The homeowner bought this townhouse in central Houston 12 years ago and has always wanted to get rid of this really blah, ditsy small print in the commode room of her master bathroom . I know the design trend for the last several years has been white , grey , grayeige , minimalist , serene , clean , sparse ,,,, but there is nothing in this gal’s home that is remotely any of that … Her home is all about color , pattern , meaningful items prominently displayed – and lots of them! (Example: notice the fancy doorknob and the tassle hanging from it.) I really enjoyed working here, because that’s pretty much my decorating style , too.So here’s continuing that ” moody maximalism ” theme into the potty room. Note the cabinet and ceiling have been painted a coordinating color . Opposite corner . The room is REALLY tiny , and the door opens inward , so it was quite a bit of a challenge squeezing myself, my tools, and my ladder all in there. Close-up. The pattern is called Artemesia Absinthium , and is by Klaus Haapaniemi & Co in Finland . I don’t know who this Klaus guy is, and have never worked with his wallpaper before, but he must be half-high on psychedelics ,,, I would highly recommend a visit to his website and checking out the various fabric and wallpaper options . If you’re into maximalism and bold drama , that is! The material was a quite nice non-woven , and was easy to work with . I did stripe dark paint under where the seams would fall, in case of slight gaps showing the wall beneath . I was a little disappointed that there was some slight paneling / shading / difference in depth of color between some of the strips – but not too noticeable . Non-woven papers are designed to strip off the wall quickly and easily and with no / minimal damage to the wall when you redecorate . I do find it interesting that this pattern is so very similar in design and name to the very popular Artemis by House of Hackney , another good wallpaper manufacturer . Like I say, for every company making a cool pattern, there are others making their own versions / knock-offs .
Gotta hang wallpaper above the shower tiles in this cramped space in an under the stairs powder room . Between priming , measuring , hanging , yada, I had to make many trips in and out of that space. The sloped ceiling and confined area of the shower stall are difficult enough to work around. But factor in the rain style shower head , and it got more tenuous.
But I was able to squeeze myself, my ladder , my tools , and the wallpaper strips , around, over, and under that monstrous thing.
Besides all that physical contorting, another issue was … as I was climbing down off my ladder , my clothing got entangled in the wall-mounted faucet – and turned the water on!
Yes, I got a dousing! And the shower floor got wet , so my socks and feet got soaked , too!
Not that bad, though. And, to be honest, it was kinda funny.
This is a newish home in the Houston Heights . Coincidentally enough, I’ve hung a good number of powder rooms with this same lay out layout . Turns out the builder is well-known in the Heights, and uses this same floor plan models in many new build s.
I just hope that next time, the homeowner chooses a wall-mounted showerhead!
Before. Good colors. But nothing inspiring. Done. Boy, this paper really visually pushed the walls away and made the room look larger ! Easy on the eye tone-on-tone pattern , lighter colors , and a teeny bit of gold sparkle .
Note the 5/8″ high strip of wallpaper under the medicine cabinet on the left.
Because those faucet handles sit up so high above the backsplash , it’s likely that when people reach for the handles, water will get splashed onto the wallpaper . To prevent splashed water from wicking up under the wallpaper – which could cause the paper to expand and curl away from the wall – I ran a bead of clear siliconized caulk along the top of the backsplash . The color is skewed in this shot, but you get an idea of the tropical foliage and pattern scale . Toile is a French word for a sort of pen and ink drawing in one color on a background that may be colored or may not be.Close-up , showing a truer color . Note the palm trees and the monkey . This material has a woven -look textured surface , and it mimics fabric . I almost felt like I was install ing linen , instead of wallpaper . The brand is Rasch , a company out of Germany . Their papers are consistently nice to work with. This one was unexpectedly thin and flexible . It’s textured vinyl on a non-woven substrate . The vinyl makes it durable and stain-resistant , and the NW makes it easy to remove later when you’re ready to redecorate . The seams are positively invisible. This powder room on the first floor just off the home office / study comes complete with a shower . Just for fun – one of the obstacles in this room was this rain shower head – sticking out right where I need to be on my ladder , and keeping me from reaching those walls . On top of that, the faucet handles also stuck out much further from the wall than most do. While priming the walls, as I was climbing down from the ladder , my clothing actually got entangled in the handles and – turned on the water ! Yes, I got a shower at work today ! The home is in the Woodland Heights neighborhood of Houston .
