Dark, Sparkly, Faux Cork in Spring Branch Powder Room

No good pictures of this, folks – you had to see it in person to get the full effect.

But the textured vinyl wallpaper had the appearance of a charcoal-colored cork material – with a few silvery sparkles tossed in here and there.

The homeowner wanted a snug, dark powder room. But not cave-like. This paper did the trick beautifully. It is dark, but with the large mirror and the light grey vanity and cararra marble countertop, there were plenty of light colored accents to offset the dark.

This was a new, open floor plan, contemporary styled home in the Spring Branch neighborhood of Houston. The vinyl material will be resistant to water and stains. The non-woven substrate had a lot of fiberglass content – I could see the strands! – so it will be easy to strip off the wall when it’s time to redecorate. In addition, the material does not expand when wet with paste, needs no booking time, and can be hung with the paste-the-wall method. I preferred to paste the paper.

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.

You Never Know What You’ll Find Underneath Old Wallpaper

The tan damask wallpaper in this West U powder room is a true classic, but it doesn’t fit the homeowners’ more modern taste. This week I will replace it with a lighter colored textured material.

Today I removed the old wallpaper. What a surprise to find this underneath! At first, I couldn’t figure out what it was, and thought maybe it was some king of particleboard.

But once I got more wallpaper stripped off the wall, it was clear that this was a professionally-done faux finish job in silver and charcoal. It coordinated nicely with the black granite countertop and display cabinet.

Cute Paris Theme for Little Girls’ Shared Bathroom

Most everything in this new home in the Woodland Heights neighborhood of Houston is sleek and white. The homeowner wanted to add just a little pizazz to the hall bathroom shared by her two young daughters.

This Paris-themed design, with its pencil-thin lines and three-color palette is just perfect! I love the way the line drawing effect reiterates the lines in the shower’s subway tile. Charcoal grey, white, and just a touch of red are enough to brighten the room, without overwhelming the serene white color scheme. And it’s a fun design to look at. I mean, who wouldn’t love Paris – especially a Paris with a Ferris wheel?

The wallpaper is by York Wall, in their Sure Strip line, and is a pre-pasted product on a thin non-woven backing. It is designed to strip off the wall easily with no damage when it’s time to redecorate. In the meantime, it is thin and hugs the wall tightly, and the seams are practicably invisible. This brand is very reasonably-priced.

The interior designer for this project is Stacie Cokinos, of Cokinos Design. Stacie specializes in helping choose floor plans, finishes (flooring, countertops, paint colors), fixtures (faucets, lights, knobs), appliances, in new home construction and in remodel projects. Her look is fresh and clean, but very livable for modern families. She is a delight to work with.

Cole & Son Woods / Stars for a Baby Boy’s Nursery

See that top photo? This newborn baby was doomed to a boring, blaagh, unstimulating nursery. But Mom wanted more for her first-born son. Pastels and teddy bears wouldn’t do it. Mom found this innovative design in an un-baby-like color – and, boy, does it look great!

In the top photo, I am in the process of applying smoothing compound to a textured wall. Once dry, it will be sanded smooth and then primed, making it ready for wallpaper.

I hung this in a new home in the Bridgelands area of Cypress / Katy (Houston). The manufacturer is Cole & Son, a British company. It is a thick, fairly stiff non-woven material. It is intended to be installed with the paste-the-wall method, and it works nicely for single accent-wall projects like this.

But that thickness and stiffness means that it would be less suitable if it had to turn corners or meld into cuts around intricate moldings. That means it would be difficult to get to look great in rooms that have a lot of angles, edges to wrap, or detailed cuts. (bathrooms, kitchens, rooms with decorative moldings, etc.)

I don’t have a finished-room shot of this baby’s room, but, as you can see, the crib accent wall looks fantastic.

I like this matt-finish charcoal blue color much better than the more common black-on-white designs I have seen. And the gold stars really amp up the appeal.

Boldly Whimsical

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“Bold” and “whimsical” don’t typically go together, but that’s what this homeowner wanted for her large powder room in the Briarpark neighborhood of Houston. I’d say that this animal-filled, fun foresty pattern in a smudgy charcoal colorway fills the bill! Look close to see the stylized animals frolicking across the paper!

The second photo shows the first strip going up. I love the stripe of dark, bold color against the boring white walls.

The pattern is called “Wonderland,” and it is by Boras Tapeter, a Scandinavian company. It is on a non-woven substrate, and I hung it using both the paste-the-paper and the paste-the-wall methods.

Gunmetal Metallic Cork Wallpaper

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The room was too dark, and likewise the paper, to get any good photos. But this is a beautiful charcoal / gunmetal grey cork wallpaper with flecks of gold that I hung on one large accent wall of a new townhome in the Bellaire / Meyerland / Renwick neighborhood of Houston. I’ve hung this or similar several times, but in the brighter silver colorway. For a single man, I like this version better.

The homeowner commented that he thought the paper made the room look bigger. I hear this a lot with patterned paper, especially in small rooms like powder rooms. But it’s good to hear that people also find that a textured wallcovering visually enlarges a room, too.

The interior designer for this job is Chris Breining of Christopher Design, Inc. The wallpaper is by York, and is in the Candice Olson line.

Watch What You Touch!

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This week, I am hanging a Phillip Jeffries dark charcoal / navy blue grasscloth in a master bedroom in the Houston Heights neighborhood. As is the case with many grasscloths that have the color applied to the surface, the inks can come off onto your hands (or table or tools or clothing!!). My hands are absolutely dry all day while working, yet the inks still transfer from the paper onto my hands.

With papers dyed with unstable ink like this, any bit of water can stain it, blotch it, remove the color. So, it’s really important to keep everything dry, to not wipe seams as you might with a more typical wallpaper, to not get any paste on the surface of the paper, and to use waxed paper or other measures to keep paste off ceilings and moldings (so you won’t need to wipe it off with a damp rag, which would remove color from the paper).

This is a good time to jump in and remind people that grasscloth is generally NOT a good idea in wet rooms, like bathrooms or kitchens, because of the propensity for staining and bleeding.  And don’t even think about cleaning it – Vacuum – maybe.  Wash or wipe – no!.