Wallpaper in Magnolia Journal (JoAnna Gaines)

There was a nice multi-page spread in the current issue of Magnolia Journal on wallpaper. It talked about various ways it can be used, and how pattern and color can change a room.

Unfortunately, it mentioned peel & stick products as a viable option – they are NOT. Truly horrible stuff. Read my Page to the right.

The first photo is an unconvetional use of color and pattern. Love it.

Third photo, I have hung this pattern, or similar, a good number of times. It is a mural that can be custom-sized to fit your wall.

Fourth photo, “Daydream” by Hygge & West, is very popular and I have hung it many times. Not my favorite brand, because their ink fights their substrate, and tends to curl at the seams.

Palm and banana leaves are always popular. This photo shows how a really large scale can be used effectively in a small space.

Last photo, a really cool idea, to include wallpaper just in the area between the high wainscoting and the crown molding. Note also the dark colors of the wood and the wallpaper. This must be a custom-sized mural, or a border.

Both the room and the wallpaper are an updated take on the “frieze” borders that were common back in the 1910’s and 1920’s – the Art Nouveau and especially the Arts & Crafts decorating movements. Most often placed above dark paneled moldings in dining rooms and living rooms. Today, Bradbury & Bradbury is the most prominent maker of these authentic looking patterns. Interestingly enough, just this week I got a call from a homeowner wanting to put a B&B frieze in their historic home here in Houston.

Brightening – REALLY Brightening – A Home Office Space

Originally, the accent wall was painted a darker color than the other three walls in this home office – but the overall effect was still drab. The goal was to charge the space with energy and cheer – and this wildly colorful, bold geometric pattern really pumped it up!

This wallpaper is a non-woven material, and I used the paste-the-wall installation method. One pic shows my strips, back-rolled, held by elastic hairbands, and ready to take to the wall.

The manufacturer is A-Street Prints, by Brewster.

The interior designer is Kandi Palella, of Kandi Contemporary Design. She has perfectly coordinated the other elements in the room – artwork, upholstery, accessories.

The home is in Porter, which is way north east Houston.

Swirls in Black on White in Master Bath Water Closet

Just about everything in this townhome is white. The master bath has white walls and woodwork, white cabinets and countertops, a white tub, and a white marble floor with wisps of soft grey.

This wallpaper continues the crisp clean look, but adds some contrast, dimension, and movement. In addition, the swirls are composed of dots about the size of a pencil eraser, and they are slightly raised, so the wallpaper actually has a bit of texture to it.

The wallpaper is on a non-woven substrate. With the characteristics of this material, you have the option of pasting the wall instead of the paper. But since bathrooms have more complicated spaces and access, it’s preferable to me to paste the paper.

This wallpaper pattern is by Designer Wallpapers, and was bought from my favorite source for good quality, product knowledge, expert service, and competitive price – Dorota Hartwig at Southwestern Paint on Bissonnet near Kirby. (713) 520-6262 or dorotasouthwestern@hotmail.com. She is great at helping you find just the perfect paper! Discuss your project and make an appointment before heading over to see her.

The home is in the Rice Village / West University Place area of Houston.

Gucci Wallpaper Mural

A striking, impactful mural by Gucci. This is placed in the center of an accent wall, and will fit perfectly behind a display / altar in a private home.

The mural comes in a 2-panel set, and two sets were purchased. To fit the space, this installation used three panels (so one panel was not used.) I like the way the tall birds fit perfectly in the center of the scene.

The homeowner will add a wooden frame to the right and left sides of the wallpaper mural, for a more finished look. I’m voting to paint the frame a dusty red.

The mural came sized to fit about a 12′ high wall. This home’s ceiling was less than 8′ high, so much of the top area was cut off and discarded. The manufacturer allowed for this, because the top area contained only sky and a few dragon flies; the important birds were intact at the bottom.

The mural is printed on a standard non-woven material, and was easy to hang using the paste-the-wall method. It was a tad tricky to match and measure, because the pattern started at the floor, instead of the ceiling like most papers do.

Here you are definitely paying for the brand name … each 2-panel set covered a width of 54″, and cost ~ $400 each.

Definitely worth it, because it perfectly fits the homeowner’s space and use.

The home is in the Energy Corridor area of west Houston.

Classy Gucci

Gucci mural bolts shipped in individual boxes, with foam padding at the edges, wrapped with a fabric ribbon, complete with a teeny instruction booklet, printed in at least a dozen languages, complete with it’s own protective sleeve.

Earthy, Natural Serenity on a Master Bedroom Accent Wall

The headboard wall had been painted a darker brown than the other walls in this master bedroom … but the homeowner sought a more soothing and comforting feeling for her bedroom – which has become something of a sanctuary, during these days of COVID and stay at home.

Interior designer Kandi Palella, of Kandi Contemporary Design, found this warm, earthy, organic wallpaper pattern. Viewed up close, it has the look of a hand-woven blanket … It really makes this room feel snug and welcoming.

Kandi coordinated other elements of the room (not pictured). Like a rug in the exact same colors and with the same woven texture. And artwork that includes leaves in the same color, as well as the scratchy fabric-like texture. One thing you can see are leaves reiterated on the bedspread, that are almost identical to the pattern on the wall.