Oh, my! – I hung lots of these chintz florals, ” satin ” look (the design of the dark green at the bottom of the wall), and dark colors back in the ’90’s . Sure enough – this home was built and wallpapered in 1994. IIt’s still a good look, IMO, and the homeowner still likes it. But she’s just gotten tired of it. So – time for an update ! She also decided to eliminate the chair rail , so the new wallpaper will go ceiling to floor . Here you see some damage to the drywall where the chair rail molding was removed . What a change! Now the room’s look is quiet and fresh . The buffet , topped with a decorative mirror , will go on this wall . That’s why I centered the pattern in between the windows , so it will fall evenly on either side of the furnishings . I also plotted so that a full “Moroccan lantern” (that’s what this style of trellis pattern is called), would balance out between the crown molding and the window molding. There were several of these 12.5″ high areas all around the room, so this placement of whole “lantern” motifs gave the room a pleasing look. It also worked out that the lanterns were evenly placed and kept whole between the crown molding and the baseboard. See the second following photo to see what I’m talking about As a note – just this one window wall took me about five hours to measure , calculate , and hang . Getting the pattern to go over, around, and under the two windows , and still line up and match correctly , took some time and futzing. The material was thick and stiff , and a bit tricky to fit into corners and trim around the decorative window molding . In the foreground you see my work table area . The homeowner has let me put protective padding on her dining room table and then set my work table on that. This saves space and allows plenty of room for my ladder and other tools as I work around all four walls. So that I could center the pattern on this wall , I had to start hanging my first strip in the middle of the wall. I was lucky this time, that the pattern was centered exactly on the edge of the wallpaper roll . Sometimes (as in the one I did yesterday – see previous post ) the center of the design motif is a to the right or left of the edge of the wallpaper . This, naturally, means you’ve got to do more measuring and plotting and double-checking , to be sure the center of the design falls down the center of the wall . Back to the photo above … that dark block on the right side of my work table is my laser level. It’s shooting a perfectly plumb red line onto the wall. Here I’m lining up my first strip of paper butted against this red line . Switch topics … Back in 1994, the original installer did a very nice job of hanging the wallpaper. But … he didn’t prime the new drywall first. That lack of primer / protective layer means that the wallpaper will actually bond to the drywall. I tried, but was unable to get the existing wallpaper off . Eventually, you need to factor in time , damage to the wall , paste residue left on the wall, and take a different tac if called for. So I skim-floated over the seams , so they wouldn’t show under the new paper , and also floated over the damaged drywall where the chair rail had been removed . Sanded smooth , and then primed the patched areas as well as the original wallpaper, with Roman Ultra Prime Pro 977 . This stuff will adhere to the light acrylic (slick) surface of the original wallpaper, as well as protect it from moisture from my paste on the new wallpaper. ( Moisture could cause the underlying original wallpaper to expand , creating bubbles that will look bad, or loose areas that will pull away from the wall, creating a bubble or pocket.) My primer is also lightly pigmented, so it helps block out the dark color and busy pattern of the original wallpaper . This particular new wallpaper is quite opaque , but not all of them are, so a pigmented primer is important , IMO . Left corner of the buffet wall. Here you can see how the lantern motifs are placed between ceiling and floor. The background has a lightly mottled effect, that mimics grasscloth a bit, and also adds more depth and warmth than just a plain solid color . Been havin’ more than a fair share of defects lately, especially this week. This paper had on both front and back sides, incidences of these black flecks . They seemed to be maybe charcoal , so I wasn’t too worried about their black bleeding through to the surface , like ink or any oil-based substance will do. Most of them were embedded in the material itself, so could not be wiped off , nor dug out with a razor blade . Some I had to cut around and discard the affected paper. Others were so small as to not be noticeable once the paper was up on the wall and all the furniture and artwork was back in the room. There was also one 3′ section of wallpaper that had an odd streak or arc running across it. It wasn’t ink . It was more like some kind of compromise to the substrate . I noticed it was I was pasting the back of the paper . I turned it over and, sure enough, you could see it a little on the surface. (see photo in previous post) It’s the kind of thing that was subtle, but would catch your eye when looking at the wall from a distance . It was minor , but I discarded that strip . Good thing I have the homeowners purchase a little extra wallpaper . The manufacturer is Designer Wallcoverings , which is a good quality brand (aside from the printing defects I described earlier ). It was a non-woven / paste the wall material , which is pretty user-friendly . It will strip off the wall easily and in one piece when you redecorate . Stain-resistant , and ” breathable ” in humid conditions . The home is in the West University neighborhood of Houston . Dining room installer
Hanging wallpaper in small power rooms can be trying. They’re small (about the same width as the door, about 36″). You’ve got a sink and a toilet in there. You’ve stuffed a ladder in, too. You’re carrying tools and rolls of wallpaper in and out. And to top if off – in most homes, the door opens inward. (There are actually reasons for this – Google it.) But that door pushing into an already over-crowded tiny room makes it even more difficult to get paper up on the wall. I need to go in and out of the room frequently. And it becomes a juggling act of squeezing my body around the door, repositioning the ladder, holding on to the paper and tools,,, yada. Over and over again all day long. What’s great about this picture? The homeowner has had the door to her powder room removed!Here’s another home where the door actually opens outward. Sure makes it easy for me to get my equipment in and out of the room! And less chance of damage to the wallpaper, too.
