It’s Important to Wipe Dust Off Sanded Walls

This wall was originally textured , so I’ve skim-float ed it to smooth the surface. Once the smoothing compound is dry , I sand it smooth. That results in a lot of dust . Nothing sticks to dust, including primer and wallpaper . So all dust has to be removed before the paper can be install ed .
Even after vacuuming the floor and walls, as you can see to the right of this electrical outlet , dust remains on the wall. This bit you can see, but there is also a fine layer of dust left over the entire surface. You may not see it, but it will interfere with adhesion . I liken it to flouring a cake pan – the wallpaper will kinda stick – but not really stick.

Here’s some more dust , that’s accumulated on top of the vanity backsplash.

All this dust has to be removed.

My ShopVac will suck up most of the dust . But, like I said, a thin layer still clings to the wall.

The only way to completely remove it is to wipe the walls down with a damp sponge.

The sponge will collect any dust residue. In addition, it will wet the wall a little (darker areas in the photo), and that wetness will cause any still-remaining dust to bond with the smoothing compound on the wall.
You’ve got to wipe pretty much every square inch of the wall. Yes, it’s a PITA. But it’s the only way to make completely certain that there is no loose dust still hanging around.
All you lovers of your vacuum sander attachments and Festool s – trust me – they are not as thorough as the damp sponge method.

Here’s what I’m using.

This started out as a rectangular sponge. But it was large for my hand, and hard to hold on to. So I cut “thumb grips” in either side.

To get into corners, I took a scissors and cut one end into an angle .

Here’s my sponge, wetting the wall and collecting dust. My pointy angle fits nicely into the corner .

You only get so many swipes before the sponge clogs with dust and won’t collect more. So it has to be rinsed frequently . I use a 1-gallon bucket half full of warm water .

Eventually, that bucket is going to fill with dust residue. Here I’ve dumped out most of the water , leaving settled residue on the bottom of the bucket.

If you swirl the water around, the sludge will suspend in the water, and you could dump it down the sink . Be sure the water is running . Especially kitchen sinks that have garbage disposals .
But I prefer to dump it all down the toilet . One flush and GONE!
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Luminous Branches Breathe Life Into Dining Room

Before

The homeowners had this elegant wainscoting added to the bottom of their dining room when the house was built . But for seven years, the room was bland and boring . The new crystal chandelier adds glamor , but the room is still lacking .

Wallpaper to the rescue!

Now there’s soft color and soft pattern . And a little gold shimmer !

I’m encouraging the homeowners to paint that band of wall under the tray ceiling a very soft aqua color, to meld with the misty feel of the wallpaper .

It’s a soft aqua color , but enough to stand out against the woodwork . Now you see the beautiful moldings and trim work .

South wall before

South wall done

I positioned the tree pattern to fall down the mid-point of this space between the two windows .

This shot with the chandelier dimmer turned down allows you to see the pattern more fully.

This wallpaper pattern is called Luminous Branches and is by York , one of my favorite brands , in their Designer Series line.
The material has a slight raised / embossed / textured effect. It’s a non-woven product, so is strong , durable , stain-resistant , and designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece and with no damage to the wall when you redecorate later.
Non-wovens can be hung by the paste the wall method , but I generally prefer to paste the paper . NW requires no booking / soaking time , so they install a little faster , with no worries about shrinking or gaps at the seams . In fact, the seams are near-invisible .
The home is in the Braes Heights area of Houston

Wild Retro Flower Power

Hall bathroom before . The walls had this super-heavy ” Tuscan ” texture that I spend a day and a half smoothing out .

Finished

Looks so good with the orange painted cabinetry . Also note the really fun tile on the shower to the left.

Colorful and lively ! I had ’60’s & ’70’s music on all day while installing , to compliment the mood .

And poppies – well, ya know … that whole psychedelic thing from back then …

Swedish manufacturer . Lina II , Design midbec , tapeter

This is a pretty nice non-woven material, water and stain-resistant , fairly easy to install , can paste the wall or paste the paper , seams are near invisible . It will be easy to strip off the wall when you redecorate . Affordable price .

Sold by the on-line company wallpaperfromthe70s.com , based out of Germany . Really nice folks.

Here’s a picture of the brand new shower , to show the whole room is colorful and retro vibe .

