Our kitchen island is a place of congregation at our home. I’m sure my little person will soon be sitting on the island stool kicking her legs and what happens then? Yep, you guessed it, wall scuffs. With $25 and 30 minutes of work you can protect your kitchen island and add a little bit of spice. I used Peel and Stick Wallpaper to create an farmhouse shiplap look. You can also use the Peel & Stick Wallpaper for your backsplash, coffee bar, bathroom, or for it’s original purpose, to line your kitchen cabinets.
I had other plans for our backsplash, so elected only to use the Peel and Stick Wallpaper for the Island. I will share the full kitchen upgrade from builder to WoW in a future post.
The Starting Point

Materials for this project:
- Measuring tape: We love the Craftsman because it has measurement fractions
- Level
- Peel and Stick wallpaper
- Sharp pocket knife
- Plastic smoothing device (This Amazon find includes a smoother and sharp knife)
Selecting your Peel and Stick Wallpaper
I used the NuWallpaper Reclaimed Shiplap Peel and Stick from Amazon. The shiplap look works well in my home but you could go really bold. This is a place to that will bring some color into your kitchen. Make sure you take your entire kitchen vision into mind when picking your Peel and Stick Wallpaper. It should match your cabinets, countertops, backsplash and any other kitchen décor pieces.
When selecting your Peel and Stick Wallpaper things to consider are:
- How will the pattern match up? With a kitchen island being a small space, consider how often the pattern repeats on the role to determine how much wasted paper you will have.
- What way should the pattern appear on the surface? I placed my peel and stick shiplap horizontally. I’ve seen others place vertically.
- Price. I purchased mine on sale for $25 but a roll can get up to $100.
Some other great looks:
Completing this simple kitchen island DIY
- Measure the space you will cover with the Peel and Stick Wallpaper. When selecting the wallpaper look at the length and width to determine how many segments of wallpaper you will need to match and adhere to the wall.
- Purchase your Peel and Stick wallpaper
- With this project you can dig right in. If you have a pattern, determine if you can start with the top of the role or if you need to cut off a few inches to allow for your pattern to restart.
- Place the open end on your starting point on the wall. Eyeball for level and pull back the backing (about 3-4 inches). Lightly stick against the wall. Get our your level and make any updates. You will be able to easily remove the paper from the wall. Once level, continue.
- Continue to peel the backing while lightly scraping down with your smoothing device.
- When you come to the bottom of your segment, smooth the entire section down once again. Once all bubbles are gone and you are happy with your placement, with your pocket knife, but the bottom of the roll.
- Repeat to adhere to the rest of the wall. Always be mindful of your pattern, level the top of each starting point and smooth before cutting.
- If you have an outlet, paper over the outlet initially. Then go back with your pocket knife and carefully cut out around your outlet.

This simple 30 minute project added protection and flair to the kitchen. I would love to see your Peel and Stick projects!
Cheers!
Emily