Bold David Hicks Geometric in Garden Oaks Powder Room

This young family wanted some WOW! Factor for their new home’s plain-Jane powder room. It’s a 2-room set up, with the sink in one area and the toity around the corner in a more private area.

Looking through one room into the next – yes, really a WOW! Factor!

Looks fantastic with the burnished gold faucets, light sconces, and hand towel ring.

Opposite wall. I centered the pattern on the wall opposite the mirror, so that the design would work around the room evenly and the pattern would fall equally on these two walls. In other words, the pattern hits the tile wall on the left at exactly the same point as it does on the tile wall to the right. The sconces also land on the same element in the wallpaper. This gives a very symmetrical look as you face the mirror. One of those things no one can put his finger on, but it makes the whole room feel balanced and in sync.

Back wall connecting to right wall with door that leads to the entry hall.

The commode room is under the stairway, so has a strongly sloped ceiling – and tight working quarters. You can also see that the wall is bowed in the corner, resulting in a good pattern match at top and bottom, but some mis-alignment in the center. Pretty typical. No walls are perfectly plumb, no ceiling is perfectly level, and corners are just about always a bit wonky. Geometric designs like this are particularly difficult to make look perfect.

On close-up, you can see a slight raised ink texture. This surface printed wallpaper was not a crisp look – nothing wrong with that … it’s part of the hand-crafted look. The non-woven material is thick and stiff, and the seams were a bit more noticeable than on many other non-wovens. I also noted that where the gold ink hit the edges of the paper, there were ever-so-slight curls and overlaps. My guess is the gold ink reacted to the wet paste and expanded differently from the black and the background color. Never mind. From two feet away, you can’t notice it at all.

The David Hicks Collection by GP & J Baker contains several variations of this type of bold geometric pattern. Some of the vendors are calling this a “new” release … but I first hung one of these designs maybe 10 years ago.

Unfortunately, they haven’t gotten any better with the quality. Surprising, because GP&J Baker’s papers are usually very nice – I did one just a few months ago and loved it. Conversely, this one is quite stiff, and trying to work it into tight spots such as corners or behind a toilet or around a vanity or light fixture can result in creases. And the ink flakes off very easily. Here, just pressing the wallpaper against the baseboard so it could be trimmed caused the ink to chip off, and you can see little bits of it collected on top of the baseboard on the left. Luckily, this was at the floor and not very noticeable. I used some black chalk to cover the white areas. But at eye-level, this would have necessitated removing the whole strip and replacing with a new one.

Wallpaper installer Houston

Fun Hourglass Geometric on Home Office Accent Wall

Home office wall before – textured wall was skim-floated and sanded smooth, wiped free of dust, primed, and ready for wallpaper.

Done! The homeowner wanted the “hourglass” pattern centered on where her desk would sit, rather than on the wall itself.

Close up. The silver lines are metallic raised ink, and there is a “grainy” design that gives the impression of a textured surface.

Graham & Brown is a British company that is among my favorites.

Working from home during COVID (and now for good), this homeowner wanted to enliven her workspace and get rid of endless grey walls. This fun pattern certainly did the trick!

This non-woven wallpaper was a lot more stiff and a lot less workable than most G&B papers. I used the paste-the-wall installation method for this simple accent wall, but pasting the paper would have made it more agreeable to work with.

The home is contemporary in style, and is in the Garden Oaks neighborhood of Houston.

Bright Pink Girl Cave

Before

Done

Complicated by rounded edges, plus contrary qualities of the wallpaper, it took me four hours to get paper around these windows.

“Feather Palm” is the pattern name

Manufacturer is Milton & King

When the kids grow up and move out, Mom moves in! This is to be her “girl-cave” or sanctuary. The wallpaper went on just two walls of the room.

She will add pops of pink and other strong colors around the room, to make the look cohesive.

This is a non-woven material and a paste-the-wall product. But, for the area around the windows, wrapping around those bull-nosed edges, I found it better to paste the paper. For the rest of the room, I used the paste-the-wall method.

The contemporary style home is in the Garden Oaks neighborhood of Houston.

An English (Scots) Country Garden

In 2014, I hung this fun and cheerful pattern in a 2nd floor hallway in a 1940’s home of a young family in the Garden Oaks neighorhood of Houston. Seven years later, it’s time for a change.

In addition to changing the pattern in the upstairs hall, the homeowner wanted to paper this lower, adjoining wall. Here I’m applying smoothing compound to the textured surface. Once it is dry, I will sand it smooth, and then roll on a wallpaper primer.

Finished. The homeowners are contemplating more updates to the home. … And will probably opt to change the color on the wall above … I am rooting for murky green or muddy brown / gold.

Detail.

Close-up. I love the way the motifs look as if they were cut from a magazine and then decoupaged into place. The flowers look hand-painted. But the bees look like photographs.

Lola Design is the manufacturer.

No all-white, minimalist décor for these homeowners! Hailing from the British island of Scotland, and being artists at heart, they crave color, life, activity, and joy. This “Mixed Bee” design is the perfect mix of classic British floral interior décor and outdoor garden lushness.

The manufacturer is Lola Design. The material is non-woven, and can be hung via the paste-the-wall method,,,, although I preferred the softness and flexibility produced by pasting the paper.

Revisiting A Mural I Hung Six Years Ago

Accent wall in home office in a newish home in Garden Oaks, Houston.

