Well, here we are – the first reveal of the river house is a 9-year-old’s closet, but when it’s this cute (and finished!) we figured why not. This year we have a wonderful partnership with Spoonflower which in case you don’t know has an incredible inventory of incredible inventory of wallpaper, fabric, and home decor. Every product is printed just for you in the design of your choice. There are thousands of designs to choose from, all created by independent artists around the world. They just launched a metallic backing to their papers that I’m pretty excited to show you today. It’s not the shiny, glitzy, tinsel metallic, that you might be imagining but actually a really elevated, matte metallic you’ll love. Come see.
This is my niece’s room and it’s currently super simple, with a lot of wood on the floors, doors, and ceilings. The whole color palette is still TBD but the white in here looks pretty great (It was once a soft pink but she hated it so much, now out of her pink phase. We decided that moving was stressful enough so we had it painted back white.)
My brother had this closet installed, which is really simple with just a few shelves. While you obviously don’t need wallpaper in your closet, it felt like a great opportunity to make this more fun and whimsical.
I ordered a ton of samples in the metallic finish and as you can see they are not garish at all – the paper itself has a reflection to it with the silver reading softer than the gold. It’s just a slight reflection versus something that is more mirrored. I was happily surprised at how much I truly loved them. As you can imagine, metallic wallpaper not made well could go very ummm…not great. NOT the case at all with these!
HOT TIP: It’s a good idea to start with about 3-5 samples/swatches before making any big purchases (I clearly really went for it in that department but you definitely can be more selective :)). It’s so important to feel and touch them as well as make sure you are happy with the pattern scale!
I LOVE this pattern and we were very on the fence about which colorway to choose (it comes in multi-color and tones of blue). It’s by artist Mercedes Cortés, clearly in a Scandinavian vibe and we especially loved how the warm gold/caramel tones worked with the wood on the ceiling in the bedroom.
In case you are new to Spoonflower you can also order all their patterns as peel-and-stick wallpaper and even grasscloth (which we did for some other spaces – it’s so warm and textural). And if you want to go full Wes Anderson you can order full-length curtains or fabric by the yard to create a headboard to match (something we are attempting to do in the guest room). You can see a sneak peek of some of my favorites here – and as an added bonus, all of Spoonflower’s wallpaper is 30% off today.
Canvas Bins | Hangers with Clips | Non-Slip Hangers | Basket (similar)
We put everything back in and styled it all out (thanks Gretch!) and it turned out so sweet, cute, and totally custom.
I hope she smiles every time she opens her closet to get dressed.
Some fun things about Spoonflower – all their designs (they have thousands and thousands!) come as wallpaper or fabric, and within wallpaper, you have peel-and-stick, grasscloth, metallic, pre-pasted, or traditional pasted. For fabric, you can choose from a lot of different weights (linen, canvas, poplin, performance velvet). You can also buy curtains, bedding, or pillows made for you. Everything is custom printed, which sounds like it should have a long lead time but they’re pros – it came fast!
A fun mom hack is that a closet is a great place to let your kids choose something more wild and fun. While I think that this pattern and colorway are actually not that risky, my “clients” were nervous about doing the whole room in it mostly for timelessness. But in here, it’s this burst of fun and light every time she opens the closet, with very little risk (and the peel-and-stick option would make it even less risky).
A huge thanks to Spoonflower for partnering with us on this closet (and a lot more to come this year). And a big thank you to our expert wallpaper installers over at Second Mile! They did such an incredible job with this closet and the rest of the spaces at River House, from painting to wallpaper–they’re great. I linked up all my favorite metallics here for you to check out if you are into it. And remember – you can grab 30% off ALL of Spoonflower’s wallpaper today. Have any patterns caught your eye? I’d love to hear about it. xx
*Photos by Kaitlin Green
Was hanging the wallpaper upside down intentional? The sunflowers are pointing up on the Spoonflower site.
Great idea! Using the closet for bold patterns lets kids enjoy fun designs with minimal risk and easy updates. Love it.
Curious if there is a light in the closet and, if so, where it is? My daughter’s closet does not have a light and I really need to add one. Love the wallpaper!
Hot tip: our house is nearly 100 years old, and it came with lights in all the closets, but the cool thing is that the switches are in the hinges?! so the light just pops on when you open and then turns off as soon as it’s closed. It’s MAGIC. If you’re wiring to add lights, would HIGHLY recommend the modern version of switches in the hinges!! They still make them! I had just never seen them before this house!
My 100 year old house has these too, brilliant!
The multicolor version would be fabulous with all the colors in a young girl’s closet. I’m wondering why you chose to hang it in the opposite way it is showing on the website?
Is the paper deliberately hung upside down (opposite of how it is presented on the Spoonflower website)? Some kind of designer hack?
Super cute! What a fun, secret little splash of design. Would love to get a source for the closet shelves, too, unless Ken just built them himself.
I love Spoonflower and am so excited about this partnership! I haven’t tried their wallpaper yet but have my eye on a few designs from @scarlet_soleil. I have loved their fabric though and have even used their print a yard option to make “cheater quilts” as baby gifts. It’s such a fun way to get to choose lots of great patterns at once. It’s a great company to support!
I would have preferred the pattern to be more lined up in the cubbies but overall I love the paper and the idea of putting it in a closet.
I love wallpaper in unexpected places. Closets are perfect! I’ve had a fun Spoonflower wallpaper picked out for quite a long time to back some shelves in my living room. I just have to find the time to do the project. Also, curious how one determines in which direction to hang wallpaper. In this case, it appears to be hung in the opposite direction on the Spoonflower site.
wallpaper is hung just fine. I grow hundreds of sunflowers on my acreage and they always bow down when heavy with seed. The pattern is covered in a closet. It is adorable and is a reversible pattern.
Love this paper! What a pretty little closet.
I love spoonflower. I have purchased their fabric in the past and it has been really good. I might have to try their wallpaper!
I love them “upside down” – they look like chandeliers.
An interesting aspect not mentioned in the article is that metallic wallpapers can also be utilized for creating accent walls or even as a decorative element on furniture surfaces. This can add a cohesive design theme throughout a room without overwhelming the space. Additionally, metallic finishes can help to reflect light, potentially making smaller spaces appear larger and brighter. This feature is especially beneficial in areas like hallways or small bedrooms.