Open Door Policy

What’s great about this picture? The powder room door is opening OUTWARD!
Folks, it’s hard enough to hang wallpaper in a powder room, most of which are pretty small and cramped. Add a toilet, sink, ladder, tools, and a moving human body.
Compounding all that, most powder room doors swing open inward (it’s a construction / architectural thing – Google it). That door takes up a lot of space inside the bathroom. This makes for a real juggling act and choreographed dance every time I need to get in or out of the room – which is frequently during the workday, since my pasting table is outside the room and the paper has to go onto the walls inside the room.
On this job I was delighted that the door opened out. This made it infinitely easier to maneuver around in there and do the tasks necessary to get the room papered.
Thank you builder!

Christmas Grinch is Thumbs Down on Modern Farmhouse

I love old things and old homes, so I’m always thrilled when someone preserves a historic (or just plain old “old”) home and updates or renovates it. Many bungalows in the Houston Heights have been lovingly rescued. And many others that are torn down are replaced with large new homes that fit the original architectural style(s) of the neighborhood.

Personally, I prefer traditional styles. And steer away from trends in decorating … if it’s in style now, it will be out of style in a short while. IMO that includes the current craze called ” Modern Farmhouse ,” as well as all-white color schemes, open floor plans, shiplap, and minimalist interiors.

This home in the Heights is doomed to be razed. By his holiday yard decorations, I can tell that the outgoing homeowner shares my sentiments.

Old World Look for a Long Master Bedroom Accent Wall

Originally, the homeowner wasn’t “really” thinking about adding wallpaper to her master bedroom. But, in the back of her mind, she must have been “kinda” thinking about it, because, after I finished measuring several bathrooms in the home and was poised to leave, she hauled me into the bedroom and asked what could be done to create more of a haven.

I pulled out some samples of patterns I have hung in other homes, and she immediately zeroed in on this one. My sample was the navy blue colorway, but she grasped that wallpaper comes in different color options, and was able to envision this in a softer color to coordinate with the rest of the walls. (Note that that hot pink is a protective plastic sheet – not the color of the headboard!)

To me, the pattern looks like architectural details from old Roman ruins. The distant photos distort the design a bit, so please look at the close up to get a better idea.

Usually I will place a design like this in the middle of the wall. But in the case of this 18′ wide wall, the bed was not centered on the wall, nor was the chandelier. In addition, there curtains on either side of the wall that obscured the corners.

So I opted to center the circular design motif on the chandelier. This meant the bed had to be moved to the right … a whole 3″. This way, as you walk out of the master bathroom, you see the chandelier, the headboard, and the wallpaper design all synced up vertically.

The pattern doesn’t hit the wall uniformly on the right and left sides of the wall, but the drapes cover that. And, on a wall this wide with lots of furniture in front of it, who cares, anyway?!

The wallpaper is by Designer Wallpapers, one of my favorite companies, and was bought at Southwestern Paint. See link on the right for where to purchase wallpaper in Houston. This home is in Katy.