Affordable Version of Trendy Wallpaper Pattern

Accent wall in this guest bathroom in the Houston Heights has been smoothed and primed, and is ready for wallpaper.

Schumacher makes a popular version of this design called Queen of Spain. Rebecca Atwood makes something very similar named Dashes. Both of those are expensive brands, and the papers require hand-trimming, as well as other special installation techniques. The Queen comes in an unwieldly 54″ width.

This option by A Street Prints , though, is very similar but much lower in price. I prefer this pattern, too, because it’s not as ” stripy ” as the other brands. The name is Rune Charcoal Brushstrokes.

This is a non-woven material, and can be hung via the paste-the-wall method.

As I like to say – for every high-end company making a cool pattern that is costly and also difficult to install, there is someone else making a knock-off that is more affordable and of better quality.

From Diagonal to Vertical

This home in Bellaire was (Houston) built in the ’90’s, and the original wallpaper (top photo) in this bathroom was outdated and had begun to curl at the seams. I stripped off the old paper and primed the walls with Gardz, a penetrating sealer that is a good base for wallpaper to adhere to. See second photo.

The new tone-on-tone blue striped wallpaper updates the room, and adds a softer look. The homeowner chose cherry red accessories to accent the room. These are toned down by navy blue rugs and towels that are a slightly duskier navy and red.

This paper is a pre-pasted solid vinyl on a paper backing. Despite the economical price-point, I don’t recommend these types of papers, especially in rooms that are prone to humidity, such as bathrooms.

For starters, it’s difficult to install, and the seams never really look good. Second, the paper backing tends to absorb moisture from the air and then expand, and that causes the seams to curl. The vinyl surface layer is known for delaminating (separating from that paper backing). This, again, results in curled seams. This is not something that can be pasted back. So you are either left with curled seams or faced with repapering the entire room.

The best way to (hopefully) avoid this is to properly prep the walls, and to keep humidity to a minimum (avoid steamy showers, keep the A/C / heating vents open, run the exhaust fan, keep the door open).

Better yet, avoid purchasing paper-backed solid vinyl wallcoverings. If you shop at my favorite place (see the page on the right), you will be steered to beautiful papers of a better quality, while still at affordable prices.