I Tried Putting Up Target Peel-And-Stick Wallpaper And It Wasn't A DIY Disaster

I made basically every mistake possible, and it still turned out great.

I'm not a particularly crafty person, and typically only turn to DIY activities when I'm utterly desperate (which you may remember if you read my creating a fairy light ceiling story from last year). But I moved recently, and with a new apartment comes Projects™.

Enter: The Nook. When I first saw the new place, my first thought was, what am I going to do about The Nook?

Danica Creahan / BuzzFeed

After giving it some serious thought (and then ignoring it, for many, many weeks), I finally realized what I needed... 

This peel-and-stick wallpaper from Target! I knew it was the *perfect* thing to take this weird, pointless wall and make it into a gorgeous focal point of my whole place. But I was definitely nervous to take on such a DIY-focused project, for myself AND my security deposit...

Target

At $27.99 per 20.5-inch x 18-foot roll, I decided to order three for a grand total of $73.82. 

And here's where I want to give a disclaimer: PLEASE do not treat anything — beyond my wholehearted recommendation of this wallpaper — as advice! I made every single mistake in the peel-and-stick-wallpaper-book, and thanks to how forgiving the wallpaper was, it still turned out great.

Danica Creahan / BuzzFeed

I didn't have an official ~smoothing tool~ so I literally used a dollar store spatula and my hands. Despite not being able to cut a straight line, I didn't have the patience for measuring or using any kind of ruler whatsoever. I eyeballed, overshot and then overcorrected every single piece I hung up... and it looks fantastic (in my humble opinion, please be kind to me in the comments). 

Now, that's not to say I didn't have my fair share of challenges along the way. There were definitely some air bubbles that just couldn't be smoothed and will now haunt me forever...

Danica Creahan / BuzzFeed

Luckily, I always planned to put these open ladder shelves over the new wallpaper anyway, so the imperfections wouldn't stand out all that much.

Danica Creahan / BuzzFeed

But turns out the wallpaper pattern I chose is *super* forgiving, so even if I hadn't put up the shelves, I would have loved the way it looked regardless! 

Now, all that's left is to ~decorate~.

Danica Creahan / BuzzFeed

PS, I got the LED candles from Amazon for $22.99!

And I'm not the only beginner who totally loved this wallpaper...

Target

Promising review: "First timer here. So glad I used this one! There’s about eight different pieces on my half bath wall, and its not noticeable! Yay! I peeled and reattached a few times and it’s held up so far. One day later. I didn’t use an X-Acto knife and I should’ve. But I’m not gonna dwell on the edges right now. Who has the time. Perfect first-timer project." —Cristina

"This wallpaper was super easy to install and this pattern is very forgiving. Love this statement wall in my mudroom!" —Mory12

What I thought would be a daunting DIY project turned into a super fun weekend with, dare I say downright *gorgeous* results. It only took me about four(ish) hours across two days, and since I messed up frequently enough that I had to pull whole patches off the wall and rehang them, I'm not worried at all about peeling it off when it comes time to move!

Danica Creahan / BuzzFeed

Ready to try it yourself? Get this NuWallpaper Terrene peel-and-stick wallpaper from Target for $27.99 per roll.

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The reviews for this post have been edited for length and clarity.