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.

Updating from Decorative Paint to Beautiful Wallpaper

The walls in this small entry in a pretty original condition 1935 home in the Montrose / Upper Kirby neighborhood of Houston had been painted by an artist with a wide stripe pattern in deep orange and gold, with a darker wash over the surface. It was probably done in the ’90’s, and was a good look then.

But the new homeowner never loved it. As for me, I think the look is too modern to suit the era and style of the home, and also the colors have a sort of dirty cast to them. After living there several years and focusing on career and raising kids, the homeowners were finally ready to bring a new concept to the entry.

The first photo shows the existing wall finish. The white stuff is my smoothing compound, which I have started to apply over the lightly-but-irregularly textured walls.

The next photo shows the walls sanded smooth, vacuumed and then wiped free of dust, primed with a wallpaper primer, and ready for wallpaper.

In the “after” photos, note that the dark or blotchy areas are simply wet with paste or water, and will disappear as the paper dries.

This is a particularly pretty pattern that suits the room well. There is a slight Chinoiserie / Asian feel to the design. And the grey is a good colorway for this home’s décor. I love the arched moldings that frame the passageways to both the living room and the dining room. Typical adorable 1930’s architecture!

The wallpaper is by Anderson Prints. It was pretty nice to work with, but did tend to dry out even before the booking time was up, so presented a bit of a challenge in that respect.

In the distant shot, you can make out a sort of hourglass figure in the branches and vines. I plotted the placement so a full “swoop” would display over the doors.

And also so the “hourglass” would play out down the center of the main wall, as shown in the photo. This will look nice as the vines and flowers gently surround the chest of drawers and oval mirror when they are placed back into the room.