Easy to Install, Easy to Remove Wallpapers

Hate the idea of removing old wallpaper? Well, many, many other people do, too. Manufacturers have responded by developing “non-woven” backings.

The best way I can describe these is to compare them to those white Vitek envelopes – you know, the ones you can’t tear? Some of these substrates are pretty thick, which I don’t care for much because they’re hard to manipulate in to tight corners or cut around intricate moldings, plus the seams tend to show. Some are very thin, though, like this brand.

The main attraction of these non-woven materials is that they won’t tear, and when it’s time to redecorate, each strip will (supposedly) pull off the wall easily in one piece.

They also don’t expand when wet with paste, nor shrink, so there are certain advantages during installation.

This manufacturer has gone a step further by making the wallpaper pre-pasted, which is a little easier for the DIY homeowner to hang.

Do NOT confuse these with the trendy but highly disappointing “peel & stick” so-called “removeable” papers.  More on that on my page to the right.

“Scalloped” Wallpaper in Better Homes & Gardens Magazine, January 2019

The January 2019 issue of Better Homes & Gardens has a feature on “scallops” in design.

Here you see wallpaper (Burke Decor), bedding, and pillows with the perky and popular motif.

Years Old Bathroom Revisited – Still Perfect

I hung this paper about five years ago in a guest bathroom in a home in the Southside Place / West U neighborhood of Houston.

Even though the room is used for showering, the paper is still tight to the wall and in perfect condition.

I think it’s darned cute – but the homeowner has grown tired of it and wants an update. That is the box of new wallpaper sitting on the counter.

Priano Powder Room Revisited

“Priano” by Serena & Lily is one of my favorite patterns, and one of my favorite brands.

I hung this a few years ago in a very small under-the-stairs powder room in Montrose (Houston). I was back this week to do another room, so took the opportunity to snap a few shots of the finished room.

I like the way the light fixture mirrors the curved “weeping” lines of the foliage in the wallpaper pattern.

Fudging To Get The Height Right

Because of various reasons too complicated to get into here, in order to keep the pattern matched in the corner to the right (not shown), the wallpaper strips moving to the left torqued off-plumb. And thus the pattern started tracking upward at the ceiling line, which meant that the navy blue flower I positioned just under the crown molding started moving upward and was getting cut off at its top by the molding.

I needed to pull the pattern down. I took advantage of the short space over this doorway to make adjustments. I cut the strip in two vertically, trimming along motifs in the design.

Then I pulled the section on the left down to where the flower hit the crown molding just where I wanted it to. By pulling this strip a little to the right to where it overlapped the previous strip just a bit, I was able to cover any gaps caused by the trimming.

I used my laser level on the left edge to ensure the strip was plumb. This would keep the pattern straight along the crown molding as I continued to hang strips moving to the left and around the room.

Because this is up so high over the door, and because I trimmed along the design motifs, no one will notice the slight ridge caused by the overlap, nor any small mis-match in the pattern.

New Label Material Allows Drips

Here is my favorite wallpaper primer – Ultra Prime Pro 977 by Romans.

It appears the composition of their paper label has changed. Previously, the label was absorbent, so any drips that formed would soak into the paper.

But now, even though the label looks the same, it’s made of a new material that allows drips to run all the way down the side of the can. Even if I wipe them away, they reform and continue to slide down the can.

This means there is great potential for these drips to reach my dropcloths (see photo). The dropcloths will protect the floor, no problem. But once they get a certain amount of drips and splotches, even though they may still be serviceable, they don’t look good in a client’s home, so have to be discarded.

Besides ruining the dropcloths, there is also the chance that an errant drip of primer might find its way to the homeowner’s floor, carpet, countertop, or furniture.

I have written to the Romans company, and I hope they listen to my feedback and go back to their former type of label on their cans.

UPDATE: I chatted with the company rep today, and she confirms that they have, indeed, changed to a new manufacturer, and that company does use a plasticized coating on the label. That explains why the primer slides rather than soaks in.

