DIY Network

Magazine Wall Collage Paper your wall with magazine pages. From "B. Original" episode DBOR-408

Collage like a designer with help from Michele Beschen.

Hanging pictures on the wall is nothing new – but pasting them on the wall is something you don't see every day. In this B. Original how-to, Michele Beschen crosses collage with interior design by papering walls with magazine pages.

Instead of just gutting the contents of your magazine rack, though, Michele Beschen recommends approaching the project like a designer: choosing a content or color theme, gathering images that go with that theme and using a design layout for the actual papering. It's a more sophisticated, B. Original way to collage.

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Magazine Wall Collage

Materials:

magazines
paste for unpasted wallpaper
paint brush
polyurethane

• Michele Beschen recommends using higher-quality magazines if possible. The sturdier paper, more vibrant colors and shinier paper finish give the project a better final look.

• Choose one or more themes – either content or color themes – for the piece. Grouping pictures by theme gives the piece much greater impact, no matter what the design. Choosing color themes like green (figure A) or pink (figure B) lets you add areas of color to the wall with far more depth and interest than if you just painted blocks of color.

• Thumb through the magazines and remove pages that fit the theme.

• Determine the layout of the design. You could produce stripes, color blocks or squares, creating a simple border or covering an entire wall.

• Cut the pages into strips or squares. You also could create a random design or tear the pages to soften the edges. Michele Beschen cut her pages into 2" strips, then used those strips to create stripes that were three strips across.

• If papering a large area – and cutting a lot of identical pieces of paper – Michele Beschen recommends having a print shop or copy shop do the cutting.

• Apply the paper strips to the wall using wallpaper paste designed for use with unpasted wallpaper. Dip each strip into the paste, lay the strip on the wall and smooth it with a clean paintbrush. The wallpaper paste makes the strips easy to remove if necessary.

• When the project has dried, seal and protect it with a coat of polyurethane.