Getting More Light Into A Room

This small hallway in a 1936 bungalow in the Eastwood neighborhood of Houston was very dark , with just this hanging light fixture . It’s gorgeous … Art Deco style , and probably original to the home. But just not putting off enough light for me to install wallpaper .
So here’s my easy solution . The metal fixture has an open hook type area that will hold my extension cord . But if not, I have dollar store hair bands (beauty dept) that I can rig up there to hold the cord. The plug-in socket s are available at Home Depot or the like for about two bucks. You can also plug them into a wall outlet .

More Blue Heron Flight Mural

This is the kind of a room that you don’t just look at the walls – you have to stand in the room and feel it. Dusk settling into night , swooping birds , stormy clouds .

This looks a little like hand-stitched embroidery .

This textured natural material is a fine sisal , which is similar to grasscloth . The color between panels was pretty uniform , as you see at the seam toward the right of the photo .

These panels came 33″ wide . But for this last strip on the right, I only needed 23″ width. That means I would have 10″ of width , the length of the strip, to cut off and discard . If I had used the left side of the strip, which is logical installation sequence , we would have had birds’ butts sticking out from the side of the window molding . So I decided to trim off that left side and instead use the right side which, as you see, has a more pleasing bird’s face and wing .

The brand is Phillip Jeffries , a high-end company . The material comes as a 6-panel set . You have to purchase six panels, but after that, you can buy individual panels in sequence, so you’ll have enough to do your room , without having to purchase a full 6-panel set. Like I said – this stuff is pricey!
This dining room is in a renovated 1925 home in the Heights neighborhood of Houston .
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Phillip Jeffries Flight in Blue Heron in Heights Dining Room

Before shot of dining room in a beautifully restored and enlarged 1925 bungalow in the Heights neighborhood of Houston.
Just below dead center of photo, under the stairs – my helper couldn’t be less interested!

Swooping heron , and powerful , roiling, turbulent clouds .

This is a manila hemp product , which is similar to grasscloth , and has a texture d surface . As with most natural materials , the seams are always a bit visible .

The walls in this home were smooth , so no call for skim-floating or sanding … Just a primer was needed . My favorite primer for wallpaper is Roman Pro 977 Ultra Prime .

This wallpaper comes in panels , and is custom made to order . All of the panels are rolled up into one long bolt , and you have to separate them, as you see here. AND keep them in the correct order / sequence ,

I was lucky that this house had a lot of open floor space , where I could roll out the panels to verify pattern match, panel sequence , and get accurate measurements.
Note that, like many high-end brands, this wallpaper comes with an unprinted selvedge edge , that has to be trimmed off by hand . Once I get the edges trimmed off , the birds you see in the photo above will match perfectly .

I trim against this Big Blue straightedge , and hold a single edge razor blade in my hand .

Sorry, I don’t know how to flip this photo. WordPress used to be easy to work … but some years back they came up with this ” New Editor ” which is, to be honest, a nightmare, and costs me a lot of time every evening.
End of rant. Here is a mock-up provided by the manufacturer , that shows the mural as a six- panel set , including pattern layout and dimensions of each panel .

Here are my drawings from when I first consult ed with the homeowner and we plotted out how the paper was to be install ed. Phillip Jeffries is expensive stuff!
Normally, with a mural , a full-height panel is required for even the 6″ high areas over the door ways. See photo below. This means that you’re paying for a lot – a LOT – of wallpaper that gets cut off and thrown into the trash.
But, since the panels are about 2′ taller than the walls , we figured that the part cut off the bottom of each strip could be used for the areas over the doorways (see next photo) , as well as above and below the windows (see last photo).
This will take no small amount of math and engineering , and the couple will have to live with some paneling / shading , and color variations between strips . But that’s typical of grasscloth type products , anyway. Accepting a few color differences will save this couple a few – thousand – dollars. Yes, I told you that PJ was expensive stuff!
And I’m up for the challenge !

Here’s the one area I’ve done so far, using scraps discarded from the bottoms to piece in over the top of the entryway . This area is only 6″ high , so color variations won’t be very noticeable . Still, it really turned out well.

Getting a similarly pleasing look on this wall , with heights over and under the windows being much higher than 6″ , will be tomorrow’s challenge. Stay tuned!

Frutto Proibito in Powder Room Revisited

I hung this wallpaper a year or two ago and was back to paper the dining room this week, so had a chance to peek into the powder room and get a “finished” photo. Here it is with lights off.

With lights on.