Trick to Smooth Wallpaper Behind Toilet DRAFT

Like most of them, this toilet is set too close to the wall for my smoothing brush or hand to be able to reach behind and press the wallpaper against the wall .  Don’t want the homeowner to have to hire a plumber to remove the tank , and then come back to reset it. $$
So here’s an improvised trick … I’m using a length of yardstick that will easily slip behind there.  It’s long enough that I can grab either side and slide it behind the toilet tank , pressing it against the wall.
BUT … the flat yardstick isn’t always able to push the wallpaper against the wall, because walls are never absolutely flat .  So it helps to add some cushioning that will help fill that void.  Here I’ve wrapped my microfiber rag around the wooden stick .  This adds just enough thickness , while also being cushy enough to press into recessed areas. 

I unwrapped a bit, because the original attempt was a bit too thick to fit between the toilet tank and the wall.  
The wallpaper pattern is called Jamaica and is by Designer Wallpaper .  I install ed this in a powder room in the Timbergrove neighborhood of the greater Heights area of Houston . 

Branches Sparkle Softly in Powder Room

Oh, boy – more boring white walls .

Now brightened with soft blue color and lightly shining / metallic gold trees .

The gold branches and trunks have a raised texture .

The manufacturer is York , one of my favorite brands.
The pattern is called Luminous Branches , and is similar to their Shimmering Foliage pattern , which is bolder and is in the Candice Olson line .
This wallpaper is a non-woven material , and can be installed by the paste the wall method – but I usually prefer to paste the paper , especially in a powder room with pedestal sink and toilet and other objects to trim around and slip paper behind . N-W papers are minimum 20% polyester , and thus are strong and durable and more resistant to stains than traditional paper wallpapers . When the surface is prepped properly and the paper is hung properly, N-Ws are designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece and with minimal damage to the wall when it’s time to redecorate . They’re also easier to install and more DIY-friendly .
The home is in the Memorial Villages area of west Houston .

Dip Booked Ends in Water to Prevent Drying Out

After wallpaper gets pasted , it needs to be booked (see following post) and then rolled loosely and left to sit a few minutes before it goes to the wall . During this booking time, sometimes the edges can start to dry out.

To prevent drying out , I dip the edges in a bucket of clean water . Note that’s a shadow in the photo … only dip about 1/8″ of paper into the water , as seen on the left.

Then it goes into a plastic trash bag to wait and relax , before install ing.

Note this works for paper ONLY – do NOT try this with non-woven / paste-the-wall material. Also, it’s not suited for every type of wallpaper , so don’t use on grasscloth or other natural fibers, nor vinyl . So use caution if you try this. Also be aware that the water will wick into the edges of the wallpaper , and the seams can look dark on the wall until that water evaporates and the strips dry .
I have found that this trick also works nicely with some brands that like to pouch up at the seams a bit, like Farrow & Ball , or lower-end pre-pasted vinyls. Dip the edges, book, run a light roller of paste under where the seams will fall, install , and the edges will want to stay down much better.

The pattern is called Garden Party Trellis , by Rifle Paper .
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Getting More Light Into A Room

This small hallway in a 1936 bungalow in the Eastwood neighborhood of Houston was very dark , with just this hanging light fixture . It’s gorgeous … Art Deco style , and probably original to the home. But just not putting off enough light for me to install wallpaper .
So here’s my easy solution . The metal fixture has an open hook type area that will hold my extension cord . But if not, I have dollar store hair bands (beauty dept) that I can rig up there to hold the cord. The plug-in socket s are available at Home Depot or the like for about two bucks. You can also plug them into a wall outlet .

Frutto Proibito in Powder Room Revisited

I hung this wallpaper a year or two ago and was back to paper the dining room this week, so had a chance to peek into the powder room and get a “finished” photo. Here it is with lights off.

With lights on.

South wall. I love the window molding and vanity painted to complement the wallpaper .
This is in a beautifully remodeled and enlarged bungalow in the Heights neighborhood of Houston .
This lively and fun pattern is called Frutto Proibito and is in the adventurous Fornasetti collection by Cole & Son .
It’s a popular pattern, and I installed it a number of times, including a few months ago in a Montrose laundry room. https://wallpaperlady.wordpress.com/2023/02/24/cole-son-monkeys-liven-up-laundry-day/
This material is a DIY -friendly non-woven / paste the wall type of wallpaper . It’s strong , durable , stain-resistant , and will strip off the wall easily and with no damage to the wall when it’s time to redecorate .

