If you live in an apartment, there is a good chance that the walls are painted drab beige or even white color. This is because it is easy for the property owners to repaint the walls between tenants, so the apartment always looks as nice as it can. If you are tired of the way your apartment looks, but are not allowed to paint the walls, your local fabric store is the perfect place to visit to get the materials you need to update your apartment quickly and easily. Use the following guide to learn how to update your walls with fabric, rather than paint.

Measure Your Walls

You need to use a measuring tape to measure your walls before going to the fabric store. You may want to start by choosing one wall to cover to create an accent wall in the room. Measure the height of the wall and the width of the wall. Take the two numbers and multiply them by one another. That lets you know the square footage of the wall, so you know how many yards of fabric to get to cover it.

Find the Fabric

When choosing the fabric to use on the wall, you want to choose a print that will be easy to match the ends together, when you hang it on the wall. If the pattern is too complicated, it will be obvious where one end of the fabric ends and the next piece starts. Let the associate at the store know how many square feet you need to cover, and they will be able to let you know how many yards of fabric you need. While you are at the fabric store, pick up a few bottles of spray adhesive and a pair of pinking shears so you can complete your project.

Cut the Fabric

Determine which direction you want the print to face on your wall. If you want it to be hung horizontally, cut the fabric with the pinking shears to the length of the wall. If you want the fabric to be hung vertically, cut the fabric the same size as the height of the wall. Using the pinking shears will keep the ends of the fabric from fraying after you cut them.

Adhere the Fabric

Spray the adhesive onto the wall and push the fabric against the wall firmly. You will need help when doing this, if you are hanging the pieces horizontally because you need to be sure that you do not let go of an area of fabric before it has had to adhere to the wall. If one end of the fabric is hanging off the wall, it will pull the piece you are trying to adhere down too. Allow the adhesive to dry overnight before attempting to hang anything on the wall.

The fabric will stay in place until you choose to take it off the walls. When it is time to move, all you need to do is fill your iron with water, turn on the steam setting, and shoot the steam at the wall. The adhesive will melt, and the fabric will pull away from the wall with ease. You will then need to wash the wall with warm soapy water to remove any leftover stickiness that may be left behind after removing the fabric.

For more information, contact Ruth's Stitchery or a similar company.