I’m always thrilled to see wallpaper featured in magazines – especially magazines that historically promote sparse , all-white interiors and décor . This February / March 2023 issue showcases a LOT of wallpaper – including right her on the front cover ! The magazine didn’t list much, if any, info about the patterns or brands. So please just enjoy the patterns and decorating elements. If you want to pursue one of these, I can hook you up with a merchant who can probably find it for you, or something similar. Whimsical but muted ” village ” pattern as backdrop for headboard accent wall . Note the use of nubby textured textiles to warm up this wintery room. Sweet roses . I hung this very pattern just a few months ago. https://wallpaperlady.wordpress.com/2022/06/26/romantic-vintage-look-rose-bedroom-accent-wall/ Shore birds in flight have been a popular theme . This is an obvious (and much more affordable ) riff on the $$$ ” Acanthus ” design by Schumacher . This one is a lot more playful , too, IMO.We’re entering a guest house / B&B / airBnB with several rental units having the same footprint , but different decorating. Look all the way to the left – a tiny snippet of wallpaper on the accent wall , nicely coordinated with the color of the cabinets , as well as complimentary to the pink-ish wall paint . Wheat wreaths on wheat wallpaper .Subtle stripes in a sleeping area . Note how nicely the installer centered / balanced the stripes on the headboard / focal wall . An earthy, natural pattern I hung not too long ago, and also have it coming up again. Looks like dandelion seedheads, maybe. Fun upward movement.Many ” Farmhouse ” styled homes these days are using tile that looks like this. But this backdrop is actually wallpaper . Showing how you can get the visual impact of patterned tile without the expense or permanent impact on your wall . Cute idea for the backs of narrow shelves . This is a clever look on stairs , too – I’d say mostly in ” artsy ” themed homes . This wall is actually made of ship-lap . But there are many wallpaper patterns out there that mimic the look of this popular decorating material . Particularly the Magnolia Home line by Joanna Gaines , made by York .More wallpaper masquerading as tile on this bar backsplash . Bright colorful butterflies . Same color scheme , different wallpaper pattern . Cheery lemon pattern . Here’s a similar one I did recently. https://wallpaperlady.wordpress.com/2022/11/11/picasso-slept-here-crazy-pattern-in-a-complicated-powder-room/Fun with green and leaves Moving from pattern to texture . Here you see natural fiber grasscloth flanking the entryway , as well as on the back wall . A fun Industrial Modern / Rustic look for this accent wall . Not sure if this is a plastic 3-D faux brick material , or wallpaper . But there are plenty of brick-look wallpapers available , many with light texture on the surface . For help tracking down something you love, contact Dorota at the Sherwin-Williams on University in the Rice Village. Call first and discuss your project. Wed – Sat (713) 529-6515 .Slightly ethnic look to this dark blue headboard accent wall in a guest bedroom .
This is a powder room off a bar in a home in the Spring Branch area of Houston. The walls have wainscoting below and paneled walls above; the wallpaper is to go inside the panels. Wallpaper primer has been applied . Because both the woodwork and the wallpaper are dark, I’ve taken care to not let my white primer get onto the woodwork, making sure to leave a 1/8″ or so gap of the dark woodwork paint. This way there won’t be any white showing at the edges. This is a little dubious, though, because wallpaper paste won’t adhere to the glossy woodwork paint . Not too much of a worry, though, because that gap is mighty narrow and not likely to cause any adhesion problems. See recent previous post for a closer photo.Done. Opposite wall reflected in the mirror. From a distance, it just looks like a symmetrical design . I centered the design on this section between the corner and the door .I positioned the pattern so that half of it landed in the corner. Thus, looking in the mirror, between the two walls, you’ll see a whole motif.The manufacturer colored the edges black . This greatly reduces the chances of the white edges of wallpaper showing at the seams. Do a Search to read my previous blogs on this topic. The pattern is called Showgirls and is by Graduate Collection , out of England .
I hung this deeply textured, striped wallpaper in murky blues and golds about three years ago, and am back to do two more rooms, so took the opportunity to snap a coupla photos. The homeowner loves to entertain, and he says that guests always comment on this bold and unusual look. The brand is Scalamandre, and the material had a selvedge edge that had to be trimmed off by hand. It’s a thick vinyl material, and was hard to cut through. The finished look is show-stopping! The home is in the Garden Oaks neighborhood of Houston.
Townhome’s 3rd floor bar / game room, with sample of the wallpaper to be placed here. The homeowner and I worked together to plot the layout. She had specific ideas about placement. So I positioned “the girl with the rays” (actually, her earring) smack in the center of the wall horizontally. Other considerations were taken as to which elements to place at the top of the wall.Close-upThis is the sample that came from the manufacturer. It includes a snippet of the design, as well as a shot of how it will look on a full-sized wall.This stuff is made in Transylvania!Mind the Gap is not your average wallpaper manufacturer!I love the little tags and inspirations they tuck inside the box with the paper.
The home is in the Midtown / Third Ward area of central Houston. The manufacturer is Mind the Gap, and the design is called “Other Worlds”. The wallpaper is made to order. It’s on a non-woven substrate.
