Dramatic Artemis Black Floral Completely Changes Dining Room

Like many newish suburban houses, this Clear Lake (south of Houston) home is all pretty much a homogeneous light tan – every wall, every room. This is the homeowners’ first venture into wallpaper – and, boy, did they make the right move!

This salad plate-scaled, brightly colored floral design on a black background amplifies this dining room accent wall many times! The pattern comes in other colorways, but none of those would have the impact of this black version.

The wall was textured, so I had to skim-float it and sand that smooth, then apply a primer. In the photo, you see where I have striped dark paint under where the seams will fall, to prevent the white primer from peeking through. I also used black chalk (see photo) to color the edges of the paper, to prevent the white substrate from showing.

This wallpaper pattern is a multiple / quarter-drop pattern match, which is very complicated to plot and lay out. The House of Hackney company made it easy, by providing this material in a 4-panel mural format. See photo

In one photo, you see the strips arranged in the order they will be hung on the wall. Before hanging, these will be re-rolled backwards, so the unprinted white backing side is facing outward.

This is a non-woven material, and I hung it using the paste-the-wall method. When I am on the ladder and unroll the strip and working to get it into position, having the paper rolled backward keeps the printed side from coming in contact with the paste on the wall.

Non-woven wallpapers have a high fiberglass content, and do not expand when wet with paste, nor do they shrink when drying, so less chance of gaps appearing at the seams, and also you can get accurate measurements that won’t change. The fiber content also ensures that the wallpaper “should” strip off the wall easily and in one piece when it’s time to redecorate.

A few short hours after I left, the homeowners sent me some “finished” photos. I wish I were more tech savvy and knew how to get photos off of text and into this post, so I could show you the gorgeous room. But for now, you’ll just have to use your mind’s eye.

Dramatic Black Floral Wallpaper in Powder Room

This powder room in a newly-purchased 1987 home in the West University Place neighborhood of Houston came with the black toilet, black sink, black granite, dark floor, and medium-toned wooden vanity. The homeowner wanted something dramatically dark, but didn’t want to overwhelm the room with too much deepness.

As soon as she saw this “Artemis” pattern by House of Hackney, she was smitten! Turns out it was the perfect choice.

This black backgrounded wallpaper with a swirling red, orange, and blue floral pattern coordinates nicely with the black fixtures, and fills the walls with color and movement – all without feeling closed in at all.

Interestingly enough, I have another couple using this same pattern and colorway, later this month.

The substrate is a non-woven material, and can be hung with the paste-the-wall method. I chose to paste the paper instead, which makes more sense in a chopped-up room like a bathroom.

The pattern is a quarter-drop match. Which is a WHOLE lot more complicated than a typical straight or half drop match. And it can eat up a lot of paper, too, in getting the pattern match correct.

This manufacturer made it much simpler, though, by providing this product as a 4-panel mural. Each 4-panel set makes up one quarter-drop pattern match.

A 4-panel set matches up to a subsequent 4-panel set, so you can place the murals side-by-side and wrap them around a whole room. This powder room took 5 sets. That fifth set was needed just for two and a half 5″ high strips up over the door. In other words, it took three 18″ wide x 10′ long strips (45 square feet) to match the pattern and cover about 20 square inches of wall space.

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.

Bright Chinoiserie in a Heights Powder Room

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This homeowner loves wallpaper, but their newish house in the Houston Heights had none. Her first venture into the world of wallpaper was in the downstairs powder room – a room that you can get pretty dramatic with, because the door is closed most of the time and because you don’t spend a whole lot of time in there.

The color of the new wallpaper is bold, but the overall effect is not overwhelming, because the pattern is very traditional and because the scale and contrast are fairly subdued. In other words – you COULD spend a lot of time in this room, quite comfortably.

The pattern is called a Chinoiserie, a classic theme that includes Asian figures in various scenes from daily life.

It was a difficult room to hang, because of various fixed features that don’t show up on these photos (pedestal sink, over-and-under window, mirror attached to the wall, eight points of decorative molding to cut around)… let’s just say that the wall with the mirror and sink took two full hours.

The finished room turned out beautiful, and the client is happy beyond words. Where previously there was a bland beige room, now there is color, life, movement, and a happy feeling, plus some color contrast that showcases the beautiful wood trim.

This wallpaper pattern is by Thibaut Designs, called “Fishing Village,” and has what I call a “satiny feel.” The seams are invisible, it is fairly washable, and it will stay flat and bright for years to come. It was a positive delight to work with. That pretty well makes up for the difficulty of working around the room’s many challenging features.

The paper was bought at below retail price from 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.

Once Again, Wallpaper in Better Homes & Gardens Magazine

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Here are several rooms featuring wallpaper in the August 2017 issue of Better Homes & Gardens magazine. There are at least two other rooms with paper that I didn’t photograph, including a cool mural of some bright watercolory flowers clustered around the upper right corner and center top of the wall – a very effective look.

