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 beforeSouth wall doneI 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
Originally simply painted a rather dull and lackluster sorta orange, the homeowner chose this pattern to both brighten the entryway and make it feel welcoming. Entry door wall primed and ready for wallpaper. I love the columns on either side. The black door and molding really stand out against the wallpaper. The mom / grandmother described this as “elegantly soft.” There will be artwork hanging on the walls, so it was important that the wallpaper pattern not overwhelm or take center stage. This Willow Boughs pattern will form a perfect backdrop for other focal points.Close up.Closer up, showing the light textured surface of this material.The designer is William Morris , dating back to the late 1800’s and early 1900’s and the Art Nouveau and Arts & Crafts period. Morris & Co. is the manufacturer. Morris makes two types of wallpaper – non-woven and the traditional British pulp . It’s important that this homeowner took my advice and selected the non-woven option. NW is much easier to work with. But also, since it has a high polyester content, it’s designed to strip off the wall easily when it’s time to redecorate . It also is stronger and more stain-resistant than most other types of wallpaper . That’s good, because this family has three little kiddies running around! The home is in the Braes Heights neighborhood of Houston . installer
Before. Primed and ready for wallpaper .Done. This is an interesting colorway, because it’s a bold pattern but relatively muted colors. Looks almost like a cartoon or anime .Close up, the paper had a noticeable texture embossed into the vinyl surface . The texture transferred to the back, so I used extra paste to be sure to reach the recessed areas .Starting in the middle to position the pink flowers (most dominant visual feature ) down the vertical center of the wall . This also evens out any off-tracking due to un-level ceiling line . Mfgr is Missoni Home , which is made by York , one of my favorite brands . This is a textured vinyl material and was VERY heavy. It is on a non-woven backing , so required no booking time , and could be hung by the paste-the-wall method. I preferred to paste the paper . This is a new contemporary home in the Braes Heights area of Houston .
Textured wall has been smoothed and primed. This wallpaper pattern goes beautifully with the yellow adjacent walls, and is a nice change from the pink chosen for many girls’ nurseries.The pattern looks like an artist’s study.I love the drips and runs – it looks like a real watercolor painting. Wallquest is a good paper. Their EcoChic line is environmentally friendly.
The baby’s crib will be centered on this wall.
This home is in the Braes Heights neighborhood of Houston.
The original all-white walls didn’t do much to make this play room for young kids feel fun. Mom chose “Feather” by Serena & Lily to pump it up a couple of notches!
In the close-up photo, you can see the irregular lines of this design, as well as the hand-painted, watercolor-y look. The material has a slight “raised ink” texture.
You might think the pattern is a little busy now, but once the furniture is back in place and the artwork goes up, the room will feel more balanced.
The homeowners also commented that the pattern on the walls makes the room feel bigger and less “lost” than with the all-white look.
The home is in the Braes Heights neighborhood of southwest inner Loop Houston. The wallpaper is called “Feather” and is by Serena & Lily – one of my favorite brands.
Just about everything in this gal’s new home is glimmer, mirror, crystal, and sheen. So no question that the accent wall in the master bedroom should be the same.
This design is printed on a pearlescent silver background, and features swirling dragon motifs made of tiny real glass beads. Viewed with light coming from an angle (window on the south wall, for instance, or a bedside table lamp), the wallpaper has a real glitter effect.
The wallpaper is by Osborn & Little, and is in the line by designer Matthew Williamson. It is a vinyl-covered non-woven material, and can be hung by either the paste-the-wall method or the paste-the-paper method (which is what I opted for).
The home is in the Braeswood / Meyerland / Braes Heights / Willowbend / Willow Meadows neighborhood of south west Houston. This area was heavily devastated by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The home sits right on the Buffalo Bayou, and was built after that disaster, and situated quite high up.
The homeowners of this newish home in the Bellaire / Braes Heights / Willow Meadows area of Houston like it’s serene, monochromatic look. But they wanted something with more color and eye appeal on this focal wall in the dining room.
They chose this tone-on-tone 4-panel mural by Phillip Jeffries, screened on silk on a paper backing. The soft and whimsical design is called “Wish” – remember when you were a kid and blew the fluffy seed pods off of dandelion stems?!
A mural is pleasing to the eye, in part because it is one scene, and doesn’t have the repeating design motifs that a typical wallpaper pattern has.
I particularly like the way the design mimics the look of the chandelier. These are little things that visually pull the room together. And the homeowner did it without hiring a decorator!
The silk material was bonded to a thin paper backing. The first day, I primed the wall and then hung a liner , a special paper that will cushion the silk wallpaper and provide extra “grab” to hold the seams in place. I let that dry overnight, and hung the mural the second day.
The mural comes in a set of four panels. Each panel came 36″ wide, but there was a selvedge edge that had to be trimmed off by hand with a straightedge and razor blade, reducing the width of each to 33″.
This wall’s width required 21″ of a fifth panel. The mural is printed so that the left side of Panel 1 matches up with the right side of Panel 4. So the homeowners simply needed an additional Panel 1 (which became the fifth panel, last on the right), to cover their wall.
The mural was 11′ high, but this home’s wall was only 9′. So I rolled all the strips out on the floor and plotted out which were the most important design elements to keep, and which we could afford to lose. I cut off about 16″ from the top, and another 8″ or so from the bottom.
Silk is a natural material, and so there are color variations between panels, and even within the same panel. I hate these color variations in grasscloth, but in this silk material, I think they enhance the look. It looks like there are real strips of silk fabric laid on the wall – and that’s exactly what there is! In the close-up shot, you can even see nubs of the silk fibers here and there.
This wallpaper pattern is by Phillip Jeffries, 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.
This homeowner’s style is all about shimmer and lux and high glamour. But the bedroom felt cold, and she thought an accent wall would perk things up. We explored a number of wallpaper designs, mostly pretty dramatic. She ended up choosing this much more subtle pattern – really more of a texture than a pattern – and I think it is the perfect choice.
It has just enough design to bring life to the room, and the light flocked texture warms things up. But it is a background sort of pattern, and doesn’t overwhelm the room. This is good, because it means that the chrome-and-black headboard, the chrome end tables, and the large mirrors that hang above them (not pictured) will be the focal points of the room.
The homeowner loved the look so much that she is considering taking the paper all the way around the room, onto the three remaining walls. The pattern is soft enough, and the color light enough, and the room large enough, that I think this will work wonderfully.
This home is a new townhome with custom features, in Braes Heights, Houston.
The wallpaper pattern is by Designer Wallpapers, 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.
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