Dramatic Update for College Age Girl’s Room

The furniture, bedding, artwork, wall paint, in this bedroom of a college-aged girl are all pretty neutral. The mother wanted bolden things up with a dramatic accent wall behind the headboard. This would be a surprise when the gal came home from school for the holiday.

One wallpaper choice was the Phillip Jeffries “Wish” wallpaper. Well, anything with that designer’s name is going to be really expensive. Plus the cost of smoothing the wall and hanging the paper.

Dorota Hartwig of DMH Designs (dmhdesigns44@gmail.com) found this – very similar pattern, but much more affordable price. It is by Wallquest, one of my favorite brands, and is called Dandellions.

In one photo, you see the paper rolled out so I can see the full-size pattern and determine how I want it placed on the wall, behind where the headboard will go.

In the last photo, you see a scrap of dark chalk which I used to color the white edges of the wallpaper, to prevent them from peeking through at the seams.

The home is in the West University neighborhood of Houston.

Fiddling With Falling Fruit

Here I am dealing with a 130 year old house with walls that are out of plumb and ceiling / chair rail that are not level. In the top photo, the wall on the right, you see that the motifs are lined up pretty evenly along the top of the wall.

But in the second photo, on the wall to the left, you can see that the fruits have begun to go off-track, rising closer to the ceiling as you move to the left.

This is pretty common. You can’t control every situation. But often you have the option of matching the pattern perfectly in the corners. OR keeping the motifs consistent along the ceiling and / or floor (in this case chair rail).

I chose to match the pattern in the corner. But this caused the subsequent strips of wallpaper to be off-plumb – and that caused the fruits to fall at different heights from the ceiling line.

You can’t fix that. But – you can disguise it.

I’m going to apply appliqués to cover up the wrongly-positioned fruit, to make them look like they are all hitting the ceiling line at the same height.

In the next photo, from scrap wallpaper, I’ve cut out around the identical fruit (let’s call it an apricot), but left more of the “sky” area above it. The amount of sky is the same as above the apricot on the far right in the photo. So, once I paste this new apricot on top of the existing one, now all apricots are the same distance from the ceiling … No more slanting uphill!

There is a bit of a leaf on the left side of the apricot that got mangled during the appliqué process. I did some snipping with my scissors and blended the shape of the appliqué to meld with the figures underneath. In the next photo, you can’t notice any breaks in any leaves or other figures.

In the last photo, even though the ceiling line is still off-level, the eye doesn’t notice it because all of the apricots are the same distance from the molding.

Lower on the wall, where the hutch, with its long horizontal silhouette, will sit in front of it, the fruits are again tracking upward as your eye moves to the left. I used a similar cut-and-appliqué procedure to fool the eye into believing that the fruits are level as they move horizontally across the wall. (not pictured)

More of the Wlm Morris “Fruit” in Historic Houston Home

See yesterday’s post for more information.

William Morris “Fruit” in Historic 1885 Home

Moving from the entry to the adjoining dining room of the historic home in Houston mentioned in my two previous posts. This pattern by William Morris is called “Fruit,” and is true to the period in which the home was built.

I love the way the colors work with the wainscoting and also the picture rail around the top.

This pattern is less repetitive and the color is softer than the option used in the entry (see yesterday’s post), making it an easy-to-live-with choice for this large dining room.

The material is a traditional British pulp which you don’t see much these days, as most European manufacturers have moved to the newer non-woven substrates. I do like the pulps for their matt finish and tight adhesion to the wall. Although, they are brittle and tend to drag and tear when being cut, so they require some special handling.

This one also has a raised ink feature, which adds just a tad of texture. Look closely at the close-up shot.

This was purchased from FinestWallpaper.com, who has a large selection of Morris and also Voysey (another designer from that Arts & Crafts period) patterns. The home is in the Old Sixth Ward neighborhood in central inner-loop Houston.