A cozy nook. The homeowner likes to spend time here, soaking and relaxing. And recovering from supervising high school athletic activities ! This is a 1939 4-plex in the Montrose area of Houston that was beautifully renovated into a single-family home. So this entire master suite is carved out of what was originally one 1- bedroom apartment . Note my white 2′ x 4′ sheet of plywood over the claw-foot tub , so I can safely access the wall above. The wallpaper was placed on just one accent wall , above the tile wainscoting / chair rail . During the initial Sunday afternoon consultation , both the homeowners and I felt that this pattern on all the walls of this large master bathroom would be too overpowering . So they opted for just one accent wall . The design doesn’t have a strongly noticeable secondary or vertical pattern , but I still took the time to center the most dominant feature (the pomegranates) on the tub faucet . The faucet guy , tub guy , and tile guy didn’t get everything perfectly lined up – but nobody’s even noticing. What matters is that the finished nook looks fantastic! Also of note is that, in this near-100 year old home, the wall was bowed , and it wasn’t possible for the tile to lie flat against the entire surface. So there were some areas where the grout was 1/4″ wide, and some areas where the wall actually overshot the tile, leaving no visible grout at all. So at the area where the wallpaper met up with the top of the tile and the uneven grout line, I made a fat cut , to try to disguise the uneven line. Do a Search here to see previous posts on fat cuts . This wallpaper design is by William Morris , who was a strong force during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s , in the Art Nouveau and Arts & Crafts movements . His work is having a resurgence in popularity right now. Most are more symmetrical and repetitive than this example ( Google Strawberry Thief ) , but, true to the design aesthetic , all of them involve natural elements , such as plants , flowers , fruits , birds , and animals . In this close-up shot, you can see the raised ink of this print , which gives a slight textured feel . The manufacturer is Morris & Co. Usually M&C prints on a user-friendly non-woven material . But in the last year or two I’ve come across more and more M&C that are printed on the old-fashioned, traditional, what we call a British pulp substrate . Non-wovens are strong , durable , stain-resistant , humidity – resistant , easy to install , and easy to remove when you redecorate . Pulps , on the other hand , are just the opposite . Do a Search here to see my previous posts. None of this is a deal-breaker. The installer just needs to know what he’s getting into, before taking on the project. We hunted. This particular pattern was not available by any vendor in the NW material. Maybe it’s COVID , or supply chain issues , or maybe it’s a British thing (even though many American and Canadian companies are printing the Wm Morris designs ). Couldn’t find any outfit offering Fruit in non-woven. At any rate, the paper went up beautifully, and the basic paper material will hold up well, even if the homeowner steams up the room on her long tub soaks , and the pattern is lovely in the vintage home with new tile , tub , and faucet .
Taken from the current issue of The Installer , the newsletter of the Wallcovering Installers Association ( WIA ).
” The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent shelter-in-place mandates brought home as never before how crucial interior décor is to our everyday lives. Surrounded by our own walls, we learned that bland, dull interiors make for a boring and dull life, while vibrant interiors create a sense of energy and liveliness. “
And you can’t hang wallpaper when the house isn’t ready!
The poor homeowners of this completely renovated bungalow in the Houston Heights have had delays of up to nearly a year. Some COVID and supply-chain related. But lots more due to … well, due to tasks just not getting done. The mom pressed the contractor hard to be sure the space would be ready for wallpaper today. But as soon as I pulled up, I knew it wasn’t gonna happen.
No A/C and no heat = humidity = not good for wallpaper
Workmen in the area (my specs specify no one else on-site)
Workmen’s ladders blocking my access to rooms I am supposed to paper
Workmen’s power tools blasting noise = disrupts concentration
No running water in the house (I need to keep paper and woodwork clean)
Floors need to be sanded = dust getting onto the walls / wallpaper
High probability that someone will get handprints, paint, or other on the new paper
Yard is a mudpit = not good carrying my 50lb bucket of paste or 7′ long table back and forth
House not secure and likelihood of tools and equipment “walking off” esp. overnight
No one but me wearing a COVID-conscious mask
So, no wallpaper went up today. At first I thought I could at least get the primer up. But various factors made that not viable.
A day of work lost for me. For the rest of the week, I will have to try to find other clients who can be ready on 1-day’s notice. And reschedule these folks for later down the road.
This is a big disappointment for the homeowners, who are very much wanting the work to be finished and to move into their lovely new home.
Oh, and song lyrics compliments of Roger Miller, 1965.
This sign was posted on the door at eye level when I visited Sherwin-Williams today.
The COVID-induced shipping container jam-up, driver shortages, fires and freezes at chemical plants – all these contribute to the lack of supplies in stores.