South wall. I love the window molding and vanity painted to complement the wallpaper .
This is in a beautifully remodeled and enlarged bungalow in the Heights neighborhood of Houston .
This lively and fun pattern is called Frutto Proibito and is in the adventurous Fornasetti collection by Cole & Son .
It’s a popular pattern, and I installed it a number of times, including a few months ago in a Montrose laundry room. https://wallpaperlady.wordpress.com/2023/02/24/cole-son-monkeys-liven-up-laundry-day/
This material is a DIY -friendly non-woven / paste the wall type of wallpaper . It’s strong , durable , stain-resistant , and will strip off the wall easily and with no damage to the wall when it’s time to redecorate .

Old Light Fixture and Thermostat

I’m all about old things , particularly from the ’20’s, ’30’s, and ’40’s . I don’t know if this hanging light fixture is original to this 1936 bungalow in the Eastwood neighborhood of Houston , but it sure fits in. I think it’s gorgeous!

Here’s something I’ve never seen before … an oldie thermostat . Note the well-known brand name Honeywell. I don’t know if it operated heat or cooling , or if it’s as old as the home or was added later . But I sure think it’s super cool. So do the homeowners , who are making sure that it stays right there on the wall !
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Adventurous Color And Pattern For Artsy Family

Hall leading to bedrooms and bathroom in 1936 bungalow with classic floor plan found in these age and style homes . No, the family doesn’t spend a lot of time in this tiny space , but the homeowner wanted to jazz it up.

Here you go – funky , fun , and colorful ! Makes the space feel larger , too.

The room has five doors , and the bold wallpaper really stands out against the white paint .

Close up .

The pattern is called Indienne and is by the House of Hackney . This installer – friendly non-woven material comes in one large roll that you cut apart into four panels or strips , and then hang in sequence . In the picture above, you see how the four panels look placed next to each other. The final width is about 6′ and the height is 10′ 4″. Most people have shorter walls , so the wallpaper can be trimmed to your ceiling height .
Non-woven wallpapers can be hung by pasting the wall , but I usually prefer to paste the paper . They will strip off the wall easily and with no damage to your walls when you redecorate later .

This company custom-prints your paper when you order .

Here’s their instruction sheet . The printed instructions come in about 10 different languages , and the print is miniscule . But the diagrams are universal!
The home is in the Eastwood neighborhood of Houston . installer

Muddy, Moody Accent Wall for Guest Bedroom

The homeowners of this 1936 bungalow in the Eastwood neighborhood of Houston are artists and maximalists , and their home home is filled with lots of funky , colorful , and unexpected items. This poor bedroom needed something to help it fit in with the rest of the house .

Solution! This shot pretty much depicts the correct colors in this wallpaper pattern .

the colors are actually darker and murkier than this.

Mysterious looking flowers and foliage , and deep , rich jewel-tone colors .

This wallpaper is called Opia and is by House of Hackney . Hackney makes lovely non-woven / paste-the-wall goods, along with innovative patterns , many of which are sort of murals . I like this brand a lot , for fun patterns and also for excellent quality , durability , ease of installation , ease of removal , and affordable price .
Each of their ” rolls ” contains four panels , which are meant to be hung in sequence , left to right . Put together, the four panels measure about 6′ wide by 10.5′ high . If you have 8′ ceilings , yes, you will be throwing away 2.5′ of length for each strip . Likewise, for the space over a door , which is usually about 1′ – 2′ high, you will use a full 10.5′ strip, throwing away up to 9′ of it .
It’s important to know this when calculating how much to purchase , because if you figure by square footage, you’re gonna come up way short. You’ve got to count how many panels you will need. Or, better yet – let the installer calculate how much to buy .

Pretty , Airy Humming Birds on Breakfast Nook Walls

Before. Note that those vertical lines on the wall are cast by the macrame light fixture. You also see bench seating with storage underneath . There will be a wall-mounted table in the center . The wainscoting / chair rail is high enough to keep any food splashes or sticky fingers from staining the wallpaper .

Finished .

Arts & Crafts Style Frieze in Heights Bungalow

Dining room before. This bungalow in the Woodland Heights neighborhood of Houston is very true to the Arts & Crafts / Craftsman period. This style featured straight , clean lines , nature , and muted colors that mimicked those found in nature . The homeowner is a retired woodworker / carpenter and did much of the millwork you see here.

Done. The teal green is actually a little more muted than the photo shows.

From another angle.

Close-up. This wallpaper pattern is called Fir Tree .

A frieze is a wide wallpaper border , usually run around the middle or top of a room . The manufacturer is Bradbury & Bradbury . They specialize in period-inspired patterns from past eras, such as Victorian , Arts & Crafts , Oriental , Modern Age / Mid Century Modern , and more.

