I've seen this technique done on walls before. There was a wall paper that was meant to be torn before putting it on the walls. I noticed not too long ago Lowes was clearancing their's out, so I'm guessing it didn't sell well. I've done this technique with tissue on jars and furniture before, but never on a wall. I've thought about doing a wall with brown craft paper that you wet and crinkle first to give a leathery look. Similar to the indian girl dresses those of my age may have made in school as a child.

Here is a link that might be useful: Torn Paper Walls

I forgot to mention that I added a live link for you and here's a brown paper bag link below

Here is a link that might be useful: brown bag walls

Eek!! I had a post not too long ago showing my study that I had attempted to do that to.... I hated it and created a HUGE mess tearing it all off.

I ended up hiring someone to get the last bits of it off. They then had to sand the parts that were stuck on there for good, and they're texturizing it again.

Granted, I have seen it where it looks really beautiful... But BEWARE! LOL!! ;)

JustGotta, I remember that wallpaper. I suspect most folks found the craft paper cheaper. Thanks for the link. Is that your wall?

Tex, I remember your post about that and hoped you'd post to this thread. I never did hear how your story turned out. One of the reasons I never attempted it is fear that it would be murder to get it off the wall if I changed my mind. I was right, huh? What did you end up doing with your room?

That said, I think the second pic on the link with the rust and grey walls looks beautiful -- but we're not seeing it in person.

My torn paper wall is the favorite wall in our home. I absolutely love it and had to really guard it carefully during construction. We joke that when we buy the neighbor's place and blow through the walls, we'll have to cut this one and slide it to the back of the house, complete as is (because it took A LOT of work!) You can see a little bit of damage in the first picture on the right side (white line at corner and a few tears). It was easy to fix fortunately!

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This picture shows it when it was first done in a finished (almost) room.
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No Oceanna, not our home. Just a site I found when playing around online. Would love to do it somewhere in our home, but as of now walls are staying as they are. Even those that are yet incomplete.
Igloochic, as always I love yuor dining room wall.

Yeah, Igloo has it going on! ;)

I'll post pics of my "new" study when it's all done. Right now it's just troweled with plaster and it's waiting to be painted.

Igloo, did you ever tell us how you did that magnificent wall? If so, could you direct me to your explanation with a link, please? If not, would you please tell?

bump for Igloochick?

Darn that Igloochic for spending the entire day on the phone :oP

I'm not sure if I ever posted but I'll do it now and save it just in case I'm asked again...from the top of my itty bitty brain (which could be trouble) here goes:

First, I purchased 3x as much paper (craft paper on rolls from a craft store or art supply...looks like paper bags without all the unfolding) so for me, that was 15 yards of paper.

I tore those into managable sections (which for me, at 5' tall means sections about 4' tall) If you're 8' tall this will be much easier...

Start with your base wall color (the other walls in the room...or a mid range color if you're doing four walls..which will take you a milenium and make you psycotic...but just in case) umm where was I? Base color. For my room, the base color was school bus yellow (horribly bright, but on the other walls it's toned down with one layer buff glaze and one layer gold). Purchase an extreme dark of that same tone on the paint ladder (for me, the extreme was almost brown) and an extreme on theopposite light side (for me that was nearly cream). I use a pint of each, which was far more than you need for one wall.

Get out three silver tablespoons from your best set of china and use one in each of the paints (or if you are a reasonable person, and have unpacked other dishes you could use old camp stuff..I don't think it will effect the finish). Lay out one section on your antique dining room table...or cheap card table as you wish, and dip each spoon in the respective paint cans...drip one big blob on the paper of the middle, one dark near that and one light.

E gads Did I mention to have large paint brushes around? Ok well hopefully you thought of it before you started this crazy idea...anyhoo, hopefully you have a nice 5" purdy brush at hand once you've dribbled those blogs....if so, spread them around, run then into each other leaving an area of paint that is somewhat blended and others that are one or the other color. (If you didn't have the brush at this point your first piece of paper is entirely ruined so go have a drink and start tomorrow)

Do this over the entire paper, covering in to it's entirety. You'll make a mess of the table beneeth so hopefully you chose the card table verse the dining room table.

