Client Lets Me Know What To Keep

Once the new wallpaper is up, this homeowner wants to rehang her artwork, mirrors, and curtains in the same spots they were originally. So she has left the hangers and nails in place, and marked which ones she wants to keep.

When I put up the new paper, I will be able to put the hangers back in their proper spots, and she can hang her items where they belong.

Note that it’s important to not write on the walls with ink or marker – it will bleed through and stain the wallpaper. So pencil or sticky notes are perfect.

Wallpaper in Midwest Living Magazine

These two rooms were featured in the March/April 2019 issue of Midwest Living.

The first wallpaper pattern is in an entry, and is by Schumacher, a well-established company. The bathroom pattern is by Jana Bek. She has some pretty interesting, coordinating lamps on her website. She sells linens, too – as you can see the curtains reflected in the vanity mirrors!

Wallpaper on a Window Valance

I hung a beautiful grasscloth in the West U. living room of this empty-nester couple a month ago. They were putting the room back together, including hanging the curtains. This window valance had been covered with padded fabric which matched the drapes. Since the drapes are being changed, the valance no longer worked. The couple thought that the valance would look better covered in the same material as the walls.

So … I brought the valance home, along with some left over wallpaper scraps, and covered it.

The photo is deceptive – the thing is about 7′-8′ long. At first I thought I could take it to work with me and do it while I was waiting for primer to dry, for instance. But it’s way too big and loppy to haul into someone else’s home and, would, of course, take more time than anticipated.

So it sat in my garage for a couple of weeks, until I finally found a spare moment (three hours, actually) to pull out my tools, set up my table, get out the measuring tape, and slap some paste on that puppy.

The homeowner had removed the upholstery and the padding, and hammered the staples down as flat as possible. Then I sealed the wood with oil-based KILZ Original stain blocker, to prevent any wood sap from bleeding through the wallpaper. Since wallpaper paste won’t stick to most oil-based products I followed that with a coat of wallpaper primer (Ultra Prime, Pro 977 by Roman’s). On the driveway under the June Houston sun, that didn’t take long to dry. 🙂

Then some careful measuring to get panels of equal width, pasting, and applying the grasscloth to the wooden frame. I used a special “super glue for wallpaper” (clear silicone caulk 🙂 ) for the edges, to be sure the grasscloth would be able to grip on to the uneven and rough wooden surfaces.

I was pleased with the way it turned out. And I know the homeowners will be happy to get the valance up on the wall, their curtains up, and their room put back together and ready to enjoy.