




I have long wanted to hang this classic “Summer Lily” design by Cole & Son. C&S may be a British company, but to me, this pattern evokes deep in the Louisiana bayou.
The pattern has a strong vertical lift, and a lot of visual “movement.” In this powder room with 10′ ceilings, it makes a dramatic impact!
It’s printed on a non-woven substrate, and can be hung with the paste-the-wall method. But I opted to paste the paper, because that makes the material more malleable. And, also, in rooms like a bathroom – how can you “paste the wall” when there is a toilet in front of it? ! 🙂 🙂
The home is in the Heights neighborhood of Houston. It’s a busy young family with three school-aged kids and a number of furry pets. And – yes – the three girls helped pick out this paper!
The furniture, bedding, artwork, wall paint, in this bedroom of a college-aged girl are all pretty neutral. The mother wanted bolden things up with a dramatic accent wall behind the headboard. This would be a surprise when the gal came home from school for the holiday.
One wallpaper choice was the Phillip Jeffries “Wish” wallpaper. Well, anything with that designer’s name is going to be really expensive. Plus the cost of smoothing the wall and hanging the paper.
Dorota Hartwig of DMH Designs (dmhdesigns44@gmail.com) found this – very similar pattern, but much more affordable price. It is by Wallquest, one of my favorite brands, and is called Dandellions.
In one photo, you see the paper rolled out so I can see the full-size pattern and determine how I want it placed on the wall, behind where the headboard will go.
In the last photo, you see a scrap of dark chalk which I used to color the white edges of the wallpaper, to prevent them from peeking through at the seams.
The home is in the West University neighborhood of Houston.
Originally, the wall was just a grey-tan. Now look how bold and exciting it is, with some strong color and an adventurous pattern! Baboons! – Who would ever think of putting them across a wall??!
This is one accent wall in a dining room in southwest Houston (Meyerland/Fondren Southwest). The home had flooded during Hurricane Harvey, and the couple had it raised 10′ and then refurbished. This dramatic dining room was the final touch!
The wallpaper pattern is “Savuti” in the Dark colorway, by Cole & Son. It is a sturdy non-woven material, and I used the paste-the-wall installation method.
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.
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.
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.
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.