Slightly Mis-Matching Pattern to Maintain Ceiling Line

When people talk about wallpaper, they often mention matching the pattern. Well, that’s the obvious element. But there is a whole lot more going on, and a lot of factors need to be juggled in order to make the finished room look good.
Here, I’ve opted to mis-match the pattern a little across the seam. You can see that the stripes on the trunk of the palm tree are aligned one notch off. This then throws off the match of the cat’s tail. Not much, though.
Why did I do this?

Blame it on old houses, shifting foundations, un-level ceilings and un-plumb walls.
In order to get the pattern to match perfectly in the corner (not shown), it threw the subsequent strips of wallpaper off-plumb. This in turn caused the motifs (the white leopard’s head) to start moving higher up on the wall toward the ceiling. Eventually, the leopard’s head would be cut off at the ceiling.
By dropping the pattern down just very slightly, as seen in the top photo, I was able to keep the cat’s head below the ceiling line, for uniform look as you look at the wall from a distance (second photo).
The minor pattern mis-match at the palm tree, cat’s tail, and a few other design elements were not readily noticeable. And it looked a whole lot more pleasing than a cat without a head!

Tanzania Leopard Spots in Grandkids’ Bathroom

Here is a really popular pattern by Thibaut that I have hung a good number of times. This is the first time that it came in vinyl, though. (It’s usually paper.) Do a Search here to see other rooms I’ve put it in.

The vaulted area is the rear portion of the ceiling. The homeowner and I discussed painting the “beam” dark brown – I think she should.

The 10’+ high, steeply vaulted ceiling with its weird angles and narrow crevices was difficult to get wallpaper on. Once done, it looks great.

The homeowner wanted something cute and ageless, because the grandkids will use this bathroom. It’s on the third floor of a townhouse in the Galleria / Tanglewood neighborhood of Houston.

This wallpaper pattern is by Thibaut Designs, called “Tanzania,” 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.

Leopard Spots “Tanzania” for Baby’s Nursery

This little baby is on the way! Mom wanted something “jungle” looking, but not cutesy, so it would serve the child beyond the baby years. Dad is from South Africa. What could be better than this leopard spot print, called “Tanzania” ?!

I’ve done this pattern a number of times (do a Search in the upper right corner), but this is the first time in this brown-on-tan color. (I know, the photos make it look black on white.) Interestingly, this time, the brown and tan colorway weighed a lot, and seemed to have a vinyl surface, whereas the previous colorways were lighter and felt like plain printed paper.

Whatever it’s made of, it was wonderful to work with, and it will hold up on the wall until the child is old enough to want something different.

In the photo with the toothbrush – see all those little minute shards of paper on the floor? The edges of one side of the bolts of paper had loose shavings attached, caused by some trimming misfunction at the factory. I used the toothbrush to scrub them off.

This is a large, very contemporary home just north of West University, in Houston. I hung the paper on one accent / feature wall in the nursery.  I like this pattern a lot, because it doesn’t have a strong secondary pattern that might distract the eye.  It will be a good background for the crib and for any artwork the parents decide to hang.

This wallpaper pattern is by Thibaut Designs, one of my favorite brands, 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.

Getting A-head

I plotted the layout of this pattern to have the leopards’ heads be at the top of the wall, just under the crown molding. This worked nicely for the first three walls. But due to unplumb walls and a very unlevel ceiling, as the wallpaper strips moved from left to right across the four subsequent walls, these poor leopards got their heads got cut off.

I cut new intact heads from scrap wallpaper, and appliquéd them onto the cats’ chests. A little snipping and trimming was needed to get the various body parts to line up.

The leopards’ necks are a little shorter than when they started out. But that is much less disagreeable than half-heads. 🙂 From 9′ down on the floor, all the eye can see is that the animals’ heads are lined up perfectly under the crown molding.

Two Years of Barren Finally Beautified! (Coordinating Patterns)

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In yesterday’s post, I wrote about a family that has been living with a partially-remodeled powder room for more than two years. Today I got them one large step closer to being finished.

The once-drab, dark, and windowless room is now bright and crisp. An ikat trellis (“Bungalow”) was used on the walls, with a coordinating leopard print (“Tanzania”) on the ceiling. The trellis has a lot of movement due to the curved lines, so it really energizes the feel of the room.

The room had unplumb walls, unlevel crown molding, and bowed drywall, so it presented a bit of a challenge, and took me ’til after dark to finish. But the completed job looks great, and the homeowners are very happy.

Both wallpaper patterns are by Thibaut Designs. Two designs and colorways that are intended to work together are called coordinating or companion papers. This home is in the Memorial / Energy Corridor area of Houston.

Going for a MacKenzie Childs Look

This is a bedroom shared by a 6-year-old and a -10-year-old girl. It’s a pretty loud and wacky look, based on the designs of McKenzie Childs. There will be a 4″ wide black & white checkered ribbon run horizontally between the blue floral and the leopard print.

The leopard wallpaper print runs floor to ceiling on the window wall to the left of the chair, and the ceiling is painted a metallic copper color. You can bet that NO other kid in Houston has a room like this!

Sorry for the dark photo – it was a rainy day. The homeowner promises me better pics once the room is finished.