I’ve finished putting short strips of wallpaper over this wide entry way . My next strip will be a 9.5′ piece going down the left side of the door molding . The piece above the door ended 1/4″ from the left edge of the door molding. Normally, I would butt my next strip up against the existing piece. Then, as I move down the wall smoothing the paper into place against the wall, there will be a 1/4″ bit of it that laps over against the full length of the molding. I would need to use a straightedge and blade to trim this off. And then use my damp microfiber rag to wipe paste off the molding. This non-woven wallpaper is thick and stiff , and hard to press tightly against the molding, so a bit tricky to get a sharp , tight trim cut . And also difficult to ensure that exactly 1/4″ is being trimmed off . So it’s easy for the paper to go off-kilter , and for the pattern to not line up perfectly against the molding . Not a big deal on a busy floral pattern , but with a rigid geometric, it might be noticeable . So I decided to try this. I wanted to pre-trim the strip to take away that 1/4″ . This would save me from having to do any pressing or trimming. And also ensure that the pattern would fall perfectly straight against the doorway molding. I measured down 16″ (the height of the ” header ” over the doorway , plus a couple of inches for trimming at ceiling and then at the top of the door molding ) . Then I used my straightedge , razor blade , and fine ruler (from Texas Art Supply ) to measure over 1/4″ and trim it off . Don’t think this is a simple task … It’s hard to measure exactly the width of the bit above the molding that should be trimmed off. 1/4″? 3/8″? 5/16″? Also take into consideration that most wallpapers expand when they get wet with paste . So that 1/4″ I cut off could extend to 5/16″ or even more. That would mean a gap along the door molding. Next, if the strip above the door is not perfectly plumb , or if the door molding below it is not perfectly straight and plumb , the wallpaper won’t butt up properly against it, and may start to show a gap or an overlap. Sometimes you can manipulate the strip of wallpaper so that it does butt up against the door frame. But that can result in warps and wrinkles , or a pattern mis-match of the next piece . Also, like I said, this particular non-woven product is thick and stiff, and not happy about being asked to twist into another shape. Pasting the paper – instead of pasting the wall – does help to make it more pliable , so you have a better chance of manipulating the paper as you want. Here is the strip going into place. So far, it’s butting up nicely against the molding. And no need to trim anything or wipe paste off the woodwork – except for that little bit at the top, which was my ” extra ” allowed for trimming . FYI, that dark stripe you see along the woodwork is a shadow.Here is the wallpaper as it falls along the side of the molding. The pattern is lining up nice and straight and precise . To be honest, at the lower 1/3 of the wall, the paper did start to torque out of shape , and wanted to leave a gap at the molding, which was trying to grow from 1/16″ to maybe 1/4.” Not a lot – but it sure would look bad to have a 1/4″ gap between the wallpaper and the woodwork. Trying to “mush” it to the right to butt up against the woodwork was causing warps and wrinkles . I was a little surprised, but the paste had caused the stiff material to become softened and pliable – just enough that I was able to gently work out all those warps and wrinkles , so the wallpaper laid nice and flat against the wall. AND the left edge didn’t become distorted, but fell nice and straight enough that the next strip was easily able to butt up against it nice and tightly. This trellis / Moroccan lantern / onion dome / geometric pattern is by Designer Wallpapers .
Before, with 1994 décor wallpaper . Update is quieter in both color and pattern . this recessed area took me about three hours to wallpaper . Too complicated for here, but later in a separate post I may explain the process and challenges .A durable , DIY – friendly non-woven / paste the wall material by Designer Wallpapers . This is a dining room in the West U area of Houston .
Look to the right of my pencils. You can just make out this odd curved line through several feet of this wallpaper . Read my post above for more information about this. The streak doesn’t really hit you in the face. But if you were standing back from the wall , I believe this subtle break in the pattern would catch your eye. Manufacturer is Designer Wallpapers . It’s a non-woven / paste the wall material . This strip of wallpaper was to have gone on this wall to the left. I believe the streak would have been noticeable ; a sloping vertical line against the horizontal texture and the lantern motifs . I discarded it.
Dining room in the Oak Forest area of Houston, before. All white and crisp – but bland .Here with just a touch of color and texture . The homeowner took my suggestion to use an embossed vinyl faux grasscloth product, which is very consistent in color . The problem with real grasscloth is that so very often there are disappointing color variations between strips , even if they come off the same roll . We call this shading and paneling . Do a search here to see previous posts about this. Note that with both materials you will see the seams. With this faux material, once you got 3′ away, you can’t see the seams at all. The paper along the top of the wainscoting chair rail is to prevent my wallpaper primer from splattering onto the molding . I do the same for baseboards and bathroom backsplash es .Opposite corner done. Close-up showing the realistic texture of the vinyl product .This is by Designer Wallpapers and was purchased from the Sherwin-Williams in the Rice Village , by Dorota , who has been selling wallpaper for 25+ years and is THE expert on helping you select your perfect pattern .
Breakfast nook before. The blue is a pretty color. But … … the wallpaper is so much brighter and lighter. The homeowners will have the banquette painted (still deciding on what color) and a cushion made for the seat (still deciding on color and pattern). The rest of the home has a strong mid-century modern feel, so this mod pattern and colorway fit right in. The gold is slightly metallic. The brand is Designer Wallpapers. It’s a traditional wallpaper material, and I like this brand a lot. The home is in the far north east Heights area of Houston.
