Faux Wallpaper Using a Hand Stamp

When we bought this 1960’s home I knew we would never use a formal dining room. Even with the original built-in china cabinet in the corner, I knew this space would make a perfect office. It never crossed my mind once to remove the china cabinet. It would make great storage and I knew I could dress it up to make it go with my style. 

I felt pretty confident that I would cover the inside walls of the cabinet with wallpaper. I spent a full year browsing wallpaper online but could never pull the trigger. Apparently I have commitment issues with wallpaper. But after living in our home for a year and staring at that old cabinet every time I worked in my office, I suddenly got the urge to transform it! 

I hopped on Pinterest and started looking at wallpaper and stenciling. Somehow I stumbled upon stamping which led me to hand-made stamps. I saw the idea to wrap rope or twine around a piece of wood and using it as a stamp. The rope was wrapped around the block of wood three times giving the look of three short lines. In that moment I literally stood up, walked into my garage, grabbed a piece of wood and a roll of twine and made a stamp! 

First I practiced on a piece of paper to get the feel for the stamp and to decide on a stamping pattern. I pressed the stamp with the rope lines vertical and then pressed the stamp with the rope lines horizontal right next to it and continued the pattern. The result was exactly what I wanted. It was modern and on-trend and I loved it! 

For a fear of getting too much paint on the stamp, I decided to use a paint brush and dab the paint directly onto the pieces of twine before stamping. You could easily pour some paint onto a paper plate, dip the stamp in the paint and stamp away. I alternated the stamp from horizontal to vertical in straight rows across the cabinet wall. I totally winged it without a level and it turned out amazing!

 My favorite part about this stamping technique is that the pattern you get is totally unique. For a larger space, like a wall in your home, you could replicate this stamping method using a larger piece of wood and rope for larger lines. I could see this pattern working in any room of a house! For such a cheap and easy DIY, this transformation made a big impact. I am so happy I could bring new life and purpose to this tired, old china cabinet!