Questionable Rolls From Flavor Paper Today

It’s important that all your rolls of wallpaper be of the same run , or batch number , also called dye lot . This ensures that the rolls were printed at the same time with the same batch of ink . Rolls printed from different batches or runs could be a very slight different color or shade – and that can result in a striped effect on your walls .
The run number is usually printed on the label of the wallpaper. But since Flavor Paper doesn’t use traditional labels, they put a tiny sticker with the run number onto the outside of the plastic bag that each roll is slipped into. These stickers aren’t particularly secure, IMO.
On this job with the Brooklyn Toile pattern from Flavor Paper , we needed eight of their “rolls.” Each roll contains two strips , printed in one long sheet that you cut apart in the middle to separate the two strips .
Flavor Paper comes with a header at the top of the roll, that includes the pattern name and other information from the manufacturer . In this photo, I’ve cut off that top portion.
We had six rolls that came like this.

But then two rolls came like this, with that top part removed.
In addition, this paper has been damaged and soiled . Not smudges around the birds near the center .
I suspect it was purchased by another homeowner, the installer removed the top header , then didn’t need the roll, and it was returned to the manufacturer . In the process, it got beaten up and dirtied.

Here’s another shot of the header missing. If the previous installer had a pasting machine, he could have used its built-in cutter to make a perfectly straight and 90* angled cut like you see here. That’s another reason I think it was opened, not used, and returned to the company.

This is the second roll. Look at how it’s been wrinkled and damaged . Paper doesn’t come from the factory like this. It had to have been unrolled, re-rolled, and put back into the plastic wrapper.

Even worse, a couple of feet into the second roll I came upon this badly creased wallpaper . This crease was probably caused by the factory . But it could also have happened at the hands of the other (alleged) installer .
Because of the way this material is printed and packaged , not in continuous rolls like most brands , but in panels or strips that are 24″ wide x 10′ 4″ long , with a somewhat long pattern repeat , I was not able to simply roll off a pattern repeat or two and still get a strip long enough to fit the wall. In other words, this damaged strip cut me short of what I needed to wallpaper this powder room .

Here’s another reason why I think these two rolls were opened and then sent back to the manufacturer . That one on the right looks like it’s been opened , unrolled , and then re-rolled – and when you do that, you can never get the roll to be as tight as it was when it came off the factory line.
I think these two odd rolls were purchased, not used, sent back to the company, and then simply stuck on a shelf to be resold – without anyone ever checking to see if they were in good condition.
Or what the proper run number is.
In addition, I don’t have confidence that the run number that was on that little sticker on the outside of the bag (see caption to top photo) is actually the right number.
In the end, I was able to futz and fiddle and engineer – and get the room done with the paper that was useable.
In the meantime, the homeowner is communicating with the manufacturer. Flavor Paper has good customer service . Additionally, they are members of the Wallcovering Installers Association / WIA (as am I).
This pre-pasted material is in their EZ Papes line, which I like a lot. I am not fond of their vinyl or peel & stick materials , and some of their papers can be darned tricky to install. I ask my clients to stick with the EZ Papes.

Tailored Menswear Textured Wallpaper for Entry Foyer

Before. Way too much white!

A handsome new look. The homeowners are going to paint the bottom area below the chair rail a softer white. They were waiting for the wallpaper to be in place before making a decision on a coordinating paint color .

Looking toward dining room and family room .

Coat closet and hall leading to bath s and bedroom s.

I like to say that a texture like this is reminiscent of a man’s tweed suit . The material itself is an embossed vinyl , so has actual texture to it. It’s color is pretty consistant . This is a great alternative to real grasscloth – a product that presents many disappointing variations in color .

Close up of texture and color . Note the bits of gold that reflect light . The homeowners hung a large mirror with a dark gold frame , which really set off against the wallpaper. (dumb me didn’t think to take a picture!)

The wallpaper is by A Street Prints , under the Brewster umbrella. It’s a non-woven / paste the wall product , and was easy to install . Because NW contains 20% polyester , it is strong and durable . The vinyl surface is resistant to stains . It’s designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece and with no damage to the walls when it’s time to redecorate .
A very good alternative to real grasscloth or other natural materials .
This purchased through Dorota at the Sherwin-Williams in the Rice Village. Wed – Sat , call first, please. (713) 529-6515 The homeowners made an appointment and then brought Dorota photos of their room, the floor , the mirror , along with their vision for the space. Dorota immediately went to the shelf and pulled out the selection book and opened it to this option. The couple loved it immediately! They did look at and consider other patterns and also ordered samples , but ultimately went with their first choice – this one.
The home is in the Tanglewood / Galleria area of Houston . installer

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