Not Afraid To Be Daring and Dashing!

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.

Bringing Happy to a Home Laundry Room

This home in Kingwood (far northeast Houston) was damaged by flooding during Hurricane Harvey, so the bottom portion of the walls had to be torn out and replaced. The repaired laundry room was functional, but not very inviting.

This cheery pattern changed all that!

The light black pen & ink-like images on a white background add whimsy and really brighten the room. I don’t think anyone would mind spending time in here on Laundry Day!

The motifs remind me of dandelions that have died and dried, that you puff on to make a wish.

The wallpaper is by York, in their Sure Strip line, which is one of my favorites. It is a pre-pasted paper, and is designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece when it’s time to redecorate.

William Morris Wallpaper in Bellaire Master Bathroom

The homeowners had lived in England for six years. There they picked up a love for the turn-of-the-last-century renowned trend-setting British designer William Morris, along with tons of other English tastes.

They returned to their Bellaire (Houston) home to find it flooded by Hurricane Harvey. After extensive repairs to the first floor (which included me wallpapering their powder room https://wallpaperlady.wordpress.com/2019/07/27/william-morris-pattern-in-bellaire-powder-room/ , they decided to update their master bathroom. Note that I had hung the original small-print wallpaper (no photo) 20+ years ago (and still in perfect condition, I might add. 🙂 )

The homeowner incorporated her love of all things William Morris with the new bathroom, and chose this lovely “Snakeshead” pattern, in an earthy green / gold colorway.

William Morris was a pioneer of the Arts & Crafts decorating style, which incorporated symmetry and a love of nature.

This is one room that is defying the trend to all-white or all-grey. Even the cabinets and mirror frames are a warm wood tone (instead of white or grey). Note how the colors of the wallpaper dovetail with the stained wooden mirror frames.

Beautiful, beautiful stuff!

I Hate Sloppy Work! – Overspray on Light Fixture

This home in Kingwood (far northeast Houston) was flooded during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The homeowners were pleased with their contractor’s work in getting the repairs made and getting them back into their home.

But when you get close and look at details, you can see that everything was not done as carefully as it should have been.

I guess the painters did not bother to remove, or even cover, the light sconces in this powder room. Because when they sprayed paint on the woodwork, plenty of paint got splattered onto the new fixtures. Look at the white residue on the base of the fixture.

Flooded Home is Finally Finished, and a Moroccan Trellis is the Finishing Touch

I’ve worked for this family several times over the last 25 years. Unfortunately, their home overlooking Braes Bayou (south central Houston) was flooded during Hurricane Harvey. The original home was torn down (along with my beautiful wallpaper ! 😦 ), and a new, raised home was built. Today I hung wallpaper on an accent wall in the dining room.

Photo 1 – the wall as the contractor left it

Photo 2 – the wall after I have primed it

Photo 3 – finished

I don’t like true grasscloth due to the visible seams and very noticeable color variations between strips, and also it’s propensity to stain easily. (Read my page to the right.)

The product pictured above is a fantastic alternative to real grasscloth. It is paper, superimposed with a vertical string material, so it has the texture and dimension that people are liking these days. The grass design is printed on (not real grass fibers), and this keeps the color uniform, so no abrupt color differences between strips.

The pattern can even be matched from strip to strip, making the seams pretty much invisible. You also have the option of not matching the pattern, to give a look similar to real grasscloth. Even then, the consistence of this design and color make it pretty impossible to tell where the seams are, if you are standing even three feet away.

In addition, the material has been treated, so it is somewhat resistant to stains.

I’ve hung this faux grass a good number of times, but this is the first time to hang it with the trellis design. The homeowner likes to mix modern with traditional, hence the geometric pattern with the antique furniture and chandelier. She also hunted for something that would meld nicely with the color of the paint on the woodwork. I like the look a lot.

This wallpaper pattern is by Wallquest, in their EcoChic line, and I believe in the Grass Effects book. It 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.

Grasscloth the Color of Milk Chocolate in a Kingwood Master Bedroom

This couple got married, blended their families, built a house, then got flooded by 3′ of water during Hurricane Harvey – all within less than a year…. Talk about stress!

Well, now that the home is back together, this soothing master bedroom will give them a calm and quiet sanctuary. The wallpaper went on one feature wall, behind the headboard.

This is a grasscloth wallpaper the color of milk chocolate. Although there were some minor shading issues, I was very pleased that the color of the strips was pretty consistent from strip to strip. The bottom photo shows a discrepancy in the weaving – this is not considered a defect, but “part of the inherent beauty of this natural product.”  Luckily, it was in a location that would be hidden behind the bed.  There was one more similar spot, but it was much smaller and not anything to complain about.

