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.

Repair Needed – Stashed Wallpaper Not Usable

I’m about to do a repair to some wallpaper that was damaged flooding during Hurricane Harvey here in Houston. Unfortunately, the left over wallpaper from the original installation was also exposed to the water and humidity of the flood. There is a little bit of water stain and mildew on the back of the paper.

This rendered the paper unusable, because both water stains and mildew will work their way through wallpaper (and paint and other surfaces), and will eventually show up on the printed side.

Luckily, there was enough left over paper for me to discard this stained area and then use undamaged paper for the repair.

Navy & White Schumacher – Finishing Touch to a Harvey Flooded Home

Still not completely finished fixing major damage caused by the devastating flood of 2017, this young couple in the Pearland area of Houston has done virtually all the repairs themselves – and done a mighty fine job of it, too…. Way better than most of the work done by “professionals” that I have seen in “Harvey homes.”

With many details still unfinished, the homeowners wanted just one room that would be done. The lady of the house loves this navy and white fauna/botanical print by Schumacher. She envisioned it on just the back wall of the powder room – the room that everyone sees when walking through the first floor.

You get two strips of paper out of one double-roll bolt, and the wall was 2.5″ wider than two strips of paper. Since Schumacher is expensive, the homeowners decided not to buy another bolt of paper to cover those 2.5 inches, but instead to “float” two strips of paper in the middle of the wall, and then use their DIY skills to build a frame around it.

The frame will be painted a very dark blue. I hate to fall back on the overused term “pop,” but that is exactly what the blue frame will do … It will make the wallpaper pop against the white walls, and also stand out from other design features in the home.

Scroll back a few days and you will see my encounters with a very difficult navy and white paper, also by Schumacher. This one was totally different.

The bird design I worked with today was printed with good quality inks on a non-woven substrate. N-W’s have a degree of fiberglass in their content, and thus are “dimensionally stable.” Among other positive features, they do not expand, and thus you have no wrinkling or waffling or puckers.

This paper went up very nicely.

Although, in two of the photos, true to reputation, you can see printing defects. Just par for the course, if you buy a Schumacher product

When the homeowner saw the finished job, she almost broke down into tears – one room finally complete and pretty and all reminders of the flood gone.

It was an honor to help this couple get to this one small milestone.

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.

A Whimsical Frolic Through The Woods

The homeowner wanted her powder room to be dark. The original paint was darker than the first photo shows (My two 100 watt light bulbs are washing the dark color out.). But stark, dark walls and ceiling can be claustrophobic, so she knew a little pattern would help create the effect she was going for.

This house in far-west Houston was redone after flooding from Hurricane Harvey. The contractor’s worker attempted to hang the wallpaper, but wasn’t making things look great.

The homeowner ordered new paper. This time around, her original color choice was discontinued, so she opted for the one you see in the photos. I say it was fortuitous. 🙂

I was called in to hang the new paper. After smoothing the very lightly textured walls and then priming, the paper went up nicely.

It was nice that York Wallcoverings printed this dark design on a dark substrate, instead of the typical white (see photo). That helps prevent white showing at the seams, if the paper should shrink a tad as it dries.

I really like the pattern. It’s fresh and has a bit of whimsy – sort of like a dance in the forest.

And the pattern gives the room a whole lot more character, and it’s definitely not boxy or claustrophobic anymore.

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.

Pineapples in a Powder Room, Revisited

If this room looks familiar – it should… This week I’m working in a home in the Meyerland area of Houston where I hung paper after the home was repaired following flooding during the Tax Day Flood in April 2015. This home was flooded again during 2017’s Hurricane Harvey. The homeowners wanted everything exactly the way it had been before the flood.

This paper went in the powder room. The pineapple is the universal symbol for hospitality, which is fitting for this household, because the homeowners are friendly, down-to-earth, and welcoming.

This pattern melds nicely with the faux grasscloth that went in the entry (see previous post), both in color and appearance. The background of this paper looks like grasscloth, but it is not. It is a printed paper, with a very slightly raised ink texture. It is a wonderful alternative to the real stuff, and has none of the color variation or visible seam issues of real grasscloth – and it will hold up to the occasional water splash, too.

The chair rail will be painted and attached soon. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the workmen don’t mess up the new wallpaper in the process.

This wallpaper pattern is by Designer Wallpapers, 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.

Wonder Faux Grasscloth Finishes off a Flood House Rebuild

If this room looks familiar – it should… This week I’m working in a home in the Meyerland area of Houston where I hung paper after the home was repaired following flooding during the Tax Day Flood in April 2015. This home was flooded again during 2017’s Hurricane Harvey. The homeowners wanted everything exactly the way it had been before the flood.

This paper went on one wall in the entry.

I LOVE this product! I HATE real grasscloth (read my page to the right, and do a search here to learn more), so when people even breathe the word, I steer them to this instead. This is a printed paper product, so it has a pattern that that can be matched, so you will not have the abrupt visible seams that come with real grasscloth. The color is uniform, so no worries about the disagreeable shading and paneling (color variations) that are rife with the natural grasscloth products.

And the manufacturer has attached vertical strings, which add a natural element and a textured effect that people are craving these days. It’s reasonably priced, too.

This wallpaper pattern is by Wallquest, in their EcoChic line, 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.

Raising Homes to Lower Risk of Flooding

The Meyerland neighborhood in Houston has flooded severely three times in five years, with 2017’s Harvey being the worst. Here is what people who want to stay in their neighborhood and their home are doing, to be safe from future floods. These are ’50’s & ’60’s era ranch-style homes.

They will add skirting around the bottom. All new construction, which tend to be larger 2-story homes, must be built up high. It’s major expensive to lift a house, so many of the ’60’s era homes have been patched up, but left on the ground. I’d say that at least 50% of the homes are still unoccupied, a year after the flood. Some have been raised, and some have been razed.

Mildew, Bleach, KILZ

Whooah! I stripped off wallpaper from this wall around a window in a home that had some water damage from Hurricane Harvey, to find this black powdery stuff – mildew. You don’t want to put wallpaper over a wall that has mildew, because the black stuff will continue to grow. And because it’s chalky / powdery, it the wallpaper will not stick to it. And it will also work its way through the wallpaper and create a stain on the surface.

I use bleach to kill the mildew and remove it from the wall. Once dry, I use KILZ Original oil-based stain blocker to seal the surface. In this case, I also skim-coated the wall, to make it nice and smooth. I will follow that with a coat of Gardz, a penetrating sealer that is also a good product to hang wallpaper on.