I used the paste-the-wall installation method, but I think that pasting the paper would have worked better for this material, because it was very thick and stiff and unyielding…. difficult to work into corners and ceiling lines, and this caused it to crease easily. Pasting the back of the material would have softened it and made it more flexible and pliable.
tThe homeowner loved the coppery-hued colors in this “Carousel Stripe” pattern by Cole & Son. The colors mesh beautifully with the wood tones, and also the brass faucet, in this home bar area.
What’s interesting is that I think the colors (especially the red) are more intense now, than in the samples she got from the vendor. In fact, one complaint of hers was that the vendor sent just one small snip of the paper, and didn’t show the full color spectrum of all 10 stripes that make up the pattern.
No matter. The finished effect really sets off the bar backsplash, and will be a fabulous backdrop once the bottles and glasses are back in place.
This wallpaper is a non-woven material, which is made of synthetic fibers rather than wood or cotton pulp. Instead of the paste-the-wall installation method, I chose to paste-the-paper. This made the material more flexible and manageable, which helped a lot, because when it was dry, it really wanted to crease and flake.
TFor instance, the racks sitting on the counter in the first photo could not be removed. Manipulating, fitting and trimming the wallpaper around the sharp bends and angles without marring the wallpaper was very difficult.
The non-woven, synthetic-origin material (think fiberglass) was also really hard to cut. Even with a brand-new razor blade, I had trouble getting perfect cuts around moldings, and also in a whole lot of other simpler areas.
These two rooms were hard enough, with minimal angles and corners and intricate moldings. If this had been a bathroom, or another room with a lot of turns and fancy cuts, it would have been really difficult to prevent creases and other damage to the wallpaper.
As it was, I spent about nine hours hanging these four single rolls of paper.
This is a wonderfully restored 1939 home in the Rice University area of central Houston.
What a fun idea – using “barware” wallpaper on the backs of shelves above an in-home bar!
Only clear stemware will go on the shelves in front of this colorful, wacky wallpaper.
This “Cocktails” pattern is in the Fornasetti collection by Cole & Son. It’s a non-woven material, and can be hung by the paste-the-wall method, or by pasting the paper.
The contemporary / industrial modern style home is in the Heights neighborhood of Houston.
This issue is all about coastal living, hence the blue, sand, and fog hues, and nautical and beach accessories.
The second photo makes me envision floating fronds of seaweed. It’s called “Priano,” by Serena & Lily, a pattern that I love and a manufacturer that I like a lot. I have hung it many times.
The third photo is “Dashes,” which looks like watercolor daubs made a paintbrush. Note how it calls up images of ocean waves. It’s by Rebecca Atwood, also a good quality paper, and which also I have hung a few times. Although it is higher-end and requires hand-trimming and other special installation techniques. I have seen similar designs by other, more approachable brands.
Fourth photo – seagulls.
Next photo – Cheery flowers on a backdrop to a small home bar. This pattern is also by Serena & Lily.
Last photo – if you look at the top right of the picture, covering the walls of the landing at the top of the stairs, you can see an upbeat, open air feeling, red & blue floral pattern.
Here’s a fun idea! Let’s pull color from the adjacent accent wall and put it in an unexpected place – on the backs of wine cubby holes in the home’s bar area.
This was more tricky to do than it would appear. Those triangular cubbies are NOT all exactly the same size. And the measurements from the front of the cubbies are not the same as at the back wall. So I couldn’t just make a template and cut 16 pieces all the same size and shape.
In addition, you have to take into account the expansion factor when wallpaper gets wet with paste. In further addition, it didn’t work to trim off excess paper as one normally would, because it was virtually impossible to get a hand and razor blade all the way to the back wall inside those tiny cubicles – and even more impossible to be able to maneuver the blade to make any trim cuts.
These 16 triangles took me about three hours, but, when it was all said and done – I got ‘er done!
And in a few days, the homeowner will stuff those cubby holes full of wine bottles …. Sigh …
This 5-year old townhome in the Montrose neighborhood of Houston is typically all pale grey and tan. The homeowner wanted to brighten it up, as well as pull in some colors that coordinate with vivid artwork they have collected in Africa.
This pattern with bold swipes of primary colors in a sort of faux-finish design is perfect!
I hung this in a large powder room, as well as two walls in the adjoining bar area (no photo yet – see separate post).
This wallpaper is by Wallquest, and was sold by 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.
You can get away with a lot of avant garde-ness in small areas. This home in the Kingwood community of northeast Houston is mostly traditional in floor plan and décor. Yet the homeowner has found a few places to inject a little playful personality.
One is the backs of these cabinets in a butler’s pantry (but they are using it as a bar).
The lightly textured, indistinct smeary dots spread in a diamond pattern are nothing short of fun!
What’s especially clever is that the homeowner found a colorway that coordinates with not just the wall paint and furnishings in the home, but also with the weathered chandelier in the adjoining dining room, the nubby rug, and other furniture.
These are the little details that “pull a look together” – and this homeowner did it all on her own, acting as her own interior designer!
This wallpaper pattern is by A Street Prints, which is by Brewster. It is a non-woven material that has a high fiberglass content which prevents expansion and shrinking, and makes removal at a later date easier. I hung it using the paste-the-wall method.
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