The name on the label was something generic like “Quality Wallcoverings.”

The material 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.

Shimmery Geometric in a Bellaire Powder Room (Harvey Flooded House)

I wallpapered the nurseries for this client in her two previous homes. (Don’t ask me how old the kids are now! 🙂 ) Her current home in Bellaire was flooded during Hurricane Harvey. During the rebuild, this homeowner took the occasion to freshen and update the look of her ’90’s era home.

This shiny, curvy geometric wallpaper pattern fills the bill perfectly. The soft silver color compliments the new distressed grey wood-look floor tiles, and the sheen and design play wonderfully off the new contemporary chandelier (sorry, no picture!).

I usually have a long lead time, but this client was planning to host a party early next month and wanted her paper up, so I figured it was better to stay away from Black Friday shopping and hang wallpaper instead. 🙂 The homeowner was out of town, but she was able to let me in each day via remote-access, and I had the privilege of working in peace and quiet with no distractions or worries about disturbing the family.

That peace and quiet enabled me to do some intricate things… things that make the job look better, but that the average person wouldn’t be able to put a finger on. Like I say … something that is easy to LOOK at, but that was tricky and time consuming for me to PLOT AND EXECUTE.

For instance, you will notice that the wallpaper pattern is balanced / centered perfectly behind the sink / faucet. And that funny little alcove that the toilet is recessed into (what architect thinks these things up, to accentuate the toilet with it’s own little niche?!)… It took a fair amount of engineering to lay everything out so that the pattern would fall evenly above the niche and then down either side. Then the back wall was hung, with care taken that the pattern matched up with the pattern on the header above, as well as the walls on either side.

This meant that the pattern DIDN’T match on either the right or left corners inside the niche, nor the horizontal corner at the top back. But these areas are not very noticeable. I felt it was more important to make the pattern match when it is seen by someone who is standing outside the room and walking in – which is the view you see in the photograph.

This room also had another “hidden corner” (not shown) where I elected to allow the pattern to not match. This gave me the freedom to balance / center the design on the vanity and sink, and, as explained above, in the toilet niche.

Hard to explain, and hard for you readers to follow and envision. But the end result is a room with several perfectly balanced focal points, and a really professional look. I am so happy that I was able to invest the time to pull all this together. The finished room looks amazing.

This wallpaper pattern is by York, in their “Designer Series.” It is a textured vinyl product on a thin, flexible non-woven backing, and was a joy to work with. It was pretty resistant to creases, and it will hold up against water splashes better than other types of paper – a good choice for this powder room. It is designed to strip off the wall easily down the road when it’s time to redecorate. I have hung this twice before, in two different colors.

This wallpaper 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.

Another Courageously Bold Pattern

Go BOLD or go home – this homeowner is stickin’ with bold.

This home in the Bellaire neighborhood of Houston was flooded during Hurricane Harvey. The homeowner loved the wallpaper in the powder room, and after the renovation, she wanted the same thing.

One disappointment is that the original installer had done a poor job. He was the son of a friend, and reportedly did a “great” job – but his work was not pleasing to the family. So, this time around, they called me. 🙂

The wallpaper pattern is called “Providence,” and is by Thibaut, one of my favorite brands. It was nice to work with, no shrinking at the seams, and the inks are strongly hued and have a rich matt finish.

Silver Metallic Damask on Aqua on a Feature Wall in a Bedroom

Here’s a traditional damask wallpaper pattern done a little more modern by the use of silver metallic ink. It fills this accent wall beautifully.

I, the installer, would like to think that the wallpaper is the main focus of the bedroom. But, really, that fabulous chandelier steals the show.

No problem. It’s the overall effect of all the elements pulled together that makes the room.

This wallpaper is by Thibaut Designs, and was super to work with. I did not have the curling seams issues I have had with other brands’ metallic ink.

I hung this in a home in Friendswood, just south of Houston, which had been damaged by flooding during Hurricane Harvey last year.

The interior designer is Neal LeBoeuf of L Design Group.

View of the Day

I just did prep today, and that doesn’t make for very interesting photos or stories. So I thought I’d post a picture of the view out the windows in the rooms where I am working. Don’t I have a great job?!

This home in Friendswood south of Houston was flooded during Hurricane Harvey last year. I’m standing on the back deck, and you can see how high it is off the ground – about 5′. The water came that high, plus another foot deep in the house.

Nearly a year later, the homeowners are nearing completion of repairs to the home.