Hang this on a wall or lay it on a tarp on the garage floor (where fido hopefully won't be treading) and let it dry for one day. Rinse and repea...wait that's conditioner instructions...umm just repeat, on the other "managable" pieces of paper. Make way way more than you think you could every possibly use. They look a little bit like a kindergardners art project at this point. The paper is rumpled a bit from the wet paint, and you think you've made a major mistake, and that Igloochick was probably drinking when she gave these instructions...you're only half right ;oP

OK, for the truely nuts, it's now day two. Look at those ugly pieces of paper you have all over the wall or floor...Now you need to glaze them. I used a gold glaze sold at the big box stores..you could use any glaze color you wish, but what I found with glaze is that it softens the final product, and makes it look richer, so it's necessary...Dry brushed it over the paper where they were hanging, laying and generally were in the way. Glaze every inch with that same big brush, and go have a drink or two...let them dry (hopefully you aren't drinking throughout the entire drying period of one day).

Well you blew that weekend...time to blow another

Have on hand your typical wall paper tools, including a hand brush on wall paper glue (I used some toxic stuff that looked like elmers glue, and tasted about the same...don't ask why I know that).

Yo need a large brush to get rid of big bubbles, and a small roller for the edges, a couple 3" paint brushes for the glue, a squeege for wrinkles and a case (really) of diaper wipes or a bucket filled with soap and hot water. Oh and a large sponge. (It's hard to remember all of this from so far away)

Ok now for the fun part. Take those papers which are all dried out now and really don't look so good and tear them up in pieces, with an average size of about a normal piece of paper, but with smaller and larger pieces included. Don't worry about the brown paper edges you'll end up with on some of them, this actually makes it look better when the wall is finished. Keep all tiny scraps as well...you'll need more of these than you might think. Separate the papers from the straight edges of the craft paper, and keep those to use on the edges of the wall, top, bottom and sides. This is how you get a nice clean edge on the wall if you're only doing an accent wall (see instruction one of you are nuts enough to attempt more than one wall).

Start on the outside edges, and plan on working on the entire wall at once, from one side to the next because you won't want to be working on pieces that are freshly glued down since they sometimes move on you (they move more if you're drinking when you do this).

Pour some of that sticky wallpaper glue in a little cup (I prefer fine china but a small plastic bucket will do as well). Using your handy dandy 3" purdy brush (they really should pay me for these endorsements) brush the back of a piece of paper with a straight edge with glue...be generous, but not rediculous, somewhere between Paris Hilton and Scruge.

Note to self...mention that the table they are now working on is destroyed at some point...

Take that piece and stick it (paint side up if it isn't obvious...oh and the glue was on the non painted side) and stick it where the sun don't shine...umm I mean on an edge of your chosen wall :o) Line up the edge of the wall with the straight edge of the paper and now do your normal wallpaper hanging routine, squeegieing (that's not a word) out the glue which is a mess, but will dry clear. Use the roller tool as well, for bubbles, and then take your damp sponge or baby wipe and wipe off the excess glue on and around the piece (including your hands and hair). Get as much off the placed piece as possible, but don't scrub. Your paint finish and glaze is fragile and so is your paper. Do not worry if while you are doing this you tear the paper or expose more of the brown edge, you actually want this, and can patch it up later if necessary.

Go into your kitchen and find a bottle of wine and drink it now. You have just committed yourself to a project that takes for freaking ever to finish (but is worth the time...it's kind of like giving birth to a halibut).

Piece two can be placed where ever your heart desires. I got a little nuts and would throw one in the middle then go to an edge etc. You MUST overlap the pieces to get a good texture on the wall, so don't worry about that. The best bet is to finish your outside wall edges first with those clean edge pieces. I'd do a couple on one edge, then move to the other side of the wall to let the glue harden on that side, then a few there, back, etc. You want to give the glue a few mins to stick. You'll get the feeling for it before long, right about the time you lose feeling in your hands from the effect of the glue and the wine.

Days, weeks, months pass....and you're finally done!!! Now let the wall "cure" for one week at least (two is fine, but guard it from small children and goofy husbands who want to touch it).

