Finished Pictures of Moroccan Trellis Dining Room

How thoughtful, the homeowner send me photos of the room all decorated and finished! There will be a mirror or painting over the buffet in this photo. …. They’re probably reticent to put a nail hole in the new wallpaper 😀

The wallpaper is in the Candice Olson line by York .
The home is in the Candlelight Terrace / Oak Forest area of Houston .

The husband is a talented woodworker, and he MADE all the furniture in this photo.
wallpaper installer geometric

From Dark and Dated to Light and Livable

Oh, my! – I hung lots of these chintz florals, ” satin ” look (the design of the dark green at the bottom of the wall), and dark colors back in the ’90’s . Sure enough – this home was built and wallpapered in 1994.
IIt’s still a good look, IMO, and the homeowner still likes it. But she’s just gotten tired of it. So – time for an update !
She also decided to eliminate the chair rail , so the new wallpaper will go ceiling to floor . Here you see some damage to the drywall where the chair rail molding was removed .

What a change! Now the room’s look is quiet and fresh .
The buffet , topped with a decorative mirror , will go on this wall . That’s why I centered the pattern in between the windows , so it will fall evenly on either side of the furnishings .
I also plotted so that a full “Moroccan lantern” (that’s what this style of trellis pattern is called), would balance out between the crown molding and the window molding. There were several of these 12.5″ high areas all around the room, so this placement of whole “lantern” motifs gave the room a pleasing look.
It also worked out that the lanterns were evenly placed and kept whole between the crown molding and the baseboard. See the second following photo to see what I’m talking about
As a note – just this one window wall took me about five hours to measure , calculate , and hang . Getting the pattern to go over, around, and under the two windows , and still line up and match correctly , took some time and futzing. The material was thick and stiff , and a bit tricky to fit into corners and trim around the decorative window molding .
In the foreground you see my work table area . The homeowner has let me put protective padding on her dining room table and then set my work table on that. This saves space and allows plenty of room for my ladder and other tools as I work around all four walls.

So that I could center the pattern on this wall , I had to start hanging my first strip in the middle of the wall. I was lucky this time, that the pattern was centered exactly on the edge of the wallpaper roll . Sometimes (as in the one I did yesterday – see previous post ) the center of the design motif is a to the right or left of the edge of the wallpaper . This, naturally, means you’ve got to do more measuring and plotting and double-checking , to be sure the center of the design falls down the center of the wall .
Back to the photo above … that dark block on the right side of my work table is my laser level. It’s shooting a perfectly plumb red line onto the wall. Here I’m lining up my first strip of paper butted against this red line .
Switch topics … Back in 1994, the original installer did a very nice job of hanging the wallpaper. But … he didn’t prime the new drywall first. That lack of primer / protective layer means that the wallpaper will actually bond to the drywall. I tried, but was unable to get the existing wallpaper off . Eventually, you need to factor in time , damage to the wall , paste residue left on the wall, and take a different tac if called for.
So I skim-floated over the seams , so they wouldn’t show under the new paper , and also floated over the damaged drywall where the chair rail had been removed . Sanded smooth , and then primed the patched areas as well as the original wallpaper, with Roman Ultra Prime Pro 977 . This stuff will adhere to the light acrylic (slick) surface of the original wallpaper, as well as protect it from moisture from my paste on the new wallpaper. ( Moisture could cause the underlying original wallpaper to expand , creating bubbles that will look bad, or loose areas that will pull away from the wall, creating a bubble or pocket.)
My primer is also lightly pigmented, so it helps block out the dark color and busy pattern of the original wallpaper . This particular new wallpaper is quite opaque , but not all of them are, so a pigmented primer is important , IMO .

Left corner of the buffet wall. Here you can see how the lantern motifs are placed between ceiling and floor.

The background has a lightly mottled effect, that mimics grasscloth a bit, and also adds more depth and warmth than just a plain solid color .

Been havin’ more than a fair share of defects lately, especially this week. This paper had on both front and back sides, incidences of these black flecks . They seemed to be maybe charcoal , so I wasn’t too worried about their black bleeding through to the surface , like ink or any oil-based substance will do.
Most of them were embedded in the material itself, so could not be wiped off , nor dug out with a razor blade . Some I had to cut around and discard the affected paper. Others were so small as to not be noticeable once the paper was up on the wall and all the furniture and artwork was back in the room.
There was also one 3′ section of wallpaper that had an odd streak or arc running across it. It wasn’t ink . It was more like some kind of compromise to the substrate . I noticed it was I was pasting the back of the paper . I turned it over and, sure enough, you could see it a little on the surface. (see photo in previous post) It’s the kind of thing that was subtle, but would catch your eye when looking at the wall from a distance . It was minor , but I discarded that strip . Good thing I have the homeowners purchase a little extra wallpaper .

The manufacturer is Designer Wallcoverings , which is a good quality brand (aside from the printing defects I described earlier ). It was a non-woven / paste the wall material , which is pretty user-friendly . It will strip off the wall easily and in one piece when you redecorate . Stain-resistant , and ” breathable ” in humid conditions .
The home is in the West University neighborhood of Houston . Dining room installer

Falling Floral Mural in West U Dining Room

Two opposing accent walls , above the paneled wainscoting , will be papered in this dining room .

