GP & J Baker Peony & Blossom in West Houston Powder Room

I prepped this powder room in the Energy Corridor area of Houston a couple of months ago, but couldn’t hang the wallpaper due to discovering printing defects. Printing defects are pretty common with that brand – Schumacher . So the homeowner ordered a different pattern from a different manufacturer.

So I was dismayed today when the very first foot I rolled off the bolt of the new paper showed a very noticeable printing flaw. Luckily, this was just in this one spot, and was easily sliced off and discarded.

I centered the pattern so it will look nicely balanced flanking the mirror once it is rehung over the sink.

This pattern is obviously a knock-off of the famous ” Bird & Thistle ” pattern by Brunschwig and Fils, a French company. But the B&F is very expensive, and also delicate and also somewhat difficult to hang. Do a Search (upper right) to see other times I’ve hung it. I like this version much better, because it’s on a sturdy and dependable non-woven substrate. And much less expensive. Also, the design is on a smaller scale, which is much better suited to this powder room. The B&F would work best in a large dining room, for instance.

The material has a pearlized, metallic look. It was pretty delicate, and would crease if you barely looked at it. I used a lot of tricks to prevent this creasing, and was really pleased with how the room turned out.

Bibliotheque Install Details, Pt I – Hand Trimming, Overlapping

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.

Bibliotheque Install Details, Pt II – Waffling, Wrinkling

In the top photo, I have used a paint roller to apply paste to the back of this wallpaper. See it wrinkling up? We call this “waffling,” or “quilting.”

This happens because the ink on the surface absorbs moisture from the paste at a different rate from the substrate. So they both expand, but fight each other, which causes the wrinkles you see in the picture.

One way to minimize this is to lightly sponge the surface of the paper with clean water. In the upper left of the top photo you can see my sponge and bucket of water. You can also use a spray bottle.

After pasting, the strip is “booked” and then rolled up like a newspaper and placed into a plastic trash bag to sit for a few minutes. This gives the paper and ink a chance to absorb all that moisture.

Some papers are still cantankerous when they get to the wall. But my experience with Brunchwig & Fils and their Bibliotheque is that, with proper smoothing and minimal manipulation, it smooths and adheres quite nicely to the wall. The wrinkles and quilted areas disappear.

The only wrinkles that remained were inside the horizontal “shelves” (see second picture). Most of these either could be chased out with a smoothing too, or laid flat once the paper dried. A handful of them remained even after the wallpaper was dry, but were not very noticeable.

The Reading Room – Brunschwig & Fils “Bibliotheque” in a West Houston Powder Room

Why are people drawn to books in bathrooms??

Oh, well, it’s a common theme – and a bit of a tongue-in-cheek, wink-wink joke.

Either way, this one came together gorgeously.

I don’t usually like dark woodwork or ceilings, but in this case, the deep black / eggplant color works dramatically with the wallpaper.

The color is rich and saturated, and the ink has a beautiful matte finish – one glance and you know that this is a high-end and classy material.

The home is in the far-west side of Houston.

Brunschwig & Fils “Bird and Thistle” in a North East Houston Powder Room

The homeowner loved this paper, and had to have it somewhere in her family’s new home in Humble, in far northwest Houston. The powder room turned out to be the perfect spot!

Originally the room was faux-finished in a heavy and rough “Tuscan” texture painted a dark reddish brown color. This classic wallpaper pattern changes the whole look, bringing an air of elegance.

The paper has a toned-down silver metallic look, with soft seafoam colored tree trunks, foliage, and birds on it. The ceiling was painted a coordinating soft murky blue, and the wallpaper coordinated beautifully with the tile.

It was quite thin. I like thin papers. The seams were practically invisible, and the paper was somewhat twisty – Sometimes that is good, because you can manipulate a strip to fit slightly off-plumb areas. But sometimes it’s not good, because warps and wrinkles can develop. In the powder room, this was not a big deal, because I never had more than three strips next to one another. But in a larger room with more strips hanging sequentially, it could be a problem.

This design is called Bird & Thistle, and is by Brunschwig & Fils, a British company and a higher-end brand. It 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.

Shields and Soldiers

OK, this is a wallpaper pattern and a use that you are going to either love or hate. It’s in a boy’s bedroom (all four walls), is by Brunschwig & Fils, and is featured in the December 2017 issue of Southern Living magazine.

Wallpaper on Siding – CUTE Idea

Here is some colorful Brunschwig & Fils wallpaper that an artsy and innovative woman wrapped around her home’s siding! Don’t worry – it’s on a screened porch, so it’s protected from the rain and sun.

(I can’t help but notice the bubbles and wrinkles. But I guess if you’re papering siding for your outdoor porch, a few imperfections are not a big deal. Still, the paperhanger in me wants to know what caused the bubbling, and if it were possible to do this installation without the wrinkles.)

Classic Trellis by Brunschwig & Fils

Over yesterday and today, I put this in an under-the stairs powder room of a soon-to-be-married couple in the West University area. The homeowners loved it!

Although I would prefer a quieter look (meaning, paint), many people love wallpaper on the ceiling of these small rooms.

When doing this treatment with ANY pattern, it’s important to keep in mind that, as it works its way up the ceiling, the pattern will match on only ONE wall. From there on out, it falls where it falls!

Observe the photos to see what I mean. With the right pattern, it’s not a big deal. For instance, the toile I posted photos of a few months back turned out great. And this trellis, even with some mis-matches, looks very good.

A pattern that would not work as well would be, let’s say, figures of animals or people, that would be turned upside down as they travel across the ceiling, or would have their heads, for example, cut off. Ouch!