Luminous Branches Breathe Life Into Dining Room

Before

The homeowners had this elegant wainscoting added to the bottom of their dining room when the house was built . But for seven years, the room was bland and boring . The new crystal chandelier adds glamor , but the room is still lacking .

Wallpaper to the rescue!

Now there’s soft color and soft pattern . And a little gold shimmer !

I’m encouraging the homeowners to paint that band of wall under the tray ceiling a very soft aqua color, to meld with the misty feel of the wallpaper .

It’s a soft aqua color , but enough to stand out against the woodwork . Now you see the beautiful moldings and trim work .

South wall before

South wall done

I positioned the tree pattern to fall down the mid-point of this space between the two windows .

This shot with the chandelier dimmer turned down allows you to see the pattern more fully.

This wallpaper pattern is called Luminous Branches and is by York , one of my favorite brands , in their Designer Series line.
The material has a slight raised / embossed / textured effect. It’s a non-woven product, so is strong , durable , stain-resistant , and designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece and with no damage to the wall when you redecorate later.
Non-wovens can be hung by the paste the wall method , but I generally prefer to paste the paper . NW requires no booking / soaking time , so they install a little faster , with no worries about shrinking or gaps at the seams . In fact, the seams are near-invisible .
The home is in the Braes Heights area of Houston

Muted Texture for Galleria Area Powder Room

Primed and ready for wallpaper . The original color was a somewhat dark murky blue . The room just felt listless and small (it’s not a small powder room )

Finished. Brighter and comfortable . This isn’t a statement-making wallpaper . But it’s all about lightening up the area, and making it feel welcoming at the same time.

The light metallic accents in the pattern accentuate the color of the light sconces .

The gold also works nicely with the oil-rubbed bronze faucet and handles .
And the aqua melds nicely with the grey marble countertop .

Close-up showing the printed texture . The paper also has a light raised ink texture to it.

The design is called Tresco and is by Thibaut , one of my favorite brands . It’s in their Anna French line.
This wallpaper is a non-woven material , and can be hung by the paste the wall method . I usually prefer to paste the paper .
Non-wovens are strong and more stain resistant than other wallpapers. They are designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece when it’s time to redecorate .
Tanglewood houston installer

Five Room Update – Kitchen Re-Do

Can you say ’80’s?! Dated and soiled, it really was time for this 30+ year old original paper to go.

Poor colors in this photo – the new paper is actually aqua and green a a bit of grey. One pattern was used for the walls, and another for the fir down / soffits.

A little better view of the true colors.

There is a pearlized or iridescent quality to this wallpaper.

Candice Olson’s line by York. Anything she touches, you can bet it will have a bit of shimmer and glimmer and glam.

Curlicues, caterpillars, or corn curls – this is a fun and active design, used just on the fir downs over the cabinets.

The Easy-Walls line in the Chesapeake collection by Brewster is a very nice pre-pasted paper, easy to install and easy to remove. It’s a very thin non-woven material, similar to another of my favorites, the Sure-Strip by York.

This shot, taken through the adjoining dining room, shows how beautifully the colors and patterns coordinate. Oh, and did I mention the beautiful new blue and green glass tile backsplash?!

The two-sister duo who selected patterns and colors for this League City (Houston) home did a superb job coordinating the two bedrooms, one bathroom, and the dining room and kitchen. The whole house has a very pulled together look, with a theme of gardens, light, fresh, and uplifting.

Five-Room Re-Do – Updating the Dining Room

Originally the walls were heavily textured. See previous post for how I smoothed them. Here they are smooth, primed, and ready for wallpaper.

With it’s squiggly upward movement and bright aqua & lime color scheme, this paper adds so much life and energy to the space!

This close-up best shows the true colors.

A Street Prints is a very nice brand. These are almost always non-woven, paste-the-wall materials, but this time the instructions said to paste the paper. I usually do that anyway.

The home is in the League City suburb of Houston.

Van Gogh Takes Sleepy to Vibrant

When the homeowner remodeled this mid 1950’s home in the Galleria / Tanglewood area of Houston, she thought she wanted a serene “spa-like” look. She soon realized that “bland beige” didn’t suite her “live wire / life of the party” personality.

As this Van Gogh-inspired wallpaper pattern in a brilliant aqua hue from the Van Gogh Museum Collection started covering up those boring walls, she was literally jumping with delight!

