As I get closer to decorating the nursery for these twin boys coming this spring, I’ve been looking at all sorts of options to spruce up a bedroom that has most recently been plastered with posters of bands like 5 Seconds of Summer, Green Day and Good Charlotte and strings of fairy lights.

Time for a bedroom makeover beginning with the walls. But, with options from paint to wallpaper to board and batten designs, I’m not exactly sure which direction I’m heading toward.

After perusing Pinterest, I’ve realized that a wallpapered accent wall just might be the perfect way to go. Little prep work. Little mess. And loads of options in a variety of themes, styles and color schemes. While I’m leaning toward a fun adventure theme with wildlife like deer and bears, I’ve realized that wallpaper isn’t only for walls. In fact, I would wallpaper some great nursery furniture, create some wall art and even some surprising other options.

For more ideas visit our Design on a Dime Pinterest Board.

Wallpapered furniture

Wallpaper in all sorts of patterns and textures can add a unique touch to an old chest of drawers, adding a bit of whimsy and further enhancing a room’s decor. Most furniture pieces — dressers, armoires, bookcases, desks and even wooden bunk beds — can all be easily spruced up with a roll or two of wallpaper. You can opt for something like a sports-themed pattern for your teenage boy or choose a more subtle textured paper for an elegant master bedroom.

A black-and-white-striped wallpaper on a shabby chic dresser would be a wonderful addition to a little girl’s bedroom decorated in a complementary black-and-white damask pattern with pops of pink or teal. An old side table or coffee table that may have some scratches can be transformed into a beautiful conversation piece with a textured wallpaper embellishment. And, of course, that old bookcase or dining room breakfront can come to life once again with a brightly colored wallpaper pattern.

Framed art

I remember spending hours and hours as a kid going through oversized wallpaper sample books that my mom found at yard sales. So many of the garish ’80s patterns were filled with crazy pink elephants, creepy clowns, kitchen fruits and veggies, paisley patterns and other themes currently trending. Looking back now, I should have cut out some of those large sample swatches and made pieces of artwork out of them.

Do you have some old wallpaper scraps left over from a project? Does your friend have leftover pieces from her stunning accent wall? Take those scraps and transform them into beautiful pieces of wall art. You can wrap a collection of canvases in a variety of sizes and create a gallery wall. You can frame smaller pieces of wallpaper in ornate frames for a more dramatic look. You can even gather up all those scraps in varied sizes and adhere them to an accent wall to create your own, unique collage.

Here and there

Other ideas for wallpaper, especially when you only have smaller pieces, are as varied as your imagination allows. You could spruce up some old tin cans and create storage for office or crafting supplies. You could create adorable stationery, including envelopes, to send out to friends and family. Update an ordinary lampshade with some lively wallpaper.

Some other ideas include dressing up a boring brown clipboard and give it as a fun teacher gift. Adhere some of your favorite patterns to small pieces of tiles to create customized drink coasters. And, for my babies’ nursery, I could hodgepodge some wallpaper onto a paper-mâché bust of a deer or even some old antler sheds. With so many possibilities, it’s time to find those old wallpaper scraps!

– Jennifer Durrant