Before. Way too much white! A handsome new look. The homeowners are going to paint the bottom area below the chair rail a softer white. They were waiting for the wallpaper to be in place before making a decision on a coordinating paint color . Looking toward dining room and family room . Coat closet and hall leading to bath s and bedroom s. I like to say that a texture like this is reminiscent of a man’s tweed suit . The material itself is an embossed vinyl , so has actual texture to it. It’s color is pretty consistant . This is a great alternative to real grasscloth – a product that presents many disappointing variations in color . Close up of texture and color . Note the bits of gold that reflect light . The homeowners hung a large mirror with a dark gold frame , which really set off against the wallpaper. (dumb me didn’t think to take a picture!) The wallpaper is by A Street Prints , under the Brewster umbrella. It’s a non-woven / paste the wall product , and was easy to install . Because NW contains 20% polyester , it is strong and durable . The vinyl surface is resistant to stains . It’s designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece and with no damage to the walls when it’s time to redecorate . A very good alternative to real grasscloth or other natural materials . This purchased through Dorota at the Sherwin-Williams in the Rice Village. Wed – Sat , call first, please. (713) 529-6515 The homeowners made an appointment and then brought Dorota photos of their room, the floor , the mirror , along with their vision for the space. Dorota immediately went to the shelf and pulled out the selection book and opened it to this option. The couple loved it immediately! They did look at and consider other patterns and also ordered samples , but ultimately went with their first choice – this one. The home is in the Tanglewood / Galleria area of Houston . installer
Accent wall below staircase in a sitting area of a living room in a Meyerland ( Houston ) home that was flooded during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. It took five years for the homeowners to raise and restore the home, and settle in. They are waiting for the wallpaper before choosing furnishings for this room. But the colors of the wallpaper meld beautifully with decor in other areas, such as the family room on the other side of this wall , which has colors of cream , tan , and dark grey in furniture , flooring , and accessories .The pattern is called Bird and Blossom Chinoiserie (a term that refers to Chinese / Asian style decorating ). Its in the Ronald Redding line by York. It’s a non-woven material that can be installed by either paste the wall or paste the paper methods. It will strip off the wall easily when you want to redecorate later.
Before. Heavily textured wall has been skim-floated with smoothing / joint compound and then sanded smooth , and then primed with Roman Pro 977 Ultra Prime wallpaper primer . I’ve run a narrow line of dark green craft paint along the top of the chair rail / wainscoting , due to uneven edges . More on that in a soon-future post. Sink wall is done. Pattern is centered nicely on the faucet and in between the electrical boxes for the new sconces – They haven’t arrived yet and will be installed in a few weeks . The homeowner’s carpenter created this beautiful wainscoting out of 3D block paneling , and then painted it a rich dark hunter’s green . Right now there’s some sanding dust collected on it, plus bad lighting . In person, it’s gorgeous . The same company did a fantastic paneled wall / fireplace surround in the family room (not pictured) . Back to wallpaper … This shot is pretty color-accurate. I love the way the dark wallpaper coordinates with the green paneling . The pink and orange flowers , as well as the row of purple foliage , really stand out against all the dark . Close-up looks like an artist’s painting . Besides centering the pattern on the sink wall, the dimensions worked out so that I was able to balance the chameleons between the ceiling and chair rail , one just below the ceiling and the one here just above the chair rail. So no critter got cut in half . This product comes as a 2-strip (roll) set , with an “A” strip and a “B” strip in each box. Together, the two strips equal just a hair under 6′ wide , and a little over 9′ high . Here I’m rolling out the two strips so I can gauge the pattern , measure width and height , and plot the layout on the wall. Sobering fact: Each 2-strip set (one “roll”) cost about $500. This room used four of those sets. I always try to keep that in mind when working with people’s purchased wallpaper . OK, this damned Word Press blog account has AGAIN (2nd time in two nights!) deleted paragraphs that I spent a lot of time typing. I can’t recreate all the info I put into that lost post, but below I will try to include some of the important points. First and foremost – since the switch to the New Editor back about 2015, I pretty much HATE WORDPRESS . Anyway, here the company is providing a mock-up of what the “A” and “B” strips look like. The mock-up above shows the two panels next to each other. Since this is essentially a mural and the pattern doesn’t repeat vertically as more typical wallpapers do, you can plan on getting only one strip out of each panel. These walls are 6′ high , and the panels are 9′ high. So you’re losing 3′ with every strip. Further, the area over the door needed one panel that’s 2′ high. But an entire 9′ panel was needed for this, to get the 2′ high strip. So 7′ are going into the trash. Add to that, since this product comes as a 2-panel set , the homeowner had to buy a 2-panel set (at $500), even though only part of one panel would be used. This means that 1 + 2/3 9′ long panels were purchased but not used. Also, because this comes in panels instead of traditional rolled goods, there are no “extra” strips. This means that I can’t make any mistakes. Nothing like a little pressure while trying to install wallpaper ! No fears … this pattern and material went up nicely, and we had just enough paper to git ‘er done. Manufacturer is Breeze and the pattern is called Fantasy Tree . It was purchased from one of the show rooms in one of the Design / Decorative Centers in central Houston. It’s printed on the user-friendly / DIY – friendly non-woven material , which can be hung by pasting the paper (which I prefer) or the paste-the-wall method . It’s designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece with no damage to the wall when it’s time to redecorate . Definitely better than peel & stick (click my link on the right to read more about P&S ). The home is in the Oak Forest / Garden Oaks / Heights neighborhood of Houston .
