Houston Heights Powder Room With Glittery Glass Bead Wallpaper

I took a “before” shot, but forgot to take an “after.” 😦

But here is a close-up pic of the fresh and clean geometric design. What takes this out of the ordinary is that the pattern is formed of teeeny round glass beads adhered to the surface.

It gives a 3-dimensional effect, and also shimmers because it bounces light around.

This product sounds cool to look at, but it was actually quite difficult to work with. In fact, I am considering declining glass bead jobs in the future.

The material is very thick, and thus hard to press into corners or ceiling lines, which means that after trimming, there may be a slight gap at the ceiling or baseboard.

In the instances where you need to overlap (turning inside corners), because the material is so thick, there will be gaps. Plus the worry that the paper does not have a solid surface to stick to (fat glass beads, thin backing material).

Worst is that the beads are virtually impossible to cut through. You can have a brand new, ultra-sharp razor blade, or the most impressive industrial-grade scissors, but still get unsatisfactory cuts. So anywhere you need to trim, you can expect to spend a lot of time sawing, and then still end up with jagged cuts or sections where the beads have fallen off.

Further, the beads fall off like crazy! So many had accumulated on the floor that I nearly slipped more than once. They get behind the paper and cause bumps. They get in the paste and contaminate other strips, and even jobs for future clients. Environmentalists scowl on them because they get washed down the drain and work their way into the ocean.

Glass bead wallpaper is not as popular as it was a few years ago. I’m glad.

This particular product is by Osborne & Little, a long-established British company, was on a non-woven (paste the wall) substrate, and came packed with extreme care to prevent damage from shipping.

Shimmery Dragon Glass Bead Wallpaper on Bedroom Accent Wall

Just about everything in this gal’s new home is glimmer, mirror, crystal, and sheen. So no question that the accent wall in the master bedroom should be the same.

This design is printed on a pearlescent silver background, and features swirling dragon motifs made of tiny real glass beads. Viewed with light coming from an angle (window on the south wall, for instance, or a bedside table lamp), the wallpaper has a real glitter effect.

The wallpaper is by Osborn & Little, and is in the line by designer Matthew Williamson. It is a vinyl-covered non-woven material, and can be hung by either the paste-the-wall method or the paste-the-paper method (which is what I opted for).

The home is in the Braeswood / Meyerland / Braes Heights / Willowbend / Willow Meadows neighborhood of south west Houston. This area was heavily devastated by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The home sits right on the Buffalo Bayou, and was built after that disaster, and situated quite high up.

Wallpapering an Art Niche

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I went to this home to measure a powder room. But as I walked out of the powder room, I saw this art niche. Art niches are just made for wallpaper. So I suggested the idea to the homeowner – and she loved it.

She chose the same paper for the art niche as was used in the powder room, which helps give the home a cohesive look.

This is a textured, glass bead wallpaper in a muted color scheme. It serves as a backdrop, not a focal point, so the statue really stands out. Note that there is a tall base for the statue, that will raise it up so it fills the art niche more effectively.

The wallpaper is by Antonia Vella for York Wallcoverings. The home is a townhome in the Rice Military area of Houston. The interior designer for the job is Pamela O’Brien of Pamela Hope designs.

Glass Beads on the Floor and on My Table

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The glitter of glass bead wallpaper is all the rage these days. Those teensy round balls of glass are meant to catch the light and make your wall glimmer and glow.

But some manufacturers are better than others. Some beads simply won’t keep themselves adhered to the backing.

Here you see a mass of clear glass beads all over the floor. It’s slippery to walk on, and it’s a mess to clean up. The beads also got onto my table (2nd photo). And they worked their way into my paste, and found their way onto the back of the wallpaper, from where they produced very noticeable “pimples” that took a lot of time to dig out and get rid of.

I’m sure that many of my tools and equipment are contaminated with these tiny beads, too. Before starting the next job, it’s imperative that everything be cleaned and double checked thoroughly, to avoid transferring these tiny beesties onto another job.

Glass Bead Glamor in a Girl’s Bedroom Get Away

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The pattern is subtle and the color is subdued, and makes a great backdrop for this pre-teen girl’s bedroom accent wall.

