Pepping Up Plain Old Vanilla

Everything else in this newish townhome in the far northwest area of Houston is generic beige.

But the homeowner envisioned something much more bold and fun for the large powder room.

The slope at the top left is the area under the stairs.

Close-up. At the far right you can see a seam … the paper was slightly shaded darker on the left edge and lighter on the right edge, resulting in this. It looks like the seam is curled up, but actually it’s perfectly flat.

The pattern is called Marigold and it’s sold by Anthropologie. The manufacturer is York, and it’s in their SureStrip line, which is one of my favorites. This is a pre-pasted material, and you activate the paste by wetting the back. The instructions suggest using a squirt bottle – ouch! Can you say wrist pain?! I sprinkle water on with a sponge and then roll it around with a paint roller. I also add a little extra wallpaper paste to the mix.

“Her Room” Goes Bright & Colorful

Walls smoothed and primed, ready for wallpaper

Flowers, birds and – COLOR!

Reminds me of this Pierre Frey which I hung in a nursery a few weeks ago.

Home office, craft room, veg-out room – whatever the “official” description, this room in the front of the house belongs to the lady of the house. She loves birds and flowers and bright colors, and was thrilled to find this wonderful wallpaper pattern on Anthropologie.

Most of Anthropologie’s papers are by York, in their SureStrip line, which is one of my favorites. The material is pre-pasted. I like to sprinkle water on the back and then spread it around uniformly with a paint roller, and then book for a few minutes in a plastic trash bag.

The paper goes up beautifully and the seams are invisible. SureStrip is designed to pull off the wall easily and in one piece when it’s time to redecorate.

Magazine Features Wallpaper

Schumacher’s popular “Acanthus Stripe”

The very popular Cole & Sons “Woods”

The Acanthus Stripe is a grasscloth, and, being by Schumacher, is very expensive. Adding the wainscoting 3′ up reduces the amount of paper needed, and also makes the pattern less “stripe-y” in a small room like this bathroom. An additional bonus is that the tile helps keep splashed water off the wallpaper, which can be stained easily by water, toiletries, or cleaning agents.

I’ve hung Cole & Son’s Woods many times, but have never seen this colorway. I am thinking this is a special color they are making available only through Anthropologie. I think the strong diagonal bent of the design works better in this softer color than in the black-on-white version.

In the April or May 2021 Better Homes & Gardens magazine.

Dwunken Cwitters

Sometimes you have to look twice to see what’s really going on. At first, I thought these were merely whimsical 19th Century creatures frolicking in the forest. But on closer inspection, it is clear that all of these critters are tippling. In fact, the fawn has drained a bottle and is totally sacked out!

For a powder room that guests will use, what a fun conversation-starter!

This wallpaper is by York, one of my favorite companies, and is in their SureStrip line, also one of my favorites. It is thin and hugs the wall tightly, pre-pasted and a delight to work with. It will hold up perfectly for years.

The homeowner originally found this on Anthropologie, but had problems with their ordering process. York has begun selling directly to the public through their website, and the homeowner found it there – and at a lower price!

The home is in the Bellaire neighborhood of Houston.

“Etched” Foresty Look in a Baby’s Nursery

This “Bellwood” mural by Rebel Walls is very similar to the “Etched Arcadia” mural by Anthropologie (do a Search here to see my previous installations). Either way, this is a wonderful idea for a nursery, and a cool alternative to the usual pink flowers or dinosaurs that many parents choose.

This mom-to-be was originally uncertain about papering the 3-walled alcove (which will house the changing table) (see third and fourth photos), because someone planted the idea that it would get soiled quickly. I’m glad I convinced her to take the plunge – the room really does look better with both the accent (crib) wall papered, and the changing table nook.

This product is a mural, and came in panels that had to be hung sequentially (as opposed to regular wallpaper with a repeating pattern). No photos of the plotting involved, but you have to roll the panels out on the floor to ensure the correct sequence. I made sure to center the low part of the pattern around the changing table, so the high part of the trees cradled it on either side of the niche. I really like the way this turned out.

Additional plotting was required to plan the area over the door and then the 1 1/2″ wide space to the left of it (not shown). All this measuring and plotting has to be done before the homeowner orders a custom-sized mural like this. Another reason to have the paperhanger see the room BEFORE you order your paper.

This paper is a non-woven material, and has a high fiberglass content. That makes it easy to remove when it’s time to redecorate, but it also makes it easy to clean in the case of accidents.

So this mom should go on to change diapers with confidence, all the while enjoying the unique look of her baby’s nursery.

This home is in the Garden Oaks neighborhood of Houston.

The textured walls were smoothed by the painting company, CertaPro. Usually I insist on doing my own prep, but it worked for the homeowner to have the paint crew get the messy smoothing part out of the way. AND … I know the CertaPro guys, and I knew I could trust them to do a good job. And they did. All I had to do was apply a wallpaper primer, and then hang the paper.