It’s hard to get a shot of this room, but here we are, looking from the family area through the entry vestibule toward the front door. The sliding barn door on the right leads to the husband’s home office. Here the walls are primed with my favorite Pro 977 Ultra Prime by Roman, and ready for wallpaper. Paper’s up! Lighting and shadows are playing across the walls in some areas. Opposite wall, west wall, primed and ready for wallpaper. Done!An interesting focal point in this room is this set of 100+ year old doors, reclaimed from a building in Arizona. The homeowner tells me that the door has been preserved from rot by the dry / arid climate in that state. The dealer stripped the doors of years of paint and stain, and shipped them in their most “raw” state. The doors were then fitted onto a track and hung to slide back and forth over the opening to the home office. I love the way the weathered wood coordinates in color and texture with the wallpaper pattern. It took a lot of measuring, trimming, engineering, and plotting to get the pattern so it aligned inside these two wall panels as if the pattern were continuing from the area outside the panels. Close-up of the wallpaper design. This material by Milton & King comes as a 2-roll set, consisting of one “A” roll and one “B” roll. This entryway took four of the 2-roll sets. Due to logistics, more strips from the “A” bolt were used than from the “B” roll. Another reminder to always buy a little extra paper. Milton & King makes some mighty fun wallpaper patterns. Visit their website! The material is a washable vinyl on a soft and flexible non-woven substrate. The material goes up on the wall like a dream, flexible and manipulable (is that a real word??!) and with seams that are invisible. When it’s time to redecorate, this non-woven material is designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece, with minimal / no damage to the wall.
Home office work station niche primed and ready for wallpaper. Done. Grasscloth comes 36″ wide, and this niche was about 39″ wide, so it required two strips, both trimmed down to 19.5″ wide. Generally, design-wise, you try not to put a seam down the center. But in this case there was no other viable option. This seam was practically invisible.In the photo, the seam is a little to the right of center. You always see the seams in grasscloth, and this is about as perfect as it gets. The homeowner, who is an interior designer, did a superb job of finding a grasscloth that’s murky blue hue coordinates perfectly with the color of the cabinetry. Unfortunately, I don’t know the manufacturer of this material. Close-up showing the texture.Twin bookshelves flanking the fireplace wall in the family room, primed and ready for wallpaper. Grasscloth has been installed. It’s nice to not have the shelves in place – so much easier to get that paper up!Bookshelf niche on the right.Bookshelf niche on the left. Note the slight shading and color variations . These are typical of natural products like grasscloth, and are not considered a defect. As the manufacturers say, these variations are ” part of the inherent beauty of these natural materials .” Shelves will go in these niches and decorative items will obscure these slight imperfections. TV room bookshelf niche. Yes, t’was I who swiped the smiley face and the horse head into the primer. 🙂Done. This niche is a tad less than 36″ wide, so only one strip was needed, hence, no seams. Any color variations you see are due to shadows. Close-up.Closer-up. Scissors for perspective. These days, people are loving the subtle texture and warmth of grasscloth , paperweaves and other natural materials . The manufacturer of the grasscloth in both the family room and TV room is Schumacher . The home is in the far west area of Katy , a suburb west of Houston.