Here’s the south wall finished. Super cool how the flowers tumble from the sky downward .
This was actually two murals put together . Before you purchase , it’s important to make sure that one mural can be placed next to the other and have the pattern continue from one to the next .
Instead of starting in a corner and working across the wall , I plotted to put the fullest part of the mural in the center. This will nicely frame a buffet, or other furniture used on this wall.

Since this is a mural and each strip of wallpaper is different, and because I’m starting in the center with Strip #3, and then working left to right, and then going back to the center starting with Strip #2 and working from right to left, and because with a mural you have only one of each needed strip, so if you screw something up there is no more backup wallpaper to bail you out … So it’s important that you measure and plot and re-check everything before you cut anything and before you take any strip to the wall.
So here you see all my strips cut and positioned as they will be placed on the wall. This is a paste-the-wall non-woven material , and note that I have rolled each strip backwards with the top coming off first, and secured with an elastic hairband from the dollar store. This both gets rid of the ” memory ” of the paper wanting to stay tightly curled up , and also keeps the printed face of the wallpaper from bopping into the pasted wall .

Here’s the north wall, before.

Instead of centering the pattern on the full width of the wall, I centered it on the left section.

First strip going up butted against the vertical red line of my laser level .

Bosch brand , less than $100 at Lowe’s .

This wallpaper is called Artemis Climbing Walls and is in the Blackthorn collection .

Manufacturer is House of Hackney . This outfit makes some mighty nice wallpaper , and they have some very fun an innovative designs.
Most are sold as a 4-panel set mural , and can sometimes be tricky to measure for.
It’s a nice non-woven material , durable, and the seams are invisible . I used the paste the wall installation technique .
wallpaper installer houston

Balancing the Design

With some wallpaper patterns, it often looks best to plot where the design element will fall on the wall, both vertically and horizontally. In the top photo, I planned to have the “lotus” motif line up with the center of the wall horizontally (so it would align with the block paneling beneath it, and also look good behind the buffet, which will be placed in the center of this wall).

I also measured and planned ahead so that the lotus motifs would be distributed along the height of the wall evenly, without being chopped off at either the top or the bottom. The bottom, or the part just above the wainscoting, was most important, because it’s at eye level.

The wall with the buffet was important. But the wall with the window was also screaming for symmetry. I wanted either side of the window to be mirror-images. This took some doing.

Because I had centered the pattern on the buffet wall (to the left in the top photo), every other strip in the room would have to fall as it came off the roll, leaving no control over placement of the lotus design. Yet I still wanted that mirror-image.

But – I had a plan. And – in great part due to the forgiving layout of the room and the very short (2″) height of the wall over the entry door – I was able to fudge things and nudge things, and get the window wall to be symmetrical, and still have an invisible kill point at the last pattern join.

Too complicated to explain here, but I was very pleased to give this family this dining room with a nicely balanced and symmetrical wallpaper pattern lay-out.

See previous posts for info re pattern and interior designer.

From Grey to Golden – Delightful Dining Room

This dining room accent wall started out the typical suburban taupe/grey color, with even the ceiling painted the same color. The homeowner thought the room looked cold before.

Accentuating this focal wall with a special silk-look wallpaper really brought appeal to the room, and the warmth the homeower was seeking.

The wall will be finished with an oval mirror, and distressed sconces, which will tie in nicely with the weathered-look chandelier.

The remaining walls, as well as the area below the chair rail, will be painted. I suggested picking a color that compliments, rather than matches, the wallpaper color. This will enable the papered wall to stand out, with it’s mottled colors and warm feel.

The wall will then fade into the background, allowing the mirror, sconces, and buffet to take center stage.

This wallpaper is by Designer Wallpaper. It is a traditional paste-the-paper product, and was nice to work with. It went better when I pasted, booked, and then dipped the edges into water before bagging, which helped prevent the edges from drying.

The home is in Kingwood, a northeast suburb of Houston.

A Little Dazzle in the Dining Room

This is the same glam-heavy home as in yesterday’s post. Here we are, looking at an accent wall in the dining room, covered with a shimmery, metallic grasscloth superimposed with a silver metallic vertical stacked circle geometric design. The photos don’t do this paper justice – there is a lot of sparkle and sheen!

A mirrored buffet console will be placed in the center of this wall. Boy, will that set off the look!

I was pretty pleased with this product. It had virtually none of the paneling and shading and color variation problems that are common with most grasscloth wallpapers. It turned both vertical and horizontal outside corners well, and was easier to trim than most grasscloths.

I was NOT as pleased, however, with the support brackets and valance for the sliding barn door. Because they hold a whole lot of weight (just like big-screen TV’s) and are mounted deep into the wall studs, it’s often best to not remove or jack around with them. From the photo, you can’t see how complicated it is, but let’s just say that it took me TWO HOURS to hang just the one 3′ wide strip of paper over the door that went above, below, and around the various brackets, screws, and various pieces of metal that comprise the mounting mechanism. In the end, though, we got ‘er done, and it looks great.

This wallpaper pattern is by Thibaut Designs, in the Anna French line, 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.