For more than a decade, the dining room was bold red from head to toe. In this photo, I’m applying drywall joint compound to smooth the textured wall .Here’s the wall sanded smooth , primed , and ready for wallpaper . Done. The next question is – what color to paint the bottom 1/3 of the wall ? What do you think?Using the red beam from my laser level to center the design on the wall, and directly under the decorative corbel which the wood-worker homeowner husband installed as a feature to the crown molding . Close-up. I also balanced the pattern between the ceiling and chair rail / wainscoting .The wallpaper design is by Candice Olson , of HGTV fame, and is made by York , a company that I like a lot. It was purchased at a discount through Dorota at the Sherwin-Williams on University in the Rice Village . Call before heading over (713) 529-6515 . The homeowner had originally chosen something else, but it was unavailable. Dorota dug through her large library of selection books and found this, which is very similar, but more open and airy . We all three agree that this is the better option. It is a non-woven material , and can be hung via the paste-the-wall method , or the paste-the-material method – which is what I usually prefer to do. This NW stuff is durable , stain-resistant , humidity -resistant , and easy to strip off the wall when you decorate down the road. Cute in his bandana . But not very helpful at all! 🙂 The home is in the Candlelight Plaza / Shephard Park Plaza / Oak Forest / Garden Oaks neighborhood of Houston .
Before. Grey and boring . The built-in banquette seating has been removed.Finished.Closer look.Showing the pattern centered on the wall, and with the shutters. The dimensions of the paper not corresponding well with the width of the window, along with logistics of pattern placement at the ceiling line but starting my first strip under the window all created some plotting and engineering challenges. Fun, but time consuming. But it turned out great!The original idea was to just paper the nook area, ending at the vertical door molding. But it would have looked odd to stop the wallpaper above this doorway. So the homeowner and I decided to run the paper along the top of the doorway, and then down the left side (not shown), which dead-ends into some cabinets and the granite countertop. It looked good and was the right call.It tickles me that this is quite obviously a riff on the very popular Strawberry Thief wallpaper pattern by William Morris , which is quite popular right now (do a Search here to see my installations of it). When a company comes up with a hit, you can be assured that a competitor will soon be making its own version of it. The original has a lot more color, but this version is limited to just two colors. Even though there is a lot of contrast between the black and the white , the pattern doesn’t feel busy, because the design is so close and tight . There is a lot of symmetry , repetitiveness , and balance in Wm Morris and similar styles . I love the raised ink texture to this material . Whoops! A slight pattern mis-match . The overall design is busy enough that small imperfections like this (as well as some color variations / shading ) are not really noticeable . It’s odd to me that the printing defects are different in different strips / rolls of the wallpaper . You’d think that if the print roller was out of whack, it would create the same image every time it strikes the wallpaper surface. Or maybe it’s the trimmers that are off. If they had cut 1/16″ more off that left edge, we might have a perfect pattern match . The manufacturer is York , one of my favorites , in their Sure Strip line, also one of my favorites. It’s in the Magnolia Home collection , by, yes, Joanna Gaines , of HGTV fame with the show Fixer Upper . SureStrip is a pre-pasted , thin , flexible , non-woven material that is easy to hang . It’s also easy to remove when you’re ready to redecorate , because it’s designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece with no damage to your walls . installer houston birds
I hung this cute wallpaper pattern back in 1996. It was perfect for a young family.Well, the kids are grown and out of the house, and Mom wanted a more mature update for what will become the guest bathroom. Companion patterns used in the sink room and tub room.Much more sophisticated, yet airy and fun. The cabinets were painted dark blue to coordinate and accentuate the wallpaper. The paper has a very slight raised texture.Hmm. Somehow the Scott brothers got upside down. You will recognize them from HGTV. The paper is by A Street Prints, and is a thin vinyl on a non-woven backing. It was a dream to work with. It will hold up well in even a humid room, and is designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece when it’s time to redecorate.
