Blue Faux Grass on Bookshelves

Awwwk… my “before” photo didn’t turn out. Oh well … just know that originally the shelves and the back of the shelves were a bland white paint.

To prep, I primed the glossy white paint with Roman’s Ultra Prime Pro 977, which will stick to the enamel and which is formulated to provide a good surface for the wallpaper to adhere to.

The wallpaper is an embossed vinyl faux grasscloth by Thibaut, from their new Texture Resource book. This man-made product avoids the color variations and very visible seams that are common with real grasscloth, so it’s a good option.

The material comes 27″ wide, and the bookshelves were 28″ wide. So I had to use two 14″ wide strips of paper for each cubicle and put a seam down the middle.

Isn’t the blue color gorgeous as a backdrop for the contents of the shelves?!

This was a work desk area off the large kitchen in a home in West U (Houston).

The interior designer this job are Danna Smith and Pamela O’Brien, of Pamela Hope Designs.

Silvery Grasscloth Accent Wall in a Powder Room

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

The décor in this home in Bellaire is a sort of modern rustic, somewhat heavy, Spanish-influenced blend. The powder room originally had a nicely done faux finish, and it served well for 17 years. The interior designer had that painted over with a single color, and then had me hang this silvery material with natural colored grass on one accent wall behind the vanity.

It updates the room, adds just a touch of dazzle, and blends nicely with the stone sink and rustic vanity, and the new stone floor.

The interior designer for this job is Pamela O’Brien of Pamela Hope Designs.

Ogee Pattern

Digital Image

Here is a classic ogee design. That means that the pattern has a continuous mirror image double “S” curve.

It’s a popular theme in interior décor, and I like the way it fills the wall space in this bathroom. (The shot is above the shower tile.)

The interior designer on this project is Pamela O’Brien of Pamela Hope Designs.

Navy Denim Striped Wallpaper in a Boys’ Shared Bathroom

Digital Image

 

Digital Image

The original wallpaper in this bathroom, which is shared by two teen aged boys, was a drab, mid-tone grey with little maroon “swoops” on it.  Not much to get excited about there.

The homeowner switched to this denim-look stripe pattern for the boys’ bathroom.  Everyone loves the new, more sophisticated, lighter and brighter look.

Look closely at the second photo.  You will notice that there is one white stripe that is narrower than the others.  The factory had a slight discrepancy during either printing or trimming, and thus the factory edges butted up against one another did not match the pattern correctly.

I didn’t catch this until I had papered most of the room.  By that time, it was too far into the game to make changes to the walls that had already been hung.

But for the remaining walls, which were all 24″ to 72″ in height, I took some extra time and hand-trimmed off the ill-sized stripes, and then trimmed new strips so that the stripes would match up with the aforementioned stripes.  If you are not following this – no worries.  I know what I’m talking about, and I was able to make the stripes on all the subsequent strips match up perfectly.  🙂

This wallpaper is by Designer Wallpapers, and was wonderful to work with.  The interior designer for the job (a whole house!)  is Pamela O’Brien of Pamela Hope Designs, assisted by Joni Karnowski and Danna Smith.

Luxury Interior Designer in Houston, TX | Pamela Hope Designs

Ogee Print in a West U. Powder Room

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

How can such a small room be so difficult to cover with wallpaper?  Well, factor in low ceilings, cramped quarters, a pedestal sink (always tricky), bowed walls, un-plumb walls, un-level ceiling, an under-stair build-out with some wacky angles – and a geometric print wallpaper, which the eye wants to see marching nice and straight across the walls.

I spent 10 hours hanging this 12-roll bathroom.  (Shoulda taken 6-7 hours.)  In the end, it looks fabulous.  The pattern may not be hanging true-to-plumb, but it looks plumb.  And it matches in all the corners, which is more important than marching straight across the ceiling line.

The design is called an ogee, and is from Waverly, a company that was popular in the ’90’s, disappeared, and was later bought and resurrected by York, one of my favorite wallpaper manufacturers.  It is thin and workable, and was really nice to work with, and will hug the walls nice and tight for many years to come.

The interior designer for this job is Pamela O’Brien of Pamela Hope Designs, assisted by Joni Karnowsky and Danna Smith.  The home is in West University Place, in Houston.