This wallpaper is a non-woven material, and I used the paste-the-wall installation method. The manufacturer is Chesapeake, by Brewster.

The home is in Porter, which is way north east Houston.

Wallpaper Coverage …. Not What They Lead You To Believe

Photo: Waste from one 2-wall room; all this paper is going into the trash.

For all those folk who think they can figure up how much wallpaper they need without first consulting a professional installer, and they try to calculate based on square footage, along with “calculators” found on vendor websites … Here is a good example of why square footage is NOT an accurate calculator.

Referencing yesterday’s post …. I’m not going to get into a whole lot of math re square footage. Let’s focus on the Strip Count method. Let’s just say that this accent wall required 12.3 strips. Effectively, that is 13 strips.

Due to the 11′ height of the wall and due to the length of the pattern repeat, each 33′ long double roll bolt yielded two strips.

After I used those two strips, I was left with a “tail end” that was about 8′ long. Since my wall height was 11′, here was nothing I could do with a strip 8′ long. So it went to the scrap pile.

The paper was about 2′ wide. 2′ wide x 8′ long = about 16 square feet of waste. Multiply that times the 13 strips it took to cross the wall, and you get 208 square feet of paper that is going right into the trash bin.

That’s roughly equivalent to FOUR DOUBLE ROLL BOLTS of wallpaper. Bought and paid for, but not available to put on your wall.

In real life, measuring is even more complicated than that.

In addition, the photo above shows the waste from today’s install of a 14 single roll breakfast room. The large roll lying on the floor, and the roll behind it, are tightly wound up and are both WAY bigger than the photo makes them appear… A whole lot of paper cut off and thrown away, in order to match the pattern.

So, folks, please let the professional measure, before you order your wallpaper. There are many, many factors to be considered, aside from raw square footage.

More info is available on my page to the right.

Entwined Circles Geometric Fills a Massive Living Room Accent Wall

This couple wanted to warm up their living room, inject some color and personality, and visually define the space as separate from other areas of their open-concept main floor.

The wall is 11′ high and nearly 22′ wide. With that massive a space, you need a design that will stand up and fill the wall.

They considered a couple of options, before falling in love with this pattern of interlocking silver circles on a dark blue background with agate / stone swirls.

This is a non-woven product, and I hung it using the paste-the-wall method. The material doesn’t expand when wet with paste, and is designed to strip off the wall easily when it’s time to redecorate. This one was a little stiffer and thicker than I would have liked, but it went up nicely enough.

This wallpaper pattern is by Graham & Brown. I generally like their papers. This was bought from my favorite source for good quality, product knowledge, expert service, and competitive price – Dorota Hartwig at Southwestern Paint on Bissonnet near Kirby. (713) 520-6262 or dorotasouthwestern@hotmail.com. She is great at helping you find just the perfect paper! Discuss your project and make an appointment before heading over to see her.

This is a newish townhome in the Rice Village neighborhood of Houston.

Angled Geometric Accent Wall

This small first-floor room will serve two purposes … One: The homeowner is a massage therapist, and treats clients in this room. Two: The room will serve as a reception / living room area for guests when the couple entertains.

There will be a kidney bean-shaped, bright orange sofa placed in front of this accent wall, and a dynamic round coffee table with a black & white geometric pattern will sit in front of that.

An invigorating room for sure!

There were a few minor printing defects, as noted in the close-up shots. I had the same thing when I hung this wallpaper pattern before. The homeowners were not bothered by these slight issues – but I have a plan to disguise them (using appliqués) if they wish to do so later.

The townhome is brand new, in a new gated development in the Timbergrove neighborhood of Houston. The walls are textured, and I spent yesterday skim-floating, sanding, and then priming the walls (two different rooms). This morning, the walls were smooth, dry, and ready for wallpaper.

This wallpaper pattern is by York, in their SureStrip line – one of my favorite brands. It is pre-pasted and goes up on the wall easily. It is designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece, when it’s time to redecorate.

The paper was bought from my favorite source for good quality, product knowledge, expert service, and competitive price – Dorota Hartwig at the Sherwin-Williams on University in the Rice Village.  Wed-Sat   She is great at helping you find just the perfect paper! Discuss your project and make an appointment before heading over to see her.  (713) 529-6515

Complimenting Artwork With Wallpaper

This all-white master bedroom definitely needed perking up. The homeowners also wanted to coordinate with the large painting you see on the right.

This salmon-colored accent wall fills the bill!

Once the bed gets put back in place, the soft grey wooden headboard will be set off nicely against the adventurous wallpaper.

I say the pattern looks like stock market ticker-tape, or the control panel of a space ship. Take look at the close-up – how would you like to try to find that pattern match from one strip to the next?!

The townhome is brand new, and is in the Timbergrove area of central Houston. The paper is by Designer Wallpapers, and was very nice to work with, and will hold up nicely over time.

This wallpaper was bought from my favorite source for good quality, product knowledge, expert service, and competitive price – Dorota Hartwig at Southwestern Paint on Bissonnet near Kirby. (713) 520-6262 or dorotasouthwestern@hotmail.com. She is great at helping you find just the perfect paper! Discuss your project and make an appointment before heading over to see her.