This Brooklyn Toile wallpaper by Flavor Paper on an accent wall in a nursery went up beautifully. The contractor had added new Sheetrock to one wall, and painted the other, old/original wall. I skim-floated both walls and sanded smooth, primed, and hung the wallpaper. Perfect! (Search here to see my original post.) But within less than a month, the homeowner contacted me and said that the wallpaper was ” coming off the wall .” It was a 1920’s bungalow in the Woodland Heights neighborhood of Houston. And therein lies the brunt of the problem. The wallpaper itself is not ” coming off the wall .” What’s happening is that the wall surface itself is coming apart – or, delaminating . This is because multiple layers of paint and other substances on the wall may not be compatible. A probably scenario: In 1920 oil-based paint was used. Later someone rolled on a coat of latex paint. Then the homeowners redecorated and used gloss paint. Then some ” flippers ” who had watched too much HGTV slapped on more paint without bothering to de-gloss or prime first. And somewhere in the mix you’ve got cheap paint and dust and other incompatible materials.Over time, and especially when stress is put on the wall surface, such as when wet wallpaper paste dries and the paper shrinks, this stress can tug at the wall and actually pull these layers apart. There are other contributing factors, too, such as humidity, temperature, and location. I find it interesting that the worst parts of the affected seams were toward the top of the wall. This speaks of heat, humidity, and forced air (either hot or cold) coming out of the air vent just to the right of this wall. This photo is of the area over a door, very close to the air vent. See how thick that is? It’s not just the wallpaper. There are several layers of wall coming apart. Some layers are clinging to the back of the wallpaper, and some are staying stuck to the wall. Multiple layers, many years of coatings on this wall. Easy to see the many layers. The paper itself, my blue primer, my layer of smoothing compound, paint, more paint coming off the wall. Then multiple layers of paint and texture still clinging to the wall. This shot is just below the ceiling.Same thing happening at the baseboard at the floor. Layers of paint separating from the wall in chunks. Some pulled off easily, and some I had to chop off with my 3″ putty knife.Most of the paint and unstable surface material clung to the back of the wallpaper. This pile is just three strips – only half the wall. But it’s thick and stiff and heavy because of the paint stuck to the back of the wallpaper. There was so much and it was so heavy and bulky that I had to carry it out to my van in two trips. When I got home, it totally filled my trash bin. Here’s the wall once all the other layers came off. Brushing my hand over it revealed a layer of dust. No wonder the paint and other coatings wouldn’t stick. Nothing sticks to dust. It’s like flouring a cake pan… The paint or wallpaper will kinda stick – but won’t really stick. Paint on top may be fine. But add a little stress from drying / shrinking wallpaper, and you may end up with layers that pull apart. Wiping the walls with a damp sponge removed a lot more dust. But the wall still felt chalky. Whatever type of paint this was, it was not holding together. I had to stabilize this chalky surface. Enter Gardz, a wonderful product – Gardz is a thin, penetrating sealer that soaks into porous surfaces and binds substances together. It dries hard and creates an intact surface. The darker area in the picture is where I’ve rolled on a test area. Gardz is thin like water, and it runs and drips and splatters. It’s imperative that you cover floors, countertops, and baseboards, and roll carefully, and roll upward rather than downward, to minimize runs and drips. A microfiber roller holds the liquid well, and reduces drips. Gardz is made by Zinsser. No photo of the finished wall, but I was very pleased with the stability of the surface. No more chalk or dust. Now, there still could be unstable or incompatible layers deeper inside the wall. (Latex paint over oil without proper prep.) But for now I feel pretty confident that this wall is solid and will hold up to the next process in preparation for getting the new wallpaper up.
Same house as the last three posts. The homeowners have done a super job of coordinating the decorating in the downstairs living area, as well as keeping the husband happy (he likes the all-white look), by choosing soft patterns made with thin lines and light colors, all on white backgrounds.
This powder room got a dose of geometric, but without the rigid lines and harsh bold strokes of many geometrics. This softer version is much easier to live with, and the hand-drawn look is plenty fun.
The wallpaper is by A Street Prints, and they’ve cleverly gotten the Scott brothers of HGTV fame to sponsor a line, “Scott Living.”
The paper is a non-woven material, and is designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece when it’s time to redecorate. The seams are virtually invisible.
This wallpaper pattern 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.
Here is a small vestibule (the second vestibule I’ve done this week! 🙂 ), that leads from the living room past the powder room and into the kitchen / great room, in a newish “tall skinny” home in the Houston Heights.
It’s the perfect place to add a little personal flavor. This map pattern in muted colors is perfect for this space, because, in the adjoining living room, the homeowner has some framed maps that mirror the style and color of this wallpaper. The wallpaper pulls everything together.
This wallpaper is a non-woven material, and can be hung by the paste-the-wall method, or the paste-the-paper method. With the intricate door moldings requiring complicated cuts in miniscual spaces, it made more sense to paste the paper. It is by Mulberry Home (I gotta say – I think they’re knocking off the Magnolia Home brand made famous by Joanna Gaines on HGTV). It’s a British company.
The interior designer for this job is Stacie Cokinos, of Cokinos Design. She works primarily in the Heights, Garden Oaks, and Oak Forest neighborhoods. Her style is fresh and open, with attention to the homeowner’s personal taste, and a dash of fun tossed in.
Top Photo: Which do you prefer? … The powder room’s original blue and white mini-print, or the grey and silver swirly geometric with feeling of upward movement? The original small pattern was good in its day, but the new homeowner had updated this under-the-stairs powder room in a Galleria-area townhome with a new marble countertop, and brushed nickel light fixture, faucet, and towel ring. The blue country-ish small print no longer cut it.
