Wallpaper in Magnolia Journal (JoAnna Gaines)

There was a nice multi-page spread in the current issue of Magnolia Journal on wallpaper. It talked about various ways it can be used, and how pattern and color can change a room.

Unfortunately, it mentioned peel & stick products as a viable option – they are NOT. Truly horrible stuff. Read my Page to the right.

The first photo is an unconvetional use of color and pattern. Love it.

Third photo, I have hung this pattern, or similar, a good number of times. It is a mural that can be custom-sized to fit your wall.

Fourth photo, “Daydream” by Hygge & West, is very popular and I have hung it many times. Not my favorite brand, because their ink fights their substrate, and tends to curl at the seams.

Palm and banana leaves are always popular. This photo shows how a really large scale can be used effectively in a small space.

Last photo, a really cool idea, to include wallpaper just in the area between the high wainscoting and the crown molding. Note also the dark colors of the wood and the wallpaper. This must be a custom-sized mural, or a border.

Both the room and the wallpaper are an updated take on the “frieze” borders that were common back in the 1910’s and 1920’s – the Art Nouveau and especially the Arts & Crafts decorating movements. Most often placed above dark paneled moldings in dining rooms and living rooms. Today, Bradbury & Bradbury is the most prominent maker of these authentic looking patterns. Interestingly enough, just this week I got a call from a homeowner wanting to put a B&B frieze in their historic home here in Houston.

More Wallpaper in Better Homes & Gardens Magazine

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

I love it when home / shelter magazines show wallpaper in their decorating features! Once readers see how beautiful wallpaper is, and how it can enliven a space and give personality and warmth to a space, they are sure to want wallpaper for their own homes.

The first photo shows “Daydream” by Hygge & West. Do a Search on my blog (upper right corner), and you will see that I have hung this popular pattern many times, in several colors.

The second photos shows “Feather” by Serena & Lily, a company that makes wonderful wallpaper. The next pattern is theirs, too, and possibly the last one, too.

Three of these are colorful and playful, while “Feather” makes a quiet, warm backdrop to a more sophisticated living space.

Daydreaming in a Baby’s Nursery Bathroom

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

What a cheery bathroom, for a coming-tomorrow baby girl! This pattern is called “Daydream,” and is by Hygge & West, and can be bought on line.

The home is in the Museum District near downtown Houston.

Why I’m Holding Off on the Drop

Hmmm… It must be a trend. This is my second laundry room to wallpaper in two weeks. 🙂 Note that because wallpaper often shrinks just a tad as the paste dries, to reduce the possibility of the white wallpaper primer showing at the seams, I have striped the wall with a dark blue paint, just where the seams will fall.

In the top photo, I have placed my first strip, butting up against the far wall. I measured and plotted the layout so that none of the birds would be cut off vertically in the corners. So, by starting here, I get full birds in both the left and right corners of the room, but I end up with a dicey situation right at the corner of the countertop.

The 27″ wide paper reaches beyond the 25″ wide countertop by just a little – and that little 2″ bit is very prone to tearing, not to mention, even if hung alongside a plumb line, it’s very common for paper to go crooked if it’s disconnected from its top half. So, I have left the paper booked (folded pasted-side-to-pasted-side), and sitting until I can get the next strip in place.

I hung the second strip butted up against the first strip. Because it was a full-width piece, it fell nice and straight right to the floor. Then, as you see in the third photo, I was able to carefully unbook the remainder of the first strip, tease it gently along the 2″ narrow space, butt it up against the strip to the left, and then work it into the angled section below the countertop.

This cheery “Daydream” pattern is by Hygge & West (http://www.hyggeandwest.com/). I have hung this pattern before, but this is the first time in this dark blue colorway. It went on one accent wall in the laundry room of a young family living in the Woodland Heights neighborhood of Houston.