If you’ve got a dollhouse makeover in the works or are planning one for the holidays, you are probably attempting to wallpaper the little rooms. Am I right?! I hope so because “wallpaper” inside a dollhouse adds such a sweet touch of whimsy and fun that really personalizes the space for your kids in any way you want! You can get as crazy or as subtle as your tastes allow with wild bright patterns and designs or softer more subtle papers. Either way, adding wallpaper to your dollhouse makeover is sure to make your house that much more special.
If you still need to pick up a dollhouse as a starter base, check out this post for building your own, or this one for purchasing and beginning to make the one I’m using in this post. I show you how best to paint it and add the shingles to give the roof that charming dollhouse character everyone loves.
Once you’ve got a house all ready to go, you can get to work on the wallpaper!
How To Wallpaper a Dollhouse Like a Pro
Gather your wallpaper! I use plain old scrapbook paper (these particular ones all from Michaels). You could buy and print your own papers on etsy, or use any kind of paper as wallpaper (wrapping paper would work really well).
Next you need double stick tape, scissors and a clear quilt ruler (you’ll see why the clear ruler helps later on!)
Measure your dollhouse INTERIOR rooms. Remember the paper needs to sit inside each “box” or room, so don’t include the walls in your measurements. The dollhouse I’m using comes with super handy measurements in the Amazing listing photos which was SO HELPFUL since I kind of suck at math and angles and such, ha! No judgement. You can find and purchase this particular dollhouse here (affiliate link).
Use your clear ruler to take more exact measurements. The more precise you are the better your paper will fit. This is where the clear ruler comes in handy- since you can see through it, you can more easily gage where your paper will fall in the BACK of the house. You can see through it to see if the wall is slightly longer or shorter in the back than the front (no walls are ever PERFECTLY straight amiright?!) and it helps to use the clear ruler on your paper to see which part of the pattern you want to cut on (if that matters to you… I’m totally ocd about that).
Apply double stick tape to the back of the papers. This is SO MUCH EASIER and less messy than using an adhesive like modge podge or anything similar. I promise you. I’ve done that before too and it’s a mess! Yuck. I’ve also used sticky back contact type paper too which is such a challenge. If you cut it wrong or too big or too small you are A) wasting paper and B) having to unstick it all to readjust. Not worth it when double stick tape works perfectly!
Use a butter knife to slip the paper out if you need to shave off a corner or millimeter of paper. You want a perfect fit and just popping the paper back out with the tip of a butter knife keeps the paper from getting bent or folded by trying to scrape it out with a fingernail or finger tips.
That’s it! So painfully easy. I wallpapered this whole house while Sally at lunch at the island. It probably took me 20 minutes, tops!
Aren’t you excited to go find dollhouse wallpaper now?! I could wallpaper these babies all day, ha!
Have a great Tuesday!
-Jacquie
If you loved this project be sure to check out these easy crafts for kids! We all need a few more of these in the idea bank, right?!
P.S. I’ll be back in a few days to finish up this dollhouse series with the best part- adding the occupants and their belongings! So much fun.
Katy says
This worked out so great! Thanks for the tip! It’s loads easier than trying to paint.
JC says
Very cute! I am in the process of refinishing a dollhouse I found at a thrift shop for my daughter for Christmas. Do you think that just having paper as the wallpaper will hold up well without anything to “seal” it? I guess worst case you could always just re-wallpaper. Ha! Thanks for the cute ideas!