Really Cool Ombre Mural in Montrose Powder Room

The furnishings in this home are traditional, so I was surprised when the homeowners chose this ombre (shaded, graduated, faded) pattern for their powder room. I have to say, it turned out fantastic!

This innovative look is a mural, packed as two 36″ wide panels per “roll.” It took seven panels (four rolls) to do this very small powder room.

Each panel is 8′ high. Like most newer homes, this townhouse has 9′ high ceilings. So, to shorten the wall height, the homeowners decided to add a very short wainscoting at the bottom of the wall, topping it off with a strip of decorative chair rail molding. The deep navy color works perfectly with the tones in the mural, as well as the graduated saturation effect. I like it better than having the design come all the way to the floor.

The homeowners said it was near Divorce Court, with both of them squeezing into this 3′ x 6′ space (and toss in a toilet), trying to measure and hammer and paint and agree on install steps.

They were wise enough to not tackle hanging the wallpaper themselves. 🙂

Back to the wallpaper. This is by Brewster, in their A Street Prints line. It is a non-woven material, and can be hung via the paste-the-wall method …. but I chose to paste the material, for more flexibility and for getting around obstacles like the vanity and toilet.

This wallpaper should strip off the wall easily when it’s time to redecorate. The mural was purchased from Southwestern Paint / Benjamin Moore near the Rice Village, but can also be bought on-line from various vendors, including Brewster’s own website.

A Nice Faux Silk

Recently, I’ve had a number of young client families interested in silk wallpaper. For their bath or powder rooms.

Silk is beautiful, and certainly creates a calming mood. But it is also highly stainable. Which makes it a bad choice for rooms where it may be splashed with water, sprayed with toiletries, or touched by peanut butter and jelly-stained hands.

There are faux product that make good alternatives, though. The lower-end paper-backed vinyls are not a good option, due to issues with seams (do a Search here).

Today I at Dorota’s store and she showed me this new product, from Thibaut, in their Texture Resource Volume 6 collection. It’s vinyl, so it’s extremely resistant to water and stains, and the backing is a synthetic non-woven material, which will not absorb moisture and curl at the seams like the lower-end vinyls do.

Dorota works in a Benjamin Moore store near the Rice Village. By appointment: (713) 520-6262.

You Can’t Hang Wallpaper Over Textured Walls

Digital Image

Digital Image

The homeowners wanted a contemporary, textured look in their powder and master bathrooms, so hired a faux-finish company to create this striated look.

Unfortunately for all, they were not pleased with the look. They decided to go with wallpaper instead; one thing about wallpaper – you get a sample or look in a book and so pretty well know what the finished project will look like.

But, before the new wallpaper can go up, the walls need to be smoothed. This will eliminate ridges from showing under the new wallpaper, and will provide a smooth surface for the new wallpaper to grab onto.

So I “skim-coated,” or “floated” over the previous texture with joint compound (“mud”), let it dry, sanded it smooth, wiped dust off the surface with a damp sponge, and then primed with a clear penetrating sealer called Gardz (by Zinsser and available at Benjamin Moore paint stores). Now we have a good surface for the new wallpaper.

Note: The areas at the bottom of the second photo show some vertical lines – these are remnants of the striated surface below. The spaces between the ridges have been filled in with smoothing compound, and the whole surface is smooth.  The scissors is there to give a reference as to scale.

Nice Faux Texture Collection by Phillip Jeffries

Grasscloth and other textured wallcoverings are really hot right now. Phillip Jeffries is a big-name designer who offers many fine wallpapers.

But with all the problems lately with grasscloth staining, shading, paneling, and blotching, (do a Search on my blog) I have been steering many customers toward the fake products.

Today, at Southwestern Paint / Benjamin Moore on Bissonnet near Kirby, Dorota, the wallpaper mogul, showed me the line of Phillip Jeffries faux textures.

My, oh my, they sure were nice! VERY realistic, both in color and texture. And there was a lot more than just fake grasscloth – he shows faux leather, gravel, linen, cork, and much more.

Because these are manufactured products, instead of natural, there is much more consistency in color and texture, the problems mentioned above are virtually eliminated. In addition, the seams will be less visible, too, than on a natural fiber.

If you’re someone who would be put off by uneven coloring in a grasscloth or other similar wallcovering, I highly recommend that you take a look at this line of faux.

The line is called “Natural Illusions,” and is a vinyl product. Take a look:
https://phillipjeffries.com/books.php?book=PJBINDER-NIV