Decorating with Washi Tape

Interiors

Happy Monday, tout le monde! I have a fun and easy DIY project to share with you today. Have you hopped on the Japanese washi tape bandwagon? I’m obsessed with it. I have rolls and rolls of it, and I love how such a simple item can be used in a myriad of ways. But have you ever considered it for home decor? I stumbled on some wide rolls of washi tape over at Wishy Washi and all of a sudden, I had an epiphany. What a perfect way to play around with designs on the walls in my office!  From beginning to end, this project took me a total of 1 hour.  I seriously wish I had known about this stuff when I was a renter and felt stuck with boring white walls. The possibilities for this are endless.

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A few months ago, I transformed my office from a fun & crazy bright coral to a pale grey-blue color accented with pops of red and pink. The coral walls were fun, but they weren’t exactly soothing. Being the color lover that I am, I wanted to calm things down but keep bright accents. I like pink, but I didn’t want it to be like, HELLO PINK AND I’M A GIRL AND I LOOOOOOVE PINK!  It’s been a good challenge to me to see how I can incorporate various shades of it and I adore the way it pops against that grey-blue.

The problem with the office was that there were all these bare walls that were, frankly, booooring. And I haven’t felt super excited about spending a whole lot of money on artwork for the office right now. There’s too many other projects that are jockeying for my time. When I found the 30mm rolls of washi tape, the lightbulb went on and I started imagining all the fun ways I could design with tape. Low cost and low commitment. That’s my kind of decorating!

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For this project, I purchased 2 rolls in each of the colors I was considering. In the end, you can see how much tape I used of the pink stripe below. Go ahead & buy extra – that way you won’t feel bad if you have an error and need to redo a portion. I also used scissors, a pencil, and a small ruler. You might find it helpful to use a laser level if you have one to keep your lines even, depending on the type of design you go with. I personally like to eyeball things. You know, with my laser eyeballs. Because that’s how I roll.  Also, the best thing about washi tape is that if you make a mistake, you simply pull it up and reapply. It was almost too easy. Plus, it’s gentle enough that it didn’t hurt my walls – a definite plus!

Washi Supplies

Simply put, I love how this project turned out. I feel like it filled up space on a dreadfully bare & empty wall that I had zero creative idea what to do with. Plus it also frames my fun Chinoiserie bamboo chairs that I picked up from my favorite used furniture shop in Norman, Oklahoma, a few years ago. (Originally upholstered with a frumpy navy gingham, they’ve since been recovered in pale pink swirled fabric from Spoonflower.  The pillows were custom made for me by EleganTouch at Etsy with Trina Turk fabric.)

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Before I got started, I drew out a few different designs on a piece of paper so I could get an idea of what kind of shape I wanted to see. I knew I wanted a Hollywood Regency or Greek key type of feeling. The design below in the middle was my first choice,  but I knew it would drive me bananas to get the curves on the corners just right with the tape. I needed this to be simple.

And voila – one hour later, I had my design up on the wall. It doesn’t get much easier than that. Zero prep work, zero cleanup.

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Hanging on the far back wall is the fabulous Everlylane tissue tassel garland (say that 3x fast) I ordered for my Oscar party in February. Eventually I’d like to have some fabulous light fixture (of course) and a patterned coral/pink rug to tie it all together.  I also have my eye on these fantastic custom Roman shades at Window Treatments by Melissa.

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I spy a Pippin & Pearl painting in here, too!

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All in all, I’m loving how this room is coming together. It’s light & bright and I’m indulging my love of pinks, corals, and reds without it overwhelming the room.

Ok, I’m dying to know — Would you decorate with washi tape? And if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask in the comments!

with love,
Rachel

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