Gold Metallic Greek Key Pattern in an Oak Forest Powder Room

This soft gold metallic-on-white background Greek key pattern doesn’t show up well in the photos but, boy, it really changed the room! Originally a bland tan with a thick wall texture, the powder room was large – but that’s about all it had going for it.

Unlike the other patterns chosen for this home, which are quite dramatic (see previous posts), this one is serene and fades into the background. But the white background combined with the shimmer of the metallic ink add a lot of brightness to the space.

The homeowner also did a great job of coordinating colors and themes in the wallpaper with the tiny mosaic squares of glass tile backsplash around the vanity.

This wallpaper pattern is by A Street Prints. It is a thick non-woven material, and will hold up a little better to splashes and little hands than a paper-paper. It is designed to strip off the wall easily when it’s time to redecorate. You are supposed to hang it via the paste-the-wall method, but I prefer to paste the paper. In fact, with the two rounded (bull-nosed) outside corners in the room, as well as a few other difficult features, I really needed the extra pliability that pasting the paper provides. It is prone to crease easily, so needed special care in handling.

Also, there were two full bolts / double rolls that had printing defects. See third photo. Although these defects were minor, with such a plain pattern, they did tend to be pretty noticeable. I’m glad I had enough paper to cut around them, and was able to get the room done without any jarring defects.

This paper was bought from my favorite source for good quality, product knowledge, expert service, and competitive price – Dorota Hartwig at Southwestern Paint on Bissonnet near Kirby. (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.

Hand-Trimming Rebecca Atwood “Dashes” Wallpaper

The wallpaper from my previous post is sold by the yard, and was digitally printed to order. Instead of coming in standard-length rolls / bolts, it comes in one continuous roll.

Like many high-end materials, it has an unprinted selvedge edge that has to trimmed off by hand. Here you see my straightedge and razor blade, carefully removing the excess paper.

Two Runs Are Not Fun

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When I first consulted with this client, she had already bought some wallpaper – but she did not have enough to cover her wall. (Note to homeowners – always have the space measured by a professional before you order your paper.) So she ordered more – but the new paper that arrived was from a run different from what she already had.

“Run” or “batch” numbers refer to when a batch of wallpaper was printed. Wallpaper printed at different times, and of different runs, will be slightly different in color.

This slight color difference is what you see in the second photo, the thin strip at the left of the pic. Even if the difference is minute, full length strips side-by-side on the same wall can be quite noticeable.

So, if you find yourself stuck with having to use different runs of wallpaper, you can disguise the color difference by “breaking” the runs in a corner…Because light hits the walls differently from one wall to the next, you won’t notice a slight color difference when the two different runs are on two different walls. However, it takes a bit more paper to do this. So, if you are dealing with two different runs, be sure to order one or two extra double-rolls of paper.

Grasscloth Delaminating (Coming Apart)

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In this dining room, I hung 15 full-length strips of this grasscloth wallpaper. All six double rolls came from the same run. All went well with 14 strips.

But when I started to paste the back of this strip (Photo 1), the paper immediately swelled and wrinkled and buckled, particularly down the center of the strip. When I turned the paper over, the buckling was quite evident there, too. It was so bad that the paper had actually pulled away from the grass sewn and pasted to the front.

You never know if this is going to disappear when the paper dries, and I sure didn’t want those ugly waves showing on my client’s walls. The strip was unusable and had to be thrown away. Luckily, they had bought sufficient paper that I could cut another strip. And double luckily, no other strips had this problem.

I’m curious to know what caused this. Possibly a different paper backing that absorbed moisture from the paste differently? But how could that happen in the same run, which are all manufactured at the same time? Or maybe the adhesive holding the grass onto the backing was sketchy in this one strip.

Nicely Packaged Wallpaper – For a Change

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There can be all kinds of flaws and defects with wallpaper, but mostly I complain about banged up edges, which happen during shipping. Most manufacturers put ship their merchandise in cardboard boxes with no padding. Some even send it in paper envelopes, with no cushioning whatsoever.

Today, I arrived at the job site and saw this. Wow!

Maybe someone in the Powers That Be got the message ? … These four double roll bolts came packaged in a custom-sized box, with just enough room for bubble wrap on top, on bottom, and on either end. That bubble wrap effectively did the job to cushion the ends of the wallpaper from dings during shipping.

Way to go, Schumacher! 🙂