This vintage tub is super cool , and period-appropriate to this 1926 home in the Woodland Heights neighborhood of Houston . But if you need to get wallpaper on the walls around and above it, it’s really tricky . A ladder won’t fit in the tub , nor straddle it, and might damage it as well. So I keep this handy piece of plywood in my van . It’s a standard 2’x4′ size, and 1/2″ thick. That’s thick enough to distribute and hold my weight, but still light enough that I can carry it into homes and up staircases . It’s been sanded and then primed with white KILZ , to look a little nicer bringing into my clients’ homes, and also to reduce the chance of it leaving a mark on surfaces . The board is a perfect size for placing over various types of bathtubs or other items – as long as their top is flat. Note that I have cushioning and non-slip material between the board and the tub. In this case, I’m also using a one-step Rubbermaid step stool to boost my height. This might look a little scary, but it’s all actually very safe . I just need to be sure that my weight is distributed over the tub, and not over that unsupported section on the right. The stool does add a little more interest to the balancing act. But it’s all doable and safe if you just pay attention to your weight and movements. It did help that this family gave me plenty of peace and quiet while I was working .
Some wallpaper installers like to carry their tools in a belt pouch . I prefer to have them laid out in front of me. So I’ve built shelf boxes for the tops of my ladders . Simply made out of 1″ thick wooden shelf board , and edged with a boarder “fence” cut from wooden yardsticks. I’ve covered the bottom with clear Contact Paper . Note the two bolts .I have bolts going through the shelf and then through the top “step” of my ladder, secured by wing nuts beneath . This prevents the shelf from sliding around, and also makes it removable if needed.
Here’s my pasting / trimming table , set up in my client’s living room, which is just a few steps away from the hall bathroom where I’m hanging wallpaper. In that room, of course, I have my ladder, as well as my smaller hand tools used for actually getting the paper onto the wall.
Textured wall has been skim-floated, sanded smooth, primed, and ready for wallpaper. Done!Here’s how we got there …. First, this is a non-woven , paste-the-wall material. It’s nice paper, but very stiff and wants to remain curled up. So to get it to cooperate, after cutting my strips, I roll them backward, backing side facing out, and secure with an elastic hairband. This helps get rid of the curl, and also ensures that when I’m on my ladder at the wall and unroll the strip, the face will not bump into the pasted wall. After finding the mid point of the wall, and the center of the wallpaper pattern (beware – it’s usually not perfectly in the center or at the edge of the paper), I draw a plumb line (or use my laser level) and hang the first strip against it. It’s important to start in the middle, first to get the pattern centered. Next, because ceiling lines are never perfectly level, the pattern can start to go off-track as it moves across the wall. Meaning, the motif I placed at the tip of the wall may start drifting up or down. By starting in the middle and working outward, any drifting is lessened because it’s split between the right and left sides of the wall. Close up.Called Amazon , this is by Clarke & Clarke, in their Animalia line. I hung some very colorful zebras from this same company just a few weeks ago – go Search and find the photos!Matching pattern on the throw pillow, and a bolster pillow in the same colors against the white bedding really pulls the room together, and gives the colors more impact. The homeowner dabbles in interior design , and has really put together a Wow Factor guest bedroom ! The home is in the Garden Oaks neighborhood of Houston . installer
This accent wall in a Houston dining room is a little taller than I can safely reach with my 6′ ladder. Rather than run home and dig out my 8′ number, the homeowner set me up with their Little Giant.
I was glad for this experience, because I have heard my colleagues talk about these handy, adjustable ladders. It worked out pretty darned nicely!
It’s as high as my 8 footer, but the leg spread is much less, so it fits into tighter places and does not carry you so far away from the wall you want to work on. It also folds into different configurations, and can even be used on stairs.
One unexpected benefit is that you can straddle the top, which gives you a unique work position and access. It’s also amazingly stable … you can really toss your weight around, and over-reach (don’t tell OSHA!), and it won’t shift or jiggle.
The only disadvantage for lil’ ol’ me is that it’s fairly heavy. While I was able to move it around as needed in this small space, I doubt that I could carry the thing any distance, or set it up, by myself.
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