Before – living room in Spring Branch ( Houston ). I’m in the process of priming the backs of these bookshelves , so the wallpaper will adhere to the semi-gloss enamel paint . Done. Simple , subtle , but makes a statement . The shelves will be replaced, and decorative items will be set on them. Close-up . A light black background with beautiful glimmering gold trees and branches. The pattern is dispersed evenly across the paper, making for a homogeneous look. Called Luminous Branches , this wallpaper is made by York . It’s a thin , flexible non-woven material . I hung it easily by pasting the wall , rather than by pasting the paper . When it’s time to redecorate , it will strip off the wall easily and with no damage to the wall surface . Nice stuff!
Including right here on the cover! And a real coup! … A magazine that’s pretty much dedicated to the all-white or all-grey trend in decorating, as well as minimalism … it’s so exciting to see some pattern and color in the ” farmhouse ” themed homes. Let’s take a look …Textured grasscloth behind bookshelves in a living room .Two-tone classic toile on one wall as a background to a stairwell . It warms up the space, without hitting you in the face. Soft , cloud – like feel behind this credenza . Look carefully right above the baskets , and you’ll see an overlapped seam. Some commercial murals are hung like this, as well as the very popular patterns by Spoonflower , which is a budget-friendly and DIY – able , good quality material and brand . (But ONLY their ” prepasted smooth ” option. Do NOT get the ” traditional pebble ” nor their ” peel and stick . “More of the toile pattern , in the entry , with batten board wainscoting and a chair rail , in a mud room . Also called rear back door entry . : )Floral pattern in the laundry room . I’m getting lots of queries for wallpaper in laundries … must be trending right now!Soft two-tone floral in small bathroom .Textured grasscloth behind desk in home office .Apologies for the sideways image … WordPress used to be easy to use, and I could correct this. But they “upgraded” their program and made many, many features much more difficult to work with. I tried tutorials on how to fix this, but after reading and watching tons of info and videos, I gave up. It used to be just one click ! Anyway, note the cheery breakfast room. Colorful without being overwhelming . Closer picture. Very innovative use of floral pattern with subdued color around the archway / entry to another breakfast nook . Note that the back of the nook also wears a textured wallpaper . Sorry for the out-of-order picture … another frustration from the “upgraded” WordPress Editor . This gives an idea of what the afore-mentioned breakfast area looked like pre-wallpaper. The magazine didn’t mention a brand, but this sure looks like one of Serena & Lily ‘s designs . Of course, when one company makes a popular pattern , many other companies make their own versions . These days, usually you see pattern on the accent wall behind the headboard . So it’s a little unusual to see wallpaper on all four walls of this master bedroom . But it works, because the pattern is simple and the colors are kept to only two , so the overall feel is calming , rather than busy . Fooled me! I thought this headboard accent wall was done in tile – but it’s wallpaper !The same paper on a kitchen cabinet .
Home office work station niche primed and ready for wallpaper. Done. Grasscloth comes 36″ wide, and this niche was about 39″ wide, so it required two strips, both trimmed down to 19.5″ wide. Generally, design-wise, you try not to put a seam down the center. But in this case there was no other viable option. This seam was practically invisible.In the photo, the seam is a little to the right of center. You always see the seams in grasscloth, and this is about as perfect as it gets. The homeowner, who is an interior designer, did a superb job of finding a grasscloth that’s murky blue hue coordinates perfectly with the color of the cabinetry. Unfortunately, I don’t know the manufacturer of this material. Close-up showing the texture.Twin bookshelves flanking the fireplace wall in the family room, primed and ready for wallpaper. Grasscloth has been installed. It’s nice to not have the shelves in place – so much easier to get that paper up!Bookshelf niche on the right.Bookshelf niche on the left. Note the slight shading and color variations . These are typical of natural products like grasscloth, and are not considered a defect. As the manufacturers say, these variations are ” part of the inherent beauty of these natural materials .” Shelves will go in these niches and decorative items will obscure these slight imperfections. TV room bookshelf niche. Yes, t’was I who swiped the smiley face and the horse head into the primer. 🙂Done. This niche is a tad less than 36″ wide, so only one strip was needed, hence, no seams. Any color variations you see are due to shadows. Close-up.Closer-up. Scissors for perspective. These days, people are loving the subtle texture and warmth of grasscloth , paperweaves and other natural materials . The manufacturer of the grasscloth in both the family room and TV room is Schumacher . The home is in the far west area of Katy , a suburb west of Houston.
