (and fell in love with) it when Blair surprised her bff with the room–I’ve been putting together Greta’s mood board.

The Pinterest board for Greta’s big-girl-room is currently private (that new feature is so nice for so many reasons, right?!) while I iron details out before revealing all of our plans right here. While Serena’s room is a great inspiration, we won’t be copying every detail.  Some things like the molding and trimwork, and green accent furniture we can’t–Greta’s room is teeny. And other things like floor lamps or wall sconces just aren’t practical for Greta right now–we unplug her light bulbs every night so she doesn’t get up and turn them off and on all night.  On the other hand, there are other things that we can’t wait to add to the design–like built-ins on either side of the windows–eee!

One of the last things I am trying to decide is what to do about the accent wall behind Greta’s will-be-headboard.  In our inspiration photo, the wall is covered in a warm grasscloth wallpaper that I love! Love. Love. I have never installed wallpaper before, so the idea is intimidating–but doable.  We rarely do things we have done before around here.  And then I started eyeing stencils and wondering, Would these be a good option, too?


When I mentioned the idea of possibly doing a stencil on one wall in Greta’s room, Chris said, “I’m going to go ahead and say, ‘no’.” Which he had every right to do, because less than a week after I stenciled our hallway, I painted over it.  But this is completely different.  Haha.  These three (the roses, pin cushion protea, and art nouveau) are my top contenders but they have a hard battle to fight against the grasscloth wallpaper–that I haven’t even mentioned to Chris yet.  I’m worried the word “wallpaper” might freak him out.

Does it freak you out?  While stencils feel safer, would they look as good?  Weigh in.  I need you!

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What do you think?

  1. Tracy says:

    I have these butterflies in both my girls room. Love them! They are easy to hang and paint.

  2. Susan M says:

    I love the grasscloth, but if I were doing a stencil, I’d do the middle one. I think you can find grasscloth that’s pre-pasted on the back. I’ve done a ton of that type of wallpaper, and it’s easy to do.

  3. I love the idea of using wallpaper with adhesive already on it! I’m officially on the hunt. Thanks for your encouraging words and I have already read your wallpaper post 3 times today. I must be pumping myself up or something. ;)

  4. Kim @ Yellow Brick Home says:

    wallpaper!

    We wallpapered our hallway, and we used a paper that already had the adhesive on the back. The only thing we had to do was wet it to activate it. I think that makes a HUGE difference in the ease of wallpapering – we did that wall in our hallway in a few hours!

    http://www.yellowbrickhome.com/2010/03/30/adventures-in-wallpaper-reveal/

    It seemed scary at first – the paper seemed wrinkled, and the mess of paste was slipping all over, but none of that seemed to matter! Wallpaper is so extremely durable, and it dried bone straight, and the mess cleaned up SO easy.

    Can’t wait to see what you decide!

  5. Vivian says:

    Gotta agree with the others. Save the sophisticated grass cloth for your master or the and do a youthful stencil or decal for Greta’s room.

  6. I’m definitely on team grasscloth! But if Chris says no to the wallpaper it’ll probably be easier to get him on board with stenciling ;)

  7. Anne-Marie says:

    Grasscloth wallpaper all the way! It’s something she can grow with! You’ll like it now and you’ll like it later.

  8. Meagan S says:

    While the inspiration room is gorgeous I feel like a stencil would be a little more youthful. You would also hate to put that much work into wallpaper to have to change it when she is 13 and wants to decorate her own room. I think the stencil choices are all awesome – the first one is my favorite!

  9. Emily Bufler says:

    grasscloth wallpaper has been a favorite of mine for so long! I’d lovvvve to get it into my house. then again, for a little girl’s room…I’m leaning towards the stenciled looks. save the grasscloth for your room or somewhere for guests to enjoy it’s fabulousness!

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