Cole & Son Monkeys Liven Up Laundry Day

Look close – there are monkeys stealing fruit !

Window wall before. Here I’ve applied my wallpaper primer to the upper portion of the wall, and am working my way down.

Closer view of sink area.

The dryer and washer will be placed against this wall, and into this corner .

If there’s any words to describe this family , it’s lively and fun-loving . No wonder the mom chose this pattern !

The interior designer loved it, too. Stacie Cokinos of Cokinos Design .

The wallpaper pattern is by Cole & Son , a long-established British company , in their Fornasetti (” edgy ” ) line. Like most British papers these days, this is a non-woven material and a paste the wall installation method . Although I usually prefer to paste the paper .

The pattern is called Frutto Proibito – Forbidden Fruit . This is in a townhome in the Montrose area of central Houston .

William Morris ‘ Fruit ‘ on Master Bath Accent Wall

A cozy nook. The homeowner likes to spend time here, soaking and relaxing. And recovering from supervising high school athletic activities !
This is a 1939 4-plex in the Montrose area of Houston that was beautifully renovated into a single-family home. So this entire master suite is carved out of what was originally one 1- bedroom apartment .
Note my white 2′ x 4′ sheet of plywood over the claw-foot tub , so I can safely access the wall above.

The wallpaper was placed on just one accent wall , above the tile wainscoting / chair rail . During the initial Sunday afternoon consultation , both the homeowners and I felt that this pattern on all the walls of this large master bathroom would be too overpowering . So they opted for just one accent wall .

The design doesn’t have a strongly noticeable secondary or vertical pattern , but I still took the time to center the most dominant feature (the pomegranates) on the tub faucet . The faucet guy , tub guy , and tile guy didn’t get everything perfectly lined up – but nobody’s even noticing. What matters is that the finished nook looks fantastic!
Also of note is that, in this near-100 year old home, the wall was bowed , and it wasn’t possible for the tile to lie flat against the entire surface. So there were some areas where the grout was 1/4″ wide, and some areas where the wall actually overshot the tile, leaving no visible grout at all. So at the area where the wallpaper met up with the top of the tile and the uneven grout line, I made a fat cut , to try to disguise the uneven line. Do a Search here to see previous posts on fat cuts .

This wallpaper design is by William Morris , who was a strong force during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s , in the Art Nouveau and Arts & Crafts movements . His work is having a resurgence in popularity right now. Most are more symmetrical and repetitive than this example ( Google Strawberry Thief ) , but, true to the design aesthetic , all of them involve natural elements , such as plants , flowers , fruits , birds , and animals .
In this close-up shot, you can see the raised ink of this print , which gives a slight textured feel .
The manufacturer is Morris & Co. Usually M&C prints on a user-friendly non-woven material . But in the last year or two I’ve come across more and more M&C that are printed on the old-fashioned, traditional, what we call a British pulp substrate .
Non-wovens are strong , durable , stain-resistant , humidity – resistant , easy to install , and easy to remove when you redecorate . Pulps , on the other hand , are just the opposite . Do a Search here to see my previous posts.
None of this is a deal-breaker. The installer just needs to know what he’s getting into, before taking on the project.
We hunted. This particular pattern was not available by any vendor in the NW material. Maybe it’s COVID , or supply chain issues , or maybe it’s a British thing (even though many American and Canadian companies are printing the Wm Morris designs ). Couldn’t find any outfit offering Fruit in non-woven.
At any rate, the paper went up beautifully, and the basic paper material will hold up well, even if the homeowner steams up the room on her long tub soaks , and the pattern is lovely in the vintage home with new tile , tub , and faucet .

Retro Look in Kitchen

Breakfast area before

Breakfast area after … with my work table set-up still in the middle of the room.

Kitchen sink / window area before.

Finished

This fruit-and-floral motif is a very retro look, which was popular in the 1950’s – early 1970’s . The background looks like linoleum tiles – very period-appropriate.

Close-up.

Exclusive Wallcoverings saw the current interest in retro / vintage looks, and designed this very appropriate pattern.
This was a thin and very flexible non-woven material , and was a delight to work with.
As are all non-wovens, this is designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece when it’s time to redecorate.
To install , you can paste the paper or paste the wall .
This home is in the Lexington Woods area of Spring , ( north Houston ).

Monkeying Around With Forbidden Fruit

Powder room before.

Whoah … this is really COOL! I love the colors against the blue woodwork. The homeowner is debating what color to paint the vanity base.

This wallpaper is in the Fornasetti collection by Cole & Son. It’s called ” Frutto Proibito “

Like most papers by this manufacturer, this was a non-woven material. The instructions say to paste the wall, but this brand is known to expand when wet with paste, so it’s better to paste the material.

The home is in the Heights area of Houston, and is a nicely updated older bungalow.

William Morris “Fruit” in Historic 1885 Home

Moving from the entry to the adjoining dining room of the historic home in Houston mentioned in my two previous posts. This pattern by William Morris is called “Fruit,” and is true to the period in which the home was built.

I love the way the colors work with the wainscoting and also the picture rail around the top.

This pattern is less repetitive and the color is softer than the option used in the entry (see yesterday’s post), making it an easy-to-live-with choice for this large dining room.

The material is a traditional British pulp which you don’t see much these days, as most European manufacturers have moved to the newer non-woven substrates. I do like the pulps for their matt finish and tight adhesion to the wall. Although, they are brittle and tend to drag and tear when being cut, so they require some special handling.

This one also has a raised ink feature, which adds just a tad of texture. Look closely at the close-up shot.

This was purchased from FinestWallpaper.com, who has a large selection of Morris and also Voysey (another designer from that Arts & Crafts period) patterns. The home is in the Old Sixth Ward neighborhood in central inner-loop Houston.