Luckily for me, as a wallpaper installer, few of the items I use have been affected.
To be honest, I don’t mind paying a bit more for materials. I’m mostly concerned about being able to obtain what I need to get my clients’ paper up on their walls!
Mostly I use primer, paste, and smoothing compound, plus razor blades. Luckily, all of these remain available in my Houston area. Sherwin-Williams is doing a great job of keeping me supplied!
Just in case, though, I’ve got a (small) stockpile in my garage. Just enough to get through a month or so, if needed. I don’t want to hoard and prevent someone else from taking care of his own clients.
The owners love the large home office in their new house, and it’s been a real boon while they are working from home during the COVID pandemic.
But they learned real quickly that wild wallpaper in the background doesn’t make for a professional meeting experience on Zoom!
So I stripped the paper off, and they will paint instead. This was a non-woven material, and stripped off the wall fairly easily by simply pulling – carefully. That’s exactly what non-wovens were designed to do.
Rather than try to strip the whole panel off the wall, which does put quite a bit of stress on the wall surface below, another option is to separate the top, inked layer from the backing, as you see in the second photo. The white is the backing left on the wall. This is pretty easy to do, in most cases.
Then all you need to do is to use a sponge and bucket of water to soak that backing until the paste becomes soft and reactivated. Then it’s easy to peel the backing away from the wall. This puts virtually no stress on the wall and usually leaves you with a perfectly intact surface underneath.
There are more detailed instructions on my “How to Strip Wallpaper” page link to the right.
The previous wallpapers I’ve hung by Katie Kime have been on a non-woven substrate, a dependable synthetic material that has many positives going for it – light weight, breathable, stain-resistant, strips off the wall easily when redecorating, doesn’t expand when wet with paste so you can paste the wall as an alternative to pasting the paper, doesn’t expand so you can hang pasted strips immediately (no booking time), and your measurements will be accurate.
So I was surprised today by the weight of this material. And I could tell immediately that it was not their usual non-woven material.
Through a 20-minute Chat with their Customer Service (which is excellent, by the way), they told me that, due to the construction supply shortages related to the COVID pandemic, they are currently unable to get their usual materials, os have temporarily switched to a vinyl.
The backing looks like non-woven to me, but their instructions say to paste the paper and then book for 10 minutes, like a traditional paper. I suspect these instructions are outdated, but I followed them anyway.
This stuff was very thick and stiff … like working with a sheet of plastic. It was hard to press tightly into corners and to get tight cuts at ceiling and floor. I had to push really hard with a brand new blade to even slice through it.
I even had to use the heat gun to “melt” the material a bit so it would fit into and around inside and outside corners. This stuff would be the dickens to hang in a room with intricate cuts and turns.
The headboard wall had been painted a darker brown than the other walls in this master bedroom … but the homeowner sought a more soothing and comforting feeling for her bedroom – which has become something of a sanctuary, during these days of COVID and stay at home.
Interior designer Kandi Palella, of Kandi Contemporary Design, found this warm, earthy, organic wallpaper pattern. Viewed up close, it has the look of a hand-woven blanket … It really makes this room feel snug and welcoming.
Kandi coordinated other elements of the room (not pictured). Like a rug in the exact same colors and with the same woven texture. And artwork that includes leaves in the same color, as well as the scratchy fabric-like texture. One thing you can see are leaves reiterated on the bedspread, that are almost identical to the pattern on the wall.
This wallpaper is a non-woven material, and I used the paste-the-wall installation method. The manufacturer is Chesapeake, by Brewster.
The home is in Porter, which is way north east Houston.
I was working in the remodeled living room of a home out in the Memorial Villages (west Houston). I had the space to myself, even with a private water supply (wet bar). The family was in the rear of the house.
I had spent two days smoothing and priming the walls, and on Day 3 had set up my table, unrolled two bolts, and was plotting the layout of the wallpaper pattern.
The homeowner, who has been working from home, just happened to wander past at that time. (keeping 8′ distance) She noticed that the paper I had spread out on my table was not the same shade as the sample she and the designer had chosen.
Sure enough – the paper was the wrong pattern number – two digits off.
Whew! I had not cut anything yet. So there should be no problems in sending the material back and exchanging for the correct colorway.
So lucky the homeowner was there – or I would have had two walls up by the end of the day.
The issue now is, with the virus crisis, shipping is bollixed up, and so is manufacturing and warehousing. So it’s not certain when that replacement paper will be here.
I got a call from a gal this morning, who is currently working from home.
She said that since she is locked in the house, she has been staring at bland, boring, grey walls – and has concluded that wallpaper will be her salvation!
So once we are free to move around again, I hope to pay a site visit and then help her get some rooms beautified and un-grey-ified. 🙂
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