Double Rolls, Single Rolls, Too Many Rolls

This homeowner was supposed to buy 10 single rolls of wallpaper. So that’s what she ordered – 10 rolls of paper.

But what she got was 10 double rolls of wallpaper. That’s 20 single rolls – twice as much as she needed.

Each of those bolts you see in the box in the photo is a double roll. Double rolls are a good thing. It is typical (and desirable) for two single rolls of paper to be uncut and rolled together as one double roll bolt. You usually get an extra strip of paper out of a double roll bolt.

This is the traditional American way of packaging and referring to wallpaper.

But … some companies use different terminology. These would be most all of the British manufacturers, as well as some American companies who are new to the wallpaper game, and who do not manufacturer their own papers, but get them from outside sources. Some of these are Serena & Lily, Hygge & West, Anthropologie, and middle-man retailers like Amazon, eBay, Wayfair, etc.

For these companies, what most of us call a double roll, they refer to it as single roll. It’s the same amount of paper, the same sized package – it’s just referred to differently.

If you’re not savvy and knowledgeable about the terminology of single and double roll bolts, and about the various companies that use conflicting terminology, you could end up with twice as much paper as you need – or, worse yet, with only half as much as you need.

This company, Graham & Brown, is based in the U.K. Hence their single roll is what I call a double roll. The company is very large, though, and has offices here in the U.S. – so they almost seem American. My client ordered her paper on-line, instead from my favorite source (see page to the right), and so there was no human eye overseeing the single/double roll conundrum.

Bottom line – she got caught in the conundrum, and ended up with twice as much paper as needed.

This is one reason I ask my clients to run their brand and pattern selections by me before they make their purchases. That way (hopefully), I can catch snafus like this, as well as figure in factors like pattern repeat, multiple drop matches, extra-wide material, and etc.

Wallpaper in Flea Market Décor Magazine, June/July 2019

It’s always nice to see wallpaper featured in home décor magazines. What’s extra cool is that I hung that wild and bold floral pattern a year or two ago in a home in the Houston Heights that was featured on their home tour. It’s from Anthropologie.

A Fun Backdrop Wallpaper for Artwork

This young family in the Montrose neighborhood of Houston ownes a lot of contemporary artwork. They wanted to brighten and enliven their ochre-colored dining room, while providing a suitable background that would not obscure their paintings.

This paintbrush-stroke gold rose petal design on a white background does that perfectly.

This pattern is from Anthropologie and is by York, in their SureStrip line, which is designed to strip off the wall easily when it’s time to redecorate. It’s a thin pre-pasted product, and goes up nicely, hugs the wall tightly, and the seams are nearly invisible.

What’s extra cool is that this design is very similar to the popular “Petal Pusher” by Hygge & West … but that company’s papers have the unfortunate problem of curling at the seams. (Do a Search here with key words to read my experiences.) I am tickled to know that there is an alternative that is much more cooperative and satisfactory.

“Big Girl’s Room” Gets Ants from Anthropologie

Here’s a bright and cheerful, watercolor-y pattern that is popular for little girls’ rooms.

I hung it on an accent wall in a toddler’s room in a home in the Timbergrove neighborhood of Houston.

The name of the pattern is “Ants,” and it’s sold through Anthropologie. The manufacturer is York, and it’s in their Sure Strip line of pre-pasted, thin non-woven, easily removable papers, and is one of my favorite brands to hang.

Run Numbers Are Important

I hung two wallpapers today, both from Anthropologie, and in both cases, the homeowner measured and purchased paper before I had measured and figured how much to buy. In both cases, they were a double roll short. I told them that when they ordered the extra double roll, to be sure to ask for the same run number as the rolls they already had.

Unfortunately, in both instances, Anthropologie sent a different run. Probably, the guy in the warehouse didn’t get the message from the people in the order department, so he just pulled any old bolt of paper off the shelf.

Run numbers DO make a difference. As you can see in the second photo, the butterflies are clearly different colors. And in the third photo, the color difference (red flower, brown leaf) is less dramatic, but still noticeable. The white background is probably a slightly different color, too. If these strips were placed next to each other on the same wall, you would notice an abrupt color difference the full height of the wall.

So it’s important to make sure that all your bolts of wallpaper are of the same run number.

Run number, also called batch number or dye lot, refers to rolls that were all printed at the same time. The next time the manufacturer is ready to print up that pattern, he will mix up a new batch of ink – but that batch might be a slightly different shade than what was printed previously.

Because these color differences will be noticeable on the wall, it’s important that they not be used next to each other. You can use different runs on separate walls, but not on the same wall. If you are forced to use broken runs, as they are called, you’ll need to buy a little extra paper, because there will be more waste as you switch from one run to the other.