Bradbury prints on stock that’s about 28″ wide, and this border is about 13″ wide. So Bradbury prints two borders side-by-side , and then you need to use a straightedge and razor blade to cut them apart .

Although the border came about 13″ wide, the space between the beams was only about 11.5″ . So we were going to lose about 2″ . I consulted with the homeowner. He really wanted to see the copper metallic pine cones. We also felt the trunks of the trees were important design elements . We decided that the pattern could afford to lose more from the top , which would permit more of the tree trunks to show, all the while preserving those pine cones.
Here I am trimming 2″ off the top, so the overall height of the frieze is now 12″ . That will fill the space between the beams, and also allow a little bit to tuck down below the bottom beam (there is a gap between the wall and that beam).

The room was really dark , the wallpaper was dark , and my straightedge was casting a shadow where I needed to trim. So I grabbed my Big Larry flashlight from my toolbox and was able to see where to trim.

Bradbury uses inks that are quite delicate , and can be scratched or marred simply by brushing with my smoother brush , or my plastic trapezoid squeege smoother tool . Metal – like a trim guide or scissors – will also leave marks on it . Here I’ve wrapped tools in microfiber towels and baby socks , to soften contact with the wallpaper .
Bradbury inks and substrates can be finicky, and it’s important to use the paste recommended by the company for the particular colorway that you’re hanging . In this case, I had to use clay – based paste .
The inks and substrate aren’t always compatible , so when you add wet paste to the back , it can cause the substrate to absorb moisture and swell , while the inks on the surface are holding tight. This will result in wrinkles , warps , and bubbles on the surface . We call this quilting or waffling .
One trick is to lightly sponge clean water onto the inked surface. This will allow the surface to absorb moisture and expand hopefully at the same rate as the backing , hopefully eliminating wrinkles and bubbles .
On this install , I still had problems with uneven expansion . And with the paper drying out before I could get an entire strip up on the wall. So, while I was pasting the back, I also sprinkled a little water on the back and mixed it in with the paste . This did seem to even out moisture , and also help the material remain moist and workable during the installation .
In addition, I also had trouble with the edges of the paper drying out before I could get a full strip up on the wall. Part of this was because it’s winter time and the furnace was blowing hot air into the room and drying out the paper. My counter-attack was, again, to sprinkle a little water onto the back, to hydrate the material more. Also, once I had pasted a strip and rolled it up (see below), I dipped the edges into about 1/8″ of clean water. And then wrapped the pasted material in a plastic trash bag and allowed to book for a few minutes before hanging . This is standard procedure with wallpaper. Actually, what worked better was to paste, book, bag, and then just before hanging to dip the ends into water. This seemed to keep everything wet and workable better and longer.
Despite all this, some small bubbles did remain in the paper. As the paper dried, though, they flattened out.

When you book a strip of wallpaper, customarily you fold the top 1/3 down and the bottom 2/3 up. This keeps paste from smearing all over everything, and makes each strip shorter and easier to handle. And allows you to get the top section of the pattern lined up with that on the previous strip , before unfolding the bottom section and working that against the wall.
But it’s a little different handling a narrower border that’s maybe 12′-15′ long. What I do to make this manageable is to book the material in accordion pleats . See photo. Then I can unfold just a small section, work it into place, and then move along the strip, smoothing just a small section at a time against the wall.
Actually, with this install, I positioned my sections against the wall temporarily, to get the whole 15′ strip up there. And then went back and smoothed each section against the wall, working out bubbles and warps , and ensuring that the frieze was pressed tightly against the wall at both top and bottom .
There were four strips around the top of this dining room. On each strip I used a different install method. By the time I was done, I had learned how the material wanted to be treated.
The homeowners are in love with this period-authentic look for their vintage bungalow. The husband said it was like Christmas, because they had waited for so long to have this room completed, and now it’s finally finished and beautiful!

Revisiting Arts & Crafts Install in Heights Bungalow

Note: The camera has altered the colors here a bit … the blue is actually a lot more toned-down and murky . I hung this back in 2020. This bungalow in the Houston Heights / Woodland Heights is very Arts & Crafts in style … that’s a decorating theme that was popular back around the turn of the last century .
The manufacturer is Bradbury & Bradbury , who specializes in recreating the feel of by-gone wallcoverings , especially from the periods of Victorian , Arts & Crafts , Oriental , Modern Age , and more.

The color is a little more true here. A wide wallpaper border like this is called a frieze , and was poplar in Craftsman styled homes back about the turn of the last century .