Dark Bar Goes Bright

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

The woodwork and cabinets throughout this home in the West University (Houston) area were originally painted a smudgy, moldering, dispiriting grey-green.  Many of the walls were a similar sad color.  The new homeowners hated the gloomy green, and had all the walls and most of the woodwork lightened up.

But the green wood stayed in the bar area.  In addition, the bar was papered with a dark moldery green stripe pattern.  There wasn’t much differentiation between the walls and the trim, and the whole room had a feeling of malaise.

Repainting the woodwork would have been costly.  So the interior designer found this lovely pearlized wallpaper that lightens the mood in the room, and also coordinates nicely with the paint color on the trim.  In addition, the large damask is a classy pattern that fits right in with the home’s lightly-traditional décor.

This wallpaper is by Fabricut.  The interior designer is Pamela O’Brien of Pamela Hope Designs, assisted by Joni Karnowski and Danna Smith.  http://www.pamelahopedesigns.com/

Who Thought A Black Bathroom Was A Good Idea? Here’s Better …

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

This large powder room in a brand new townhome in between Montrose and the Heights (Houst0n) was originally painted black.  It was just too intense.  The interior designer knew that, while still keeping the dark color scheme the homeowners wanted, a little pattern would make the room less foreboding and more inviting.

I skim-floated the walls to smooth them (2nd photo), primed, then hung the paper.  OK, the 3rd photo is dark (not much light in the room + crummy camera), but if you look closely, you can see the pattern.  The other photos show the design nicely.  It’s large in scale, and that’s good, because the walls are nearly 10′ high, so the pattern fills the space nicely.

The interior designer for the job is Pamela O’Brien assisted by Danna Smith, of Pamela Hope Designs.  Their interiors are lovely, clean-lined, yet still warm and liveable.  The wallpaper is by Designer Wallpapers, and was a delight to work with.

Glass Bead Wallpaper in a Powder Room

Digital Image

Digital Image

So, O.K., it’s a hard room to photograph. All I can show you is the papered wall behind the beautiful light fixture and the really cool mirror.

This wallpaper is embedded with tiny glass beads, which give it dimension, texture and sparkle. In the 2nd photo, you can see how the beads shimmer when the light hits them.

This wallpaper is by Antonia Vella, for York Wallcoverings. It is a non-woven material and is a paste-the-wall product. It is very thick and stiff, and difficult to manipulate, and very hard to cut through, especially the beads. Used lots of razor blades today.

I hung it in a powder room in the Rice Military neighborhood of Houston. The interior designer is Pamela O’Brien of Pamela Hope designs.

Wallpapering an Art Niche

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

I went to this home to measure a powder room. But as I walked out of the powder room, I saw this art niche. Art niches are just made for wallpaper. So I suggested the idea to the homeowner – and she loved it.

She chose the same paper for the art niche as was used in the powder room, which helps give the home a cohesive look.

This is a textured, glass bead wallpaper in a muted color scheme. It serves as a backdrop, not a focal point, so the statue really stands out. Note that there is a tall base for the statue, that will raise it up so it fills the art niche more effectively.

The wallpaper is by Antonia Vella for York Wallcoverings. The home is a townhome in the Rice Military area of Houston. The interior designer for the job is Pamela O’Brien of Pamela Hope designs.

Tone-On-Tone and Movement Open Up A Guest Bathroom

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

This guest bathroom is large, but with nothing but grey paint on the walls, it felt claustrophobic and bland. This pen-and-ink look foliage pattern with watercolor birds has just enough movement to bring life to the room, but the scale and the monochromatic color scheme keep it from overpowering.

This wallpaper is by Prestigious Textiles, a British company, and is a non-woven material and is meant to be hung by pasting the wall (not the paper). It is amazingly similar to another paper I hung a few months ago. (last photo) https://wallpaperlady.wordpress.com/2016/11/18/birds-pen-and-ink-and-watercolor/ I guess when someone has a good concept, there is always someone quick to knock it off.

The interior designer for this room is Pamela O’Brien of Pamela Hope Designs. http://www.pamelahopedesigns.com/ PHD does a lot of work on new builds, helping to get everything organized and coordinated from the ground up. This home is brand new, and is in the Crestwood neighborhood, across from Memorial Park in Houston.