I hung this about six years ago, and was back to measure another room … which will be equally colorful and unique!

The mural was not quite wide enough to fit the wall, hence the slight gap at the left and right edges. Hint: Always consult with the paperhanger before ordering any material.

Clipper Ships / Battle Ships Mural

Nursery wall smoothed, primed, and ready for wallpaper

Battling ships fill the wall space with dramatic action

The action continues to the left of the door

More battle action on the opposite wall

Close up

Detail

Manufacturer is Rebel Walls, from Sweden. I like their products.

A baby boy is due in a few months. For his nursery, Mom wanted an action-packed, historic nautical look. She found this mural on RebelWalls.com

Usually you see a mural on one accent wall. But here we have two companion murals on opposing walls in this nursery. I think it works swimmingly! 🙂

The mural was custom-sized to fit each wall. The website also allows the option to choose which portions of the design you want. So Mom chose to put the largest battleship on the main wall that you see when you walk into the room. A smaller ship and quieter scene was plotted to go on the opposite wall.

I will note that, on both murals, the company did include some motifs that were not on the customer’s order sheet. That changed the dimensions and placement of the ships on the wall. It all worked out O.K., though, with the stormy vessels positioned perfectly on each wall.

Custom-sized to fit each wall, the murals came in 8 panels, plus one panel that was just 4″ wide. It was a non-woven material, which is designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece when it’s time to redecorate. It can be hung via the paste-the-wall method, which is what I did today. It can also be hung the traditional way, which is to paste the paper. The seams are virtually invisible.

This home is in the Garden Oaks / Oak Forest neighborhood of Houston.

A Very Pretty Heights House Renovation

New drywall. I draped strips of protective dropcloth paper over the top of the wainscoting, to protect from splatters from my primer.

Notice the “raised ink” and the hand-painted look.

Recent updates reflect respect for the original feel of this 1920 bungalow in the Woodland Heights neighborhood of Houston. There will be a claw-foot tub, as well as a very cool authentic vintage pedestal sink that the homeowner found on the side of the road, discarded from another older bungalow just a few blocks away. !!

Vintage-look beaded board paneling was added, along with hexagonal floor tile, both in a warm, muddy green that compliments the greens in the wallpaper.

The homeowner has a stunningly beautiful garden, and sought a wallpaper pattern that would bring the feel of nature indoors.

The top photo shows the walls as the contractor left them, in what we call a “Level 4” condition. This is optimal for wallpaper installation. No texture for me to get rid of, and no paint or PVA-based primers under the wallpaper. All I had to do was roll on my wallpaper-specific primer, Romans Pro 977, Ultra Prime.

The wallpaper is called Garden Party and is by York, in the Waverly collection (yes, reviving classic designs from the 1990’s!), and in their SureStrip line – one of my favorite products. It is pre-pasted, goes up nicely, hugs tight and thin to the wall, and performs wonderfully over the years, even under (mildly) humid conditions – such as a bathroom in an old house with poor ventilation.

The interior designer for this job is Stacie Cokinos, of Cokinos Design. She works mostly on new builds and whole-house remodels, and mostly in the Heights / Garden Oaks neighborhoods.

Bold Teal Color Wakes Up a Music Niche

This is a small niche that holds a stereo system and other music items. The homeowner wanted to bring some color to this corner of her living room, and fell in love with this “Helleborus” pattern by Farrow & Ball.

The bold teal color and large scaled pattern really demand your attention!

I have no idea why the two close-up shots are washed out. But you can see the detail of the design.

I papered over the box in the wall which had held a cable connection; look and you can see it’s ghost on the right side of the third photo.

The homeowner originally wanted to remove the electric outlet and paper over that, too. But electrical codes would not allow that. So I papered the plate cover, and that helps it blend into the wall. I hope she will take a dab of paint and disguise that white screw!

The wall originally had a heavy stipple texture, so I spent most of the day smoothing that – skim-floating over the texture, and then set my three fans to blast air – augmented by my great persuader / heat gun, to get it to dry. Sanded, primed, and then finally hung the three strips of paper.

Farrow & Ball is a British company that makes home goods. Instead of traditional inks, they use their paint on their wallpaper. I am not fond of this method (do a Search here to read previous experiences), but today’s install went nicely.

The home is in the Oak Forest / Garden Oaks neighborhood of Houston.

Holy Cow! – Wow!!

As I like to say, you can get away with a lot of drama in a powder room. Here is proof!

The new home is in the Garden Oaks neighborhood of Houston. The wallpaper is by Marimekko. It is a non-woven material, and can be hung by the paste-the-wall method or, the method I prefer, paste-the-paper.

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.

Bringing Color and Life to a Garden Oaks Dining Room

This family bought a new home in the Garden Oaks neighborhood of Houston, and then lived for a year with dull, lifeless walls in the dining room – all the while craving color and personality. Finally, the husband had a chance to tackle the textured walls (see previous post), and shortly thereafter, I came along.

This print is fun but not cutesy or trendy. And – while monochromatic, it adds a whole lot of color to the once-bland room.

Printed on a non-woven substrate, this product could be hung using the paste-the-wall method, or the paste-the-material method, which is what I did, for many reasons. It went up very nicely.

This wallpaper pattern is by A-Street Prints, 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.