After studying magazines, HGTV, and HOUZZ, the homeowner thought she wanted a geometric pattern. She was also concerned about getting the right shade of grey to coordinate with the marble counter top. And she wanted something that was youthful, yet would not soon go out of style. The wallpaper seller (read below), and I both encouraged her to explore other patterns.
This homeowner took her time, did research, got samples, sought input – and settled on this softer, more fluid take on a geometric design. The shade of grey is on the cool side, and goes perfectly with the marble. She chose a complimentary mid-tone grey paint for the vanity cabinet (not shown).
The painters had prepped right over the old wallpaper, and it was intact and tight to the wall. So, in this case, rather than strip the old paper, which would have raised many ugly heads, I left it on the wall and skim-floated over it (the white areas show this), and then sealed everything with Gardz, a penetrating sealer. That’s what you are seeing in the first photo.
I love the way the metallic areas (really vinyl / Mylar) reflect in the top of the toilet. 🙂
This wallpaper pattern is by York, and I hung the exact same thing a few months ago, also in a powder room. It 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.
I was happy to consult with this homeowner several times before the wallpaper went up. She took her time and defined her likes and the parameters of the room. Result? She loved the finished powder room, with its soft, upward-moving swirly pattern.
What’s cool is, she said, “I realized that I don’t even really like geometrics.” She had been swept along with what is popular right now in the media. I’m glad she settled on this softer-yet-energizing pattern, which suits her taste and the room perfectly.
Painted with a dark brown semi-gloss paint, this powder room was broody and close. The look had served the homeowners well. But when it came time to update, they craved something with more life. The perfect choice is this geometric pattern in gold metallic / Mylar on black by Candice Olson – yes, that star of HGTV and magazines and more.
Accessories make the room. The interior designer had the ceiling painted a dark bronzy gold, which perfectly complimented the gold in the wallpaper. And he did a fabulous job when he found this light fixture with angles that mimic the wallpaper.
This wallpaper pattern is called Velocity, #DE8817, by York Wallcoverings. It was very nice to work with, remaining supple and workable with a long open time, and with seams that closed up nicely. (The tiny bumps you see will disappear as the wallpaper dries.) I hung it in a home in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Houston.
The interior designer is Neal LeBouef of L Design Group, in Houston, Texas. http://www.ldesigngroup.com/bio.html I loved working with Neal. He is a delightful, upbeat person, his design sense is spot-on, he is a turn-key guy (meaning, he can handle every aspect, from choosing a paint color to having a sofa reupholstered to having a leaky faucet fixed, all while the home owner is at work and then comes home to find that “everything is done!”).
So I spent all yesterday and half of today smoothing textured walls in a master bathroom in the Heights. Primed the walls, then lugged in my table, 40-pound bucket of paste, tools, etc., then opened the rolls of paper to find this – banged edges. Come on, Brewster, just put a little bubble wrap in the bottom of the box before throwing it on the truck and into the hands of hasty and clumsy delivery guys.
This paper is thick and spongy, one of the new “non-woven” backings manufacturers are rushing to use these days. With a thinner paper product, minor bangs will often dry flat. But with this N-W material, the dents are here to stay. The paper also creases easily during handling.
Because it’s a shimmery finish on a relatively plain pattern, these imperfections will really show. I didn’t want to put it up, and the client agreed.
I feel confident that reordering the same thing will result in more banged edges and unusable paper, so I recommended that she choose something entirely different, preferably not one of those danged non-woven papers.
This wallpaper was from HGTV’s line, available at Sherwin Williams stores. The actual paper was by designer Kenneth James and manufactured by Brewster. Pattern # F66547.
A client called me today and said she lives in Katy and was having a Devil of a time finding someone to hang wallpaper for her.
She said she couldn’t find a local paperhanger, and then she had contacted a number of painters, and even interior designers, and everyone told her that they either didn’t install wallpaper, or were taking it down – not putting it up.
Well, all those painters and decorators must be behind the times, because wallpaper is very much in style – it’s all over HGTV and in all the “shelter” magazines.
Hey, Katy residents! I am here, I hang wallpaper, and I work in Katy! If you’re looking to pump up the decorating volume in your home with a little pattern and color, please call or e-mail me!
So I spent all yesterday and half of today smoothing textured walls in a master bathroom in the Heights. Primed the walls, then lugged in my table, 40-pound bucket of paste, tools, etc., then opened the rolls of paper to find this – banged edges. Come on, Brewster, just put a little bubble wrap in the bottom of the box before throwing it on the truck and into the hands of hasty and clumsy delivery guys.
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