Here I’m hanging wallpaper from right to left, working around this corner. I’ve wrapped the paper 1/8″ around the corner, and then cut a new piece that will overlap that 1/8″ and continue to move to the left. (Search here to learn more about turning inside corners.) This is a 100 year old house, and this corner is way off-plumb – on both the right side and the left side. The chair rail, however, is perfectly level. Here, the pattern matches nicely at the bottom of the wall. But as it moves up, the crooked corner takes over, and the pattern becomes mis-aligned. By hanging the paper crooked, I can match the wallpaper pattern perfectly in the corner. But that will skew the left edge of this new strip off-plumb by slanting it to the right. That means that every subsequent strip will track off-plumb … and the motif at the top of the chair rail will start to climb uphill. Since the chair rail is so prominently visible, I think it’s more important for the pattern motif to be straight along the chair rail, than to be perfectly matched in the corner. But I didn’t like the way the pattern was getting un-matched at the upper part of the wall. I thought I could make it look better. This design gave me something to fiddle with. One option was to cut the paper vertically between the two rows of “swoops.” Then I could match the pattern in the corner, and pull the excess paper to the left, overlapping one strip on top of the other about 1/4″ at the top and tapering down to nothing at the chair rail. It’s a thin paper in a room with not-great lighting, so this overlapped lip would not be very noticeable. Still, I thought I could make it look better. I could make the overlap invisible by trimming the paper along the design. Here I’ve removed that corner piece. On the left is the strip I’ve cut off. Here I’m putting the strip into place, and making sure that the pattern matches nicely in the corner. This pushes the upper part of this cut strip further to the left, so it overlaps the other strip of paper just a little Now, instead of a visible straight overlap the full height of the strip, the overlap comes along the rounded edges of the design. That black line disguises the overlap beautifully!Here it is nicely matched in the corner, with invisible overlap along the curved black line. The excess still needs to be trimmed off at the ceiling and chair rail. Mission accomplished! The design matches nicely in the corner, the paper moving to the left is hung perfectly plumb, and the motifs are all at their proper heights along the chair rail and ceiling. This fun retro mid-century modern pattern is by Designer Wallpapers.
Perfectly centered wallpaper pattern on one accent wall over the sinks in a master bathroom. Th manufacturer is Designer Wallpapers
A fresh, clean look for a master bath in a new home in the Cypress neighborhood of far northwest Houston.
You don’t see a lot of accent walls in bathrooms; usually I recommend that baths look better with all the walls papered. But I have to admit, once the homeowner adds the mirrors and light fixtures, this will be a crisp, fun look.
this paper was purchased through the showroom at the brand new Ballard Designs brick-and-mortar store on W. Gray in the River Oaks / Montrose neighborhood of Houston.
Originally, the homeowner wasn’t “really” thinking about adding wallpaper to her master bedroom. But, in the back of her mind, she must have been “kinda” thinking about it, because, after I finished measuring several bathrooms in the home and was poised to leave, she hauled me into the bedroom and asked what could be done to create more of a haven.
I pulled out some samples of patterns I have hung in other homes, and she immediately zeroed in on this one. My sample was the navy blue colorway, but she grasped that wallpaper comes in different color options, and was able to envision this in a softer color to coordinate with the rest of the walls. (Note that that hot pink is a protective plastic sheet – not the color of the headboard!)
To me, the pattern looks like architectural details from old Roman ruins. The distant photos distort the design a bit, so please look at the close up to get a better idea.
Usually I will place a design like this in the middle of the wall. But in the case of this 18′ wide wall, the bed was not centered on the wall, nor was the chandelier. In addition, there curtains on either side of the wall that obscured the corners.
So I opted to center the circular design motif on the chandelier. This meant the bed had to be moved to the right … a whole 3″. This way, as you walk out of the master bathroom, you see the chandelier, the headboard, and the wallpaper design all synced up vertically.
The pattern doesn’t hit the wall uniformly on the right and left sides of the wall, but the drapes cover that. And, on a wall this wide with lots of furniture in front of it, who cares, anyway?!
The wallpaper is by Designer Wallpapers, one of my favorite companies, and was bought at Southwestern Paint. See link on the right for where to purchase wallpaper in Houston. This home is in Katy.
Resembling a watercolor painting, this wallpaper looks even better in person. The colors are gorgeous, and the pattern is invigorating. The homeowner is in love with this update to her 30 year old guest bathroom in the Katy neighborhood of Houston.
This is the finished look to the room in yesterday’s post. The wallpaper is by Designer Wallpapers, a company that makes very good quality paper. It was purchased from Southwestern Paint (see Where To Buy Wallpaper link on the right).
Although I can’t tell if these are wildflowers or weeds, I really like this pattern. The homeowner does, too!
The original wallpaper in this hall bathroom was dark and dated back to the ’90’s. It had held up well, though. But the homeowner was ready for something new and fresh.
The original wallpaper was hung when the house was new, and was placed directly on the drywall with no primer. That bode badly, but – once I went to work on it, it stripped off relatively easily, and with no damage to the wall. It DID take most of a day, though, to strip both the large sink room and the large potty room.
Then I primed with Roman’s Pro 977 Ultra Prime, specifically formulated for wallpaper.
This is by Designer Wallpapers, and is a heavier non-woven material. It can be hung via the paste-the-wall method – but that works better on single accent walls. For this bathroom, with it’s corners and vanity and doors, I chose to paste the paper, which makes it more flexible, and easier to work into tight areas.
This home is in Katy (far west Houston). I hung paper in their entry a few years back, and was tickled when the homeowner called me to do some more rooms (additional posts to follow).
She also used the same gal to help her select and purchase her perfect paper – Dorota Hartwig at Southwestern Paint on Bissonnet near Kirby, my favorite source for good quality, product knowledge, expert service, and competitive price. (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.
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