As usual, please forgive my crummy photos.

The navy blue sailing ships are by Walnut Wallpaper.

The second photo shows large stars on the ceiling of a baby’s nursery.

Photos 3 & 4 are actually fabric, but they look and function as backdrops like wallpaper.

Photos 5 & 6 are a classic and popular humming bird pattern by Cole & Son. I just hung this in the Houston Heights on April 9, 2017, and did it prior to that on March 24, 2016, among other times. You can look up my blog posts for those days. I have the same pattern and same color coming up in a bedroom in Riverside. Note the matching fabric on the chairs.

In the seventh photo the wallpaper is barely visible over the kitchen window.

Photo 8 is an overscaled dramatic white on black floral that is quite popular right now. I find it a little overwhelming on the ceiling, but if you want drama, that’s a good way to get it. And you’ll have good view of it while lying in bed.

Photos 9 & 10 are a fun and colorful pattern for a kids’ room.

The last photo is not wallpaper, but tile, but it still shows pattern on the wall, so I’m including it here to show how it enlivens the room. There is a hexagonal geometric pattern by Jonathan Adler that is quite similar, and very popular.

Wallpaper In Better Homes & Gardens Once Again

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I am always tickled to see wallpaper featured in national magazines. It draws a lot of attention to the many faces of wallcoverings, and entices more people to use them. These photos are from the April 2017 issue of Better Homes & Gardens.

Sigourney by Quadrille, in a powder room. Interestingly enough, I have this same pattern coming up, but in a softer tan color, in a dining room, in a few weeks.

Daydream by Hygge & West. This a well-loved pattern, and I have hung it several times, in many colors. Interestingly enough, I have it coming up, also, in a few weeks, for a baby’s nursery accent wall.

A yellow ikat trellis by Thibaut. Interestingly enough, I hung this same pattern, but in aqua, with a complimentary leopard print companion paper, in a powder room a few months ago.

Navy blue grasscloth in a dining room, above the white wainscoting. The strips in this photo are narrow, and do not show the visible seams and possible color variations (shading, paneling) that are common with many grasscloths.

An over-sized floral of cabbage roses on a smoky black background. I have not hung this one yet, but many of my colleagues across the country have. It’s a popular look. The overscaled size of this pattern, and the dramatic color contrasts, make it a daring choice for a small room like this powder room.

A wildly and brightly colored geometric pattern for a children’s play room. This is a little similar to what is in the background of the twins’ room on the TV show Blackish.

A pattern reminiscent of tropical thatched roofs. This is reminiscent of a similar pattern I put in a “tree house” home office a few months ago. (Search on my blog to see pics of the full project.)

A mural of misty mountain fog. I totally love this mural. Murals have taken on a whole new look these days, leaving behind the old scenes of palm trees leaning over tropical white sand beaches, and bringing us to much more modern and innovative vignettes.

More murals, including an impressionistic floral in bright colors (I have done two in the similar theme – do a Search on my blog), and an updated beach scene. (Note the current trend among manufacturers / vendors to not go to the trouble to hang the paper on the wall, but to instead run a clothes line across the wall and use clothes pins to “artfully” string up the rolls of wallpaper, letting them drop loosely to the floor. This method is easy / inexpensive for the vendor to do, and it looks oh-so-cool- but it prevents the shopper from seeing what the product would look like attached firmly to a smooth surface.)

The final mural is a tropical forest scene. This has been a popular mural scene / theme for decades. But this version is printed on better quality paper, and the photo image has much more detail, depth of color, texture, etc.

Many of these murals can be custom-made, to fit the dimensions of your wall / room. Measuring is tricky, so be sure to contact your wallcovering installer BEFORE you order the mural or wallpaper.

Wild & Whimsical Wallpaper

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Today was fun! Just look at that wallpaper! I had another client considering this pattern a few months ago, but she chickened out. It is a bold and dramatic design, so it takes the right person to bring it into her living space.

In this case, that was a master bedroom, in a decades-old brick 4-plex that was recently remodeled into a single-family home. The style is light Industrial Modern, with plenty of Mid Century Modern touches tossed in. The home is in the First Ward, just down the street from the Summer Street art studios, so the artsy-feel all fits together.

This is a playful and busy pattern, but the colors are muted, so it feels subdued and restful in this bedroom. Still, it is the kind of design you would want on just an accent wall, as here, because it could be overwhelming if it were on all four walls of the room.

This wallpaper pattern is called Daintree, and is by Thibaut Designs. It was lovely to work with. The homeowner is also the interior designer – Laura Michaelides of Four Square Design Studio. Their office just happens to be directly across the street from the home. 🙂

This home won a Good Brick award from Preservation Houston, and was on their home tour April 29 & 30, 2017.