Wallpaper for the commitment phobe. Has anyone tried this?

As you may have read, I'll soon be moving in with my fiance just before our wedding and am faced with making a bachelor pad into a shared house that doesn't look half decorated.  I'm dealing with a lot of beige - carpet and walls - which is mandatory when selling but pretty dreary when you live there.  But since marriage is all about compromise, I can't paint the rooms to be bright and airy just yet.

I've been considering painting a random divider wall in our dining area some shade of blue and attempting a stencil, but ran across what I think is a pretty ingenious idea in Lonny magazine this month.  One of the homes featured was the apartment of Ellie Somerville, one of the editors.  Her style is to die for (look at that girly living room)

As I read further and figured out the best elements to copy in my own space, I saw a little blurb that mentioned her wallpaper being affixed without damaging the wall.  She marked off a grid using blue painters tape, then put double stick tape on top of that.  Then, wallpaper is attached so that it sticks to the tape and the only thing touching the paint is the masking tape.  Clever, huh?

I think an 8 foot square of pattern would go a long way in my house of beige, and if it's subtle enough I think I can talk N into it.  In my mind, the worst thing that can happen is that the paper starts to peel off and I'll need to add more tape.  Has anyone else tried something like this?

I'm looking at samples and thinking of patterns like the ones below to introduce some pattern and color for about $50.  What do you think?  I'm going for subtle... (P.S. designyourwall.com is amazing)