Busting a Myth – Dark Wallpaper Makes Rooms Look LARGER – Not Smaller

Everyone advised this homeowner not to put black in the dining room, that it would make the room too dark. But she had a vision and went with her gut. She was right – the room looks fabulous and elegant. And the texture and sheen on the walls visually expanded the space.

There is enough white molding in the room to play against the black. And the satiny drapes, along with the slight sheen of the grasscloth wallcovering bounce light around the room.

Accent wall in dining room. White swirls (look closely – they’re snakes!) add movement that make this wall lively, not closed-in.

In this master bedroom , everything’s dark – dark green walls , black ceiling , and black floral wallpaper .
If this accent wall had been left painted green , the room would have felt dark and lifeless . But the black against the green, along with the limited color pallet and the visual movement of the wallpaper pattern visually push the wall back and add depth .

This powder room started out all black. And it was a bit oppressive .

But add wallpaper with a little color and pattern , and now the room feels larger and alive with personality .

A powder room with black moldings and black wallpaper. Nothing claustrophobic here!

Another powder room that started out with black painted walls . Yes, it has an enclosed feeling.

Wallpaper with a black background and dark flora / fauna open up the space.
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Geometric Grasscloth in Home Gathering Area

No, this large room with sink and counters isn’t a kitchen. The family loves to entertain both family and friends, so included this “bonus” room in their new home’s plans. It’s used for both entertaining and crafting.
The wall facing you was originally painted a semi-gloss navy blue. In the photo, I’ve applied my wallpaper primer.
It will adhere to the glossy paint, and provide a matt finish for the wallpaper paste to grab ahold of.

Taking measurements and plotting the layout.

This paper has a selvedge edge , which has to be trimmed off by hand with a straightedge and razor blade. The manufacturer has not provided trim guide marks , so I am using a ruler and my eye.

The new look is so dramatically different I couldn’t resist taking a photo mid-hang. As you can see, I’ve used dark paint to stripe under where the seams will fall, to prevent any of my primer from showing through at the seams.
You can see the ceiling line starting to track upward on the right portion. More on that below.

Finished. Perfectly centered.

This is the mounting hardware for the big screen TV . I asked them to remove the TV, but we left the mounts in place. In order to support the heavy TV, they are placed quite securely into the wall , and I feel it’s best not to jimmy around with that.
Rather than have the first strip straddle the TV mount, I plotted to have my first seam fall down the middle of the wall, placing a seam in the mid point of the mount. This meant I had to hang four strips instead of three, but it made it a whole lot easier to work around the TV mount, as well as to keep the left and right edges of the grasscloth straight and plumb.

Close up showing the texture of this grasscloth material. It’s atypical to have grass cloth printed with a pattern , and I rather like the way the ink looks somewhat scratchy against the rough background.

Because it’s Schumacher, you can expect printing defects . The slight pattern match doesn’t bother me, as there were many more places along each strip that matched up perfectly. Nor do I mind the different intensity of ink on the two strips. That’s all part of the look of grasscloth.
But I wasn’t pleased with the white ink out in the middle of nowhere, as seen about 1//3 down the center of the picture. This isn’t considered a defect , and from a distance it’s not really noticeable. But it bugged me.

So I used some water-based paint and a very small brush from the craft store and lightly touched up the spots.

I also softened the mis-matched edges a bit. There’s a fine line between covering the white spots and staining the material, so use a light hand. And never permanent ink or oil-based markers or pastels.

Likewise, the ceiling line was not level, so as I moved from the mid-point out to the right, the ceiling rose above the geometric motif’s top edge, and a white line began to be visible, but only to the right of the centerpoint.

So I used the black paint to cover up that extra bit of white. This increases the width of that horizontal navy blue line from 1/4″ to about 1/2″. But from down on the floor you can’t tell, and it looks a whole lot better than having white on the right side and none on the left.

The brand is Schumacher and the home is in the Garden Oaks / Oak Forest area of Houston.
The interior designer who came up with this bold and lively look is Clayton Brooks .

Popular Rifle Paper Peacock Pattern in Houston Heights Powder Room

In this townhome, the powder room is at the top of the stairs. The homeowner wanted something lively and dramatic to catch your eye as you walk from the garage up the stairs.

The bold and bright colors against a very dark green background, and fun flower and peacock design really answer the call!

Simply called Peacock Wallpaper , this very popular design is by Rifle Paper , which is manufactured by York , one of the oldest wallpaper manufacturers in the U.S.
It’s a non-woven , paste-the-wall material, and will hold up and resist stains very nicely for years to come.
N-W ‘s are also designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece , with no damage to the wall , when it’s time to redecorate

Trees Brighten and Lighten a West U Powder Room

Plain paint in a khaki color is just drab.

A white background and “movement” from the tree forms brightens and energizes the space.

Almost looks hand-painted.

Most wallpapers by Exclusive Wallcoverings are traditional un-pasted paper, so I was surprised to find that this one was a paper-backed vinyl, and pre-pasted, too.

I am usually not a fan of the lower-priced pre-pasted, paper-backed solid vinyl (read my page to the right). But this brand has figured out how to make a quality product, and I was pleased with it.

Best of all is how the white background lightens up the space, and the intertwined branches bring a lively feel to the room.

The home is in the West University Place neighborhood of Houston.