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DIY Faux Floral Wallpaper with Sharpie Pen

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This DIY Faux Floral Wallpaper with Sharpie Paint Pen is so much fun to draw. This DIY wall treatment will save you so much money.  I wanted wallpaper in my foyer but I didn’t want to put up wallpaper. A template of a floral design was drawn on a piece of plastic and traced onto the wall. Who doesn’t love to draw on the walls?

Paint your own faux wallpaper.

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I love the look of wallpaper and I love that it is making a huge comeback!  Wallpaper can add beautiful colors to a room but I do have issues with wallpaper. Yes, it can be expensive but that is not my issue. My problem with it is that I love to change things up often.  Also, if I spend the money and do all of the work to wallpaper the walls, I am going to have to live with it awhile. Probably, longer than I want to.

DIY Faux Floral Wallpaper with a Sharpie PenWe purchased our first home in the 1980s and I have lived in 5 homes in my lifetime. I have removed so much wallpaper in every one of these homes. All of the wallpaper was a PAIN to remove. Removing all of the wallpaper has left me with a phobia even though I know that the wallpaper today is easier to remove.

Inspiration

Being drawn to wallpaper that looks hand-drawn, I thought that it would be fun to try to duplicate the look of wallpaper with a Sharpie paint pen. I am wanting wallpaper so if it looks horrible, I can paint over it or wallpaper over it. Also, if you have the paint that is on the walls, you can paint the spot over the area of your mistake and draw it again. I know that because I did that several times and it was an easy fix.

TheProcessSharpie Wallpaper*Use a Sharpie PAINT Pen not a Sharpie permanent marker!! I used Medium Point and I used two pens for my wall.DIY Faux Wallpaper with Sharpie Paint Pen

A Sharpie Permanent Marker is very hard to cover with paint. I repeat, do not use a permanent marker. I used two paint pens for my wall that is 65 square feet. You may want to purchase a couple of extra paint pens and return the ones you don’t use so that you don’t have to run to the store in the middle of your project.

I knew before I started that everything had to be straight, even, and almost exact so that it would look like wallpaper instead of being hand-drawn.

I googled pictures of hand-drawn peonies and printed off a few pictures that I liked. Most importantly, I had to find flowers that were simple enough for me to draw. I created a floral design for me to trace on the wall.  You can view the tutorial for How to Make a Stencil for a Wall.Sharpie Wallpaper

Measuring the width of my template, it was 16 inches wide. I wanted to make sure that my floral design stayed straight going up the wall so I placed painters tape every 16 inches on the wall. That made it so easy for me to keep everything lined up and placed perfectly. Faux WallpaperTrace the design on the wall with a pencil for the first one but I switch to use the paint pen for the rest of the wall.DIY Faux Floral Wallpaper with a Sharpie Pen

I made a few small mistakes but it is not noticeable at all. If my paint pen bled, I covered it up with wall paint and a small art paintbrush.

You have to stagger every other row of flowers so that it will look like wallpaper. To do this, I measured and noted that the first flower will be 3 inches from the bottom so every other row starts 3 inches from the bottom. Every time I started a new column going up the wall, I measured the space between the flower and the wall so that my wall would look like real wallpaper.

Conclusion

 Everyone that sees the wall asks how long it took me to draw the entire wall. I made the template one evening. I did not want to get a sore neck so I did one vertical row(up and down) a day. It took me one hour to draw one vertical row so basically, I worked on the wall an hour a day. There are 8 vertical rows so it took me 8 days. I could have finished the wall much quicker if I spent more time on the wall each day. I am very pleased with the look of this faux wallpaper.  Also, you can view the tutorial for the DIY Orb Chandelier that I made from a thrifted chandelier and macrame hoops.

Maybe this DIY Faux Floral Wallpaper with a Sharpie paint pen will inspire you to draw on the walls!

 

 

 

 

Comments

  3. Tammy says

    So pretty! I used to do “faux” finishes on walls in another life and can so appreciate the time and skill that went into this. Great job!

  4. Nancy Sargent says

    Oh my goodness, this looks so fantastic! I’m sure that it was labor intensive. And you did such an amazing job. I know you had a template, but mine would have been very wonky I’m sure! Such a creative idea.

  5. Pamela says

    Wow, this is so gorgeous. Love the color of the marker, it is subtle and elegant. I love to swap things up frequently too and wall paper is so “fiddily”

  6. Barbara Chapman says

    Hello Sherry, WOW!!! I am amazed at how beautiful your wall turned out. I know people have been stenciling for centuries but your wall has a real contemporary feel to it ~ beautiful! Did you make your own stencils? Great job!!!

  9. jodie & Julie says

    This is amazing! I am so impressed that you #1 were brave enough to do this and #2 blown away by the results.
    I hope I have the guts to try this one day! Thanks so much for sharing this for Friday Friends Linky party!

    xoxo Jodie

  13. Susie says

    Great work Sherry! You are the undisputed queen of the peony doodlers and wow what a doodle. Love it, girl. Congrats. ~~Susie from The Chelsea Project

  14. Stacey says

    Oh my goodness, Sherry! This is gorgeous! You must have some sore muscles but so much pride to have this project completed. I love everything in your entry. The contrast of the chest to the walls is really pretty.

      • Christine Leckington says

        Sherry. Was your wall pretty flat? Mine has a lot of texture and I am not sure if this would work for me though. I have never seen this done before and it is so elegant! Also, could you please tell me the color you painted your chest? You are an inspiration to DIYers out there!
        Chris in Orehon

        • Sherry says

          Thank you so much for the compliment on my Sharpie wall. My wall is smooth and I am afraid that if your wall is textured it would cause the lines to be bumpy and not smooth. You could get a Sharpie paint pen and try it on a wall that is not visible, like inside a closet and see if it looks okay. The paint color that I used on the chest is Deep Twilight Blue by Valspar from Lowe’s. I always purchase a few Valspar samples when they have their .99 cent sample sale to use on furniture. I think the sample size is only $2 or $3 at all times and I used a little over half of this sample size. Buying your paint like this saves so much money. I am sending you a pic of the jar I used. I hope this helps and let me know if you have any other questions.

  15. Kerryanne says

    I bow down to you Sherry… amazing project with spectacular results!!
    I think the thought of wallpaper send shivers down the spine of anyone who has had to remove it in the past, so I love this idea.
    Thank you for sharing at Create, Bake, Grow & Gather this week. I’m delighted to be featuring your beautiful foyer wall at tonight’s party and pinning too!
    Hugs ~ Kerryanne

    • Sherry says

      Thank you Kerryanne! I am so glad you like it and are going to feature my wall!

  17. Julie says

    It’s really beautiful. When I first read, ‘ with a sharpie’ I did panic as I know how difficult it is to paint over permanent marker but I see you have that covered!
    I love that you did an hour a day over 8 days, I do a lot of projects like that, especially if it’s a little bit boring to actually complete.