Before. Grey and boring . The built-in banquette seating has been removed.Finished.Closer look.Showing the pattern centered on the wall, and with the shutters. The dimensions of the paper not corresponding well with the width of the window, along with logistics of pattern placement at the ceiling line but starting my first strip under the window all created some plotting and engineering challenges. Fun, but time consuming. But it turned out great!The original idea was to just paper the nook area, ending at the vertical door molding. But it would have looked odd to stop the wallpaper above this doorway. So the homeowner and I decided to run the paper along the top of the doorway, and then down the left side (not shown), which dead-ends into some cabinets and the granite countertop. It looked good and was the right call.It tickles me that this is quite obviously a riff on the very popular Strawberry Thief wallpaper pattern by William Morris , which is quite popular right now (do a Search here to see my installations of it). When a company comes up with a hit, you can be assured that a competitor will soon be making its own version of it. The original has a lot more color, but this version is limited to just two colors. Even though there is a lot of contrast between the black and the white , the pattern doesn’t feel busy, because the design is so close and tight . There is a lot of symmetry , repetitiveness , and balance in Wm Morris and similar styles . I love the raised ink texture to this material . Whoops! A slight pattern mis-match . The overall design is busy enough that small imperfections like this (as well as some color variations / shading ) are not really noticeable . It’s odd to me that the printing defects are different in different strips / rolls of the wallpaper . You’d think that if the print roller was out of whack, it would create the same image every time it strikes the wallpaper surface. Or maybe it’s the trimmers that are off. If they had cut 1/16″ more off that left edge, we might have a perfect pattern match . The manufacturer is York , one of my favorites , in their Sure Strip line, also one of my favorites. It’s in the Magnolia Home collection , by, yes, Joanna Gaines , of HGTV fame with the show Fixer Upper . SureStrip is a pre-pasted , thin , flexible , non-woven material that is easy to hang . It’s also easy to remove when you’re ready to redecorate , because it’s designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece with no damage to your walls . installer houston birds
I hung this bold and fun pattern a few years ago in a Spring (north Houston) laundry room. I’m back this week to wallpaper their kitchen, so took a minute to snap this shot.
It has a hand painted , water color -y look. I don’t remember the brand, but I’m thinking it’s from the Joanna Gaines Magnolia Home Collection in the SureStrip line by York.
OK, so sometimes you need to spend a little time in the “necessary room.” And what better way to pass the time than by reading a newspaper?
Patterns like this hung in bathrooms have been a running joke for decades. But still fun!
What’s cool is that this beautifully renovated home in the historic Woodland Heights neighborhood of Houston dates to 1910, and the “newspaper” design is pretty period-correct to the era of the home.
There are notes about Prohibition, Anheuser Busch, sewing machines, the lowest price grocery store, vehicle repairs, and all sorts of goods and services – as well as the unique language used in back in that day.
This went in an under-the-stairs powder room. The wallpaper is in the Sure Strip line, in the Magnolia Home collection (Joanna Gaines), and is made by York. It is a very flexible non-woven material, and is pre-pasted. I like working with this material a lot. It will hold up for years, and is designed to strip off the wall easily when it’s time to redecorate.
The interior designer is Stacie Cokinos of Cokinos Design. She works mainly in the Heights area, and mostly on new builds or whole-house renovations.
The little boy who uses this room is 2 1/2, but you’d think he was 5. He’s energetic, articulate, inquisitive, polite, outgoing – and ready to move from the nursery into his “big boy’s room.”
The room was originally all white, but the parents knew an accent wall in this “Pick Up Sticks” pattern in white on navy would add warmth and character. In addition, this is a pattern that will grow with the boy, from his tot years to his teens.
When you look at the close-up, I like the way the white lines look like they were drawn by hand, instead of being perfectly straight and regimented.
The wallpaper is by Magnolia Home (Joanna Gaines, of HGTV fame), which is made by York. It is in their SureStrip line, which is one of my favorite brands. It’s a thin, flexible non-woven material, designed to strip off the wall easily when it’s time to redecorate.
SureStrip comes pre-pasted, so all you need to do to activate the paste is to add water. I do brush and roll a little augmentive paste onto the wall before hanging the paper.
Since papers like this are known to shrink as they dry, and because the factory often fails to trim the edges absolutely straight, I striped some dark paint on the wall where the seams would fall, so in case of gapping, you wouldn’t see jarring white lines.
The material does bubble a bit as it dries (releases moisture). You have to be patient, because bubbles will eventually disappear, and waiting is better than overworking the paper. But in this case, I got some rather large bubbles, so I did spend some time after the install going over the walls and chasing out the largest of them. By the next day, everything was nice and flat.
This wallpaper 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.
The previous owners used this as a dining room, but the new homeowners are a young family that need the space for a home office / toddler’s playroom. They wanted a bolder pattern than the original soft clouds, but were happy to stick with the black and white color palette.
Once I got the original paper thoroughly soaked with a sponge and clean water, the paste reactivated and it stripped off the wall easily and with no damage.
It did reveal a previous wall treatment – a stenciled diagonal foliage pattern.
It also revealed a lightly textured wall. I don’t like these bumps showing under the new wallpaper, so I used a trowel and “mud” (drywall joint compound) to smooth the wall.
After sanding smooth, vacuuming up the dust, wiping dust off the wall with a damp sponge, and then priming, the new wallpaper could go up. I used a laser level to center the design on the wall.
This wallpaper pattern is in the Magnolia Home collection- yes, good old Joanna Gaines. It is by York, and is in their SureStrip line.
It is pre-pasted and goes up easily and cleanly, and is a delight to work with – one of my favorites. SureStrip is designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece when it’s time to redecorate.
The home is in the Energy Corridor area of west Houston.
The parents-to-be wanted a fun, yet subdued pattern for an accent wall in their new nursery. They fell in love with this herringbone pattern by Joanna Gaines, in her Magnolia Home collection.
It’s an economical alternative to the popular “Feather” pattern by Serena & Lily – which is lovely paper, by the way.
This expectant couple had originally considered hiring me, but my lead time was too long for them, with the baby coming and all. So they contracted with another installer. Unfortunately, the other installer became unresponsive, and the parents-to-be were needing to get the room decorated and done, so they could move on to other new-parent things.
So they contacted me. Happily, I had an unexpected opening pop up, and was able to get their baby’s wall done with months to spare before the arrival of the little one.
The manufacturer of this paper is York, and it’s in their Sure Strip line. I love this thin pre-pasted wallpaper. It is nice to work with, it hugs the wall tightly, and it will resist problems from humidity in a bathroom.
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