Gracie Studio Geniusly Shows How to Remove Wallpaper While Keeping It Intact
While it may seem impossible to reuse regular wallpaper, there’s actually a way you can ensure it stays intact during removal: Install it over muslin. Creative director of Gracie Studio Jennifer Gracie shared a look at how she removed the wallpaper in the brand’s New York showroom after using this method, and it’s like magic.
“No, we are not throwing away our beautiful Sepia Garden,” Gracie wrote in the caption of an Instagram reel. “Here is how it comes off the wall after 11 years, because we installed it over muslin.”
Muslin, a loose plain weave cotton fabric, can be applied to the wall after a lining paper and before the wallpaper, according to one of Gracie’s comments. In the video, she says it's not easy to peel the wallpaper off as it requires a bit of strength—but it’s well worth it. “This is always an option to discuss with your installer, and a wonderful way to ensure that your Gracie wallpaper can be loved for generations and reused,” she wrote in a follow-up Instagram post.
To start the removal process, Gracie "cut the wallpaper at a seam, and then started from the bottom, loosening the edge," she tells House Beautiful. She used a wide cardboard tube to roll it up the wall, a trick she learned from Joe Shea, expert wallpaper installer of J.M. Shea LLC. Shea "has removed and reinstalled more antique and also Gracie wallpapers than I can count," Gracie says.
If you can’t remember if your wallpaper was installed over muslin, “the easiest way to check is to remove an outlet or switch plate cover,” Gracie shared in a comment. “You can then usually see and feel if there is fabric underneath the wallpaper.”
Essentially, installing muslin before your wallpaper can give it an effect that's similar to peel-and-stick wallpaper. Never again will you have to invest in gorgeous wallpaper only to dispose of it when you want to switch up your interior design or move into a new home!
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