The design is the ideal scale for this master bathroom. The colors in the tree branches match perfectly with the floor tiles and countertop. The wallpaper even has a textured surface that mimics the brushstrokes of an actual oil painting. (see close up photo)

This wallpaper was a joy to hang. It is a very thin embossed (textured) vinyl on a thin non-woven backing. It is way more flexible and malleable than most non-wovens, so I could manipulate as needed. Like most N-Ws, it is dimentionally-stable, meaning that it does not expand or shrink. It requires no booking time, so you can paste and then hang it immediately. It is also designed to strip off the wall easily and cleanly and in one piece, when it’s time to redecorate.

Humming Birds on Aqua in Powder Room

This is one of my all-time favorite wallpaper patterns. It’s just pretty – PRETTY.

I’m told it dates back to the late 1800’s – about the same time the manufacturer founded its company. In fact, the paper is 18.5″ wide, instead of the more standard 20.5″ width, because it is printed on the same rollers and drums that were used back then.

I’ve hung it many times over two decades. But I think this is the first time I’ve done this aqua colorway.

The under-the-stairs powder room is too small for me to get good photographs. But you can see how the paper glows.

This wallpaper pattern is by Thibaut Designs, one of my favorite brands. If you look closely at the last photo, you can see the “raised ink” used in the printing process. I love that look and feel.

The material is pre-pasted, so all you have to do is wet it to activate the paste. I do also run a light coat of augmentive paste on the wall.

The home is in the Tanglewood area of Houston.

It 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.

Cheer in a Sphere on the Backs of Bookshelves

Again, the same home as my two previous blog posts. The homeowner is filling this lifeless all-tan house with color, movement, and fun patterns!

Take this bookcase – usually people put a textured wallpaper on the backs of their bookcases. But this homeowner went for a bit of color and pattern. You have to look close at the top photo to see, but the dotty circles are way fun! The dots even have a raised, embossed texture. They add a lot of life to the space, yet are calm enough to not conflict with the objects they will display on the shelves.

I put the same pattern in a curved art niche in a hallway close to this family room bookcase.

The homeowner has skillfully used this aqua color scheme to tie together several rooms in her home.

The home is in the Garden Oaks neighborhood of Houston. The paper is an embossed (textured) vinyl surface on a non-woven substrate, and could be hung using the paste-the-wall method or the paste-the-material method (I prefer the latter).

This wallpaper pattern is by Exclusive Wallcoverings, 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.

Suiting a Blah Dining Room to a Young Family

This is the same house I blogged about yesterday, where everything started out a generic and lifeless tan. The homeowner is adding personality and cheer through color and pattern. Look at how well it’s working!

The area below the wainscoting in this dining room has been painted a beautiful aqua color. The faux-finish swirl-style wallpaper is hued in the exact matching tones, and looks fabulous in the room. There are two corner china cabinets painted a dark aqua, that will really set the room off!

This home is in the Garden Oaks neighborhood of Houston. The wallpaper pattern is by Mayflower, and is a paper product. It 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.

Silver Metallic Damask on Aqua on a Feature Wall in a Bedroom

Here’s a traditional damask wallpaper pattern done a little more modern by the use of silver metallic ink. It fills this accent wall beautifully.

I, the installer, would like to think that the wallpaper is the main focus of the bedroom. But, really, that fabulous chandelier steals the show.

No problem. It’s the overall effect of all the elements pulled together that makes the room.

This wallpaper is by Thibaut Designs, and was super to work with. I did not have the curling seams issues I have had with other brands’ metallic ink.

I hung this in a home in Friendswood, just south of Houston, which had been damaged by flooding during Hurricane Harvey last year.

The interior designer is Neal LeBoeuf of L Design Group.

Same Color, But Grasscloth Brings a Little Texture and Warmth for a West U. Living Room

This home in the West University neighborhood of Houston has fairly traditional and formal décor. After 20 years, the homeowner wanted to warm things up with some texture. The new wallpaper is about the same color as the original wall paint (pale aqua blue), but the addition of gold grass fibers (grasscloth) brings warmth, personality, and a good dose of glamor, too.

Sorry, the color has not shown up well in these photos, but the close-up shot shows the lovely texture and natural fibers in this product.

This wallpaper pattern is by Thibaut Designs, and was bought at below retail price from 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.