This “Tuscan View” hand-painted mural was well done, but the new homeowners didn’t love it. They wanted the family room of their 1970’s era ranch-style home to coordinate with the living room (which I papered and blogged about a few months ago – Search on words like “cork” and “damask” to see pics).
The new wallpaper is a silver cork product with a large white damask pattern printed on top. It is a cross between contemporary (silver) and traditional (damask), and adds glamor (silver) and elegance (damask) all at the same time.
I hung this for a family with young children in the Pasadena neighborhood of Houston. This wallpaper pattern is by Thibaut Designs, and 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.
BoringWarm and engaging, without overpowering“Appleton” by Sister Parish
One doesn’t spend much time in this tiny hallway separating the living / dining rooms from the family room / kitchen. But the homeowner – an interior designer – felt the small space merited more attention.
This medium-scale, tight, two-color design called “Appleton” by Sister Parish fills and warms the space nicely, without overwhelming.
Further, it’s a wonderful backdrop to two hand-carved sculptures that will hang on the wall – both are sort of figureheads (like on the front of a pirate ship). They exhibit both a feminine and Asian look.
The wallpaper sets these works of art off way better than the previous plain painted wall.
The interior designer is Stacie Cokinos of Cokinos Design.
This wall between the kitchen and home office is what we call a floating wall. It directly faces the TV / family room. I can guarantee you – NO ONE else has such a bold and eye-popping wall treatment!
This “Jack Rabbit” mural comes as six panels, some with rabbits and some with just foliage, that can be placed next to each other in any combination.
The homeowner was originally considering this for her guest bathroom.
But the project was going to take a good number of panels. And, at $375 per panel, the price was getting out of reason.
This floating wall in the main living area was a much better option.
For one thing, only one panel was needed.
For another, because this is the area everyone passes through when leaving or entering the house, or looks toward while sitting on the sofa, the rabbits are front and center for maximum viewing.
Each 40″ wide Jack Rabbit mural panel is on a non-woven substrate with a thin vinyl coating, and is a paste-the-wall material. The quirky design is by Edmond Petit and was purchased through Finest Wallpaper, a newish company out of Canada, with a vast product selection, great customer service, low prices, and quick turn-around.
The home is in the West University / Southside Place area of Houston.
Originally, this family room in a recently and beautifully renovated and enlarged home in the Woodland Heights neighborhood of Houston wasn’t exactly “all white” – but the ecru colored walls were pretty close. The home owner wanted to warm up the walls, as well as tie this room to the blue Tartan plaid wallpaper used in the living room. Additionally, she noted that since three rooms in the front of the home had beautiful wall treatments (meaning, of course – wallpaper! 🙂 ), with the white kitchen and pale family room, the house felt “top heavy.” It was time for some counterbalance in the back of the home!
Originally she considered grasscloth. But after I explained about the noticeable seams and drastic color variations between strips, she took my suggestion and checked out this Bankun Raffia, a fabric-backed vinyl product that is embossed with a basket-weave texture, and has a pleasing glazed-wash finish effect. And … the color is quite uniform, so you don’t see seams or panels, as with real grasscloth.
Unlike most wallpapers, this product is very durable and washable, and it even strips off the wall easily when it’s time to redecorate. Thanks to the fabric backing (instead of the more common, lower-end paper backing) it’s one of the few vinyl products that will hold up to humidity in a bathroom.
Another benefit is that the beautiful woodwork in this room is no longer lost in a sea of white, but stands out against the dark wallpaper. The color is navy, but because the room has a lot of white woodwork, as well as two walls of 8′ high windows, the room still feels open and airy.
This wallpaper pattern is by Thibaut Designs, and 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.
Again, the same home as my two previous blog posts. The homeowner is filling this lifeless all-tan house with color, movement, and fun patterns!
Take this bookcase – usually people put a textured wallpaper on the backs of their bookcases. But this homeowner went for a bit of color and pattern. You have to look close at the top photo to see, but the dotty circles are way fun! The dots even have a raised, embossed texture. They add a lot of life to the space, yet are calm enough to not conflict with the objects they will display on the shelves.
I put the same pattern in a curved art niche in a hallway close to this family room bookcase.
The homeowner has skillfully used this aqua color scheme to tie together several rooms in her home.
The home is in the Garden Oaks neighborhood of Houston. The paper is an embossed (textured) vinyl surface on a non-woven substrate, and could be hung using the paste-the-wall method or the paste-the-material method (I prefer the latter).
This wallpaper pattern is by Exclusive Wallcoverings, and 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.
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