After that week, apply one coat (with a purdy brush please) of clear shellac in the sheen that fits your whim. For my wall I used a gloss because the room is gold :) And I like the soft glow under candlelight. Apply two coats, waiting between coats as directed on the can. (Read the can with the lid on or you'll pass out and wake up with a glossy sheen on your cheek where you landed in a puddle of shellac that you dropped after the fumes got to you).

Your wall is now impervious to damage. Small children can throw pudding at it, cats can pee on it, dogs can sniff the cat pe...ummm nevermind...Anyway, after you give the shellac a week to cure as well, it's a great wall. You can scrub it with soap and water and won't loose any of the wall :) Patching the wall is easy, so just save some of the scraps just in case (which I needed after construction). I also did the same technique on the fixtures on that wall (switch plate and plug face) so that you don't really see them sticking out of the wall like a sore thumb.

You will now love me, but during the process of making your wall, you cursed my name many many times. Just remember that when I got this hair brained idea my instructions were in the side note of a magazine and said "drop paint on craft paper in three colors and blend, glue to wall with wallpaper glue, protect with shellac".

Thank god I read between the lines about the drinking...I'd have never gotten through it without a good pinot blanc :oP

ROTFLOL! That's a keeper if I ever saw one. Thanks, Iggy!

Igloochic,
We're roaring over here!
We, as in me, husband, daughter and my sister.
Hysterical!

I've just copy/pasted and printed out your instructions.
I've done torn paper on wall myself on all four bathroom walls, very small bathroom thankfully.
So although I don't need your instructions (Much improved, more technical and more fun to read instructions, I might add and with more beautiful results than my haphazard attempt on my bathroom walls.), I will be showing your instructions to whoever decides to stop by over the holidays.
We're a family that loves passing around good, fun-to-read shorts when we get together.
Yours fits that bill.
Thanks so very much for sharing it with us!

Does this forum have a Hall of Fame? If not, shouldn't this be the inaugural post?

Hilarious and wonderful, Igloo. I am keeping it, needless to say... THANKS for taking the time to send it!

Amity, how about posting your torn wall pics?

I hope everyone gets a chance to read Igloo's post. :D

LOL I'd have spell checked if I'd have known it would be saved. I was busy chasing sixteen two year olds around a hotel room while typing (ok one but it felt like 16).

And when you all finish your walls, they need to be shared :o) (I'll be looking for the pictures many months for now LOL)

Oceanna,

I saw pics of Igloochic's gorgeeeeous walls quite awhile back and swore to myself back then I would never, ever post pictures of my measly attempt at torn-paper bathroom walls.
After seeing Igloochic's walls, mine looked like the creation of a new HGTV show -- Design on a Nickel.

But I've been here long enough now to know that people here are much kinder than any other public forum I have ever visited so I'm gonna honor your request. *s*

Keep in mind the ceiling is STILL not done although I've tried 3 different colors on it over the past year.
And picture frames haven't been repainted to go with the new colors in the bathroom but again, when in doubt, don't do anything. *s*

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Amity, I think your walls look great! I've always been attracted to this technique, but too chicken to attempt it.

Robbi

P.S. igloochic, I'm not leaving your's out, they're beautiful as well :-)

LaFonda,

Sitting at the computer, bored because believe it or not, my house is all clean (thank you dear, dear husband) and I was going back a few pages to see what I missed on those days before Christmas that are now just a blurr, and I find your response. THANK YOU so much for your kind words!

Maybe things, life, will slow down a bit for awhile so that I can finish it.
Ceiling, frame colors, get some new fluffy towels for the towel rings and finish making the shower curtain. You know those little things you are sure you'll get back to but somehow, they get sidelined.

Wish I would have had the much better (and funnier!) instructions from Igloochic when I started.
But I've printed them out for the next room I attempt.*g*
Again, thank you!

Amity, I'm glad you brought this thread back up because I missed seeing your pics before. That looks neat. Is that a raised up flower next to the door? Very cool. How did you do that? What more will you be doing to the walls? I think you're really brave to try it and I'll bet when you're all done it's going to be just beautiful. I hope you'll post those pics. I've always been curious about this technique, but I've never seen it in person.