Before, with my primer in four cubbies, two more to go, and my fan set up to get it to dry faster.Finished.“Railroading” means the paper was run horizontally, instead of vertically. With grasscloth, this means the reeds ran up and down, instead of sideways. This technique eliminated seams (run the usual way would have given us a seam smack down the center of the shelf area – a decorating no-no).I was able to slide the edges of the paper under the back side of the wooden shelves. No trimming needed. And no gaps showing between the wall and the shelves.For this stiff grasscloth material, instead of my softer, natural-bristle smoothing brush (right), I chose a stiffer, plastic-bristled brush. Showing the texture and natural material of the grasscloth. And how the dye stained my fingers! Manufacturer is York, a very good company.
The home is in the Heights neighborhood of Houston.
Like many of the higher-end brands, this Brunschwig & Fils wallpaper had to have its selvedge edge trimmed off by hand. Unfortunately, they did not provide trim guide marks. Double unfortunately, I tried using the pattern as a guide, but, for a lot of reasons, this was a big fail – the edges looked like they had been trimmed with a hair curling iron. 😦
How, then, was I going to get good seams?
I was preparing to double cut (splice). But for many reasons, this was not presenting as a good option.
Then I got the idea to overlap. This turned out to be the perfect solution!
The edges of the “bookshelves” were not straight, so, instead of using my straightedge as a trim guide, I grabbed a new razor blade and free-handed my cuts along the design. (see top photo)
Then, after measuring, pasting, and booking my strips, I positioned them on the wall by overlapping one “shelf support” on top of the previous one. The second photo shows one strip being placed thusly.
Overlapping like this does leave a ridge under the wallpaper. But it is not very noticeable, especially since my design motifs were perfectly aligned.
What’s even cooler is that this overlap added a bit of 3-D to the room, which is what you would have if you had real wood and books in there.
Another advantage is that I could tweak the spacing if needed, to plumb up a strip that might have started going crooked.
It’s become popular to put wallpaper on the backs of bookshelves. But usually, people choose a texture, or at least a very small, tight pattern. That way, the wallpaper serves as a backdrop, and the items that are placed on the shelves will stand out.
I spotted this photo in Better Homes & Gardens magazine. I can’t say I love the look. I think the palm leaf pattern is too busy, and detracts from the artful objects that have been placed on the shelves.
In my opinion, that tropical pattern would work better on the walls outside the bookshelves. Or, since it’s such a strong pattern, just on one accent wall.
This is an alcove leading into a master bedroom in a new townhome in the Houston Heights. This niche is recessed between bookshelves on either side, and above.
The geometric pattern of blocks and angles with gold metallic accents adds a modern touch, and the soft color promotes the feel of calm relaxation. Brass sconces will be mounted over the electrical boxes, and the homeowner has a settee that will be placed in the center.
This was a non-woven wallpaper, and I hung it using the paste-the-wall method.
Awwwk… my “before” photo didn’t turn out. Oh well … just know that originally the shelves and the back of the shelves were a bland white paint.
To prep, I primed the glossy white paint with Roman’s Ultra Prime Pro 977, which will stick to the enamel and which is formulated to provide a good surface for the wallpaper to adhere to.
The wallpaper is an embossed vinyl faux grasscloth by Thibaut, from their new Texture Resource book. This man-made product avoids the color variations and very visible seams that are common with real grasscloth, so it’s a good option.
The material comes 27″ wide, and the bookshelves were 28″ wide. So I had to use two 14″ wide strips of paper for each cubicle and put a seam down the middle.
Isn’t the blue color gorgeous as a backdrop for the contents of the shelves?!
This was a work desk area off the large kitchen in a home in West U (Houston).
The interior designer this job are Danna Smith and Pamela O’Brien, of Pamela Hope Designs.
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.
The owners of this newish contemporary-styled townhome in the Montrose neighborhood of Houston wanted to put some impact into their entry by using wallpaper on the first wall you see when you walk in – the sloped wall in the top photo. They have some antique furniture and a special piece of art that sit in front of this wall, so chose this very classic trellis pattern in a warm cream-on-brown colorway.
They were initially considering putting paper on the backs of bookshelves in the upstairs living room, but as I walked up the stairs and saw this one recessed wall directly in view, I suggested this as a better spot for a wallpaper treatment.
The home owers quickly agreed, and decided to use the same pattern here.
The manufacturer of this very old and historic design is Thibaut.
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