But look again in the right light, and you’ll see a lot of glitter and glimmer and shimmer in this wallpaper. Parts of the design are imbedded with glass beads, and they catch and reflect light, making the whole wall look rather exotic. Perfect for a gal this age!

I hung this wallpaper in a new home in the Rice University area of Houston. The pattern is by Carl Robinson for Seabrook, and was purchased from Dorota Hartwig, (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.

More Pics of the Glass Bead Wallpaper with Bull Nosed Arch

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I tried really hard to get pics of the light glinting off the glass beads, but the photos don’t show it. 😦 What you can see, though, is the arched doorway with rounded / bull-nosed edges. It’s pretty tricky to trim wallpaper on these edges, because you have no definite edge for your trim blade to fit into, and because the wallpaper hangs over the edge and you can’t see what you are doing or where you are cutting. Cutting through those hard balls of glass made it all the more trying.

I have a special home-made tool that helps with that, as well as a laser line, straight edges, aviator’s shears, and a quiet, empty house to work in so I could concentrate and move my assortment of gear wherever I needed to.

It turned out looking great, and I was particularly pleased that the thick, stiff material molded to the rounded corners and held tightly without curling up. This is a young and active family, though, so they will need to take care not to brush against the cut edge of the wallpaper as they pass through the doorway. I can tell that this high-traffic area does take some abuse, because there are smudges and marks in certain places on the walls. If the paper should start to come loose, there are a few tricks I can pull out of my hat to fix it. 🙂

This medallion pattern is by Ronald Redding for York Wallcoverings, and was bought at a discounted price from Dorota Hartwig at Southwestern Paint on Bissonnet near Kirby. (713) 520-6262 or dorotasouthwestern@hotmail.com. Discuss your project and make an appointment before heading over to see her.

New Toy – Aviator Shears

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Industrial-ish, yes. These are for cutting thick or hard material, like some vinyls, glass bead wallpaper, embellishments on paper, and some thick grasscloth / bamboo materials.

Glass Bead Wallpaper – All the Rage Right Now!

See all the sparkles?  This wallpaper has actual teensy beads of glass forming the motif, so it’s three-dimensional, as well as sparkly.

Some of these papers are made with actual (non sharp) glass, and others use sand.  All of them are hell on my razor blades and scissors.  🙂  Virtually all use a thick non-woven material as a backing, so they are thick and the seams can show a little more than on thinner papers, but they also strip off the wall easily and in one piece when it’s time to redecorate.

Also, n-w papers allow you the option of pasting the wall rather than the paper, which has advantages in certain cases.  In all cases, you’d better be careful to not let any of those beads that come off the front get on the back or stuck in your paste, because they WILL show like a tiny pimple under the wallpaper.

This went on a 12′ high TV wall in a new home in Montrose, and was a good choice, because it added texture and pizzazz, but did not compete with the main feature of the room – the large flat-screen TV.  I suggested that the homeowners use some side lighting, or an up-light on the floor, to accentuate the glass beads and increase the sparkle / dazzle effect.

This wallpaper design is by Ronald Redding, made by York Wallcoverings, and was bought at a discounted price from Dorota Hartwig at Southwestern Paint on Bissonnet near Kirby.  MAKE AN APPOINTMENT before heading over there.  (713) 520-6262 or dorotasouthwestern@Hotmail.com

Finally, Some Well-Packed Wallpaper, and NO Banged Edges!

This is the most protective packing I’ve ever seen, even better than the cardboard caps put on the ends of some grass and cork wallpapers. The edges have not been damaged in shipping, and are nice and flat – no bangs or tears or dents to mar the job.

The design is by Candice Olson, and is a textured glass bead trellis design on a chocolate brown non-woven backing, by York Wallcoverings.

I hung this in a study / home office in a contemporary home in Montrose. The paper was bought at a discounted price through Dorota Hartwig at Southwestern Paint on Bissonnet near Kirby. Make an appointment before heading over. (713) 520-6262 or dorotasouthwestern@hotmail.com