1 3/8″ Wallpaper Strip

Arrgh. This last strip of wallpaper in a master bathroom ended just shy of the shower tile surround . That’s a 1 3/8″ gap that needs to be covered with wallpaper. I’ve filled in pieces narrower – like, 1/2″ or less. But, still, it’s a PITA, and takes a lot of time.
And it will require a full 9′ strip of paper, just to cut off this 1 3/8″ wide bit from the right side. So a whole lot of unused paper is going in the trash can. As I like to emphasize, always purchase a little extra.

I don’t usually pre-trim strips in this situation, because walls are never straight so it’s hard to get the width perfect. And the fact that wallpaper expands when it gets wet with paste , so your pre-trimmed strip may end up wider than the space. And because trimming the piece while it’s on-site gives a better, tighter fit.
Anyway, this time I did pre-trim. I measured carefully, and found that most of the space was 1 3/8″ wide. But three artichoke motifs up from the floor (about 2 1/2 feet), the width widened to 1 1/2.”
So I used my straightedge and fine ruler and trimmed accordingly. The pasted it and let sit for a few minutes.
Here I’m smoothing the strip into its little narrow gap.

Finished.

1/2 Inch Width = A Full Strip

I’m fixin’n to hang faux grasscloth on this accent / headboard wall in a master bedroom in the Spring Branch area of Houston. The textured wall has been skim-floated , sanded smooth , primed , and is ready for wallpaper .

The material is 20.75″ (20 and 3/4″) wide . So here I’m measuring off how many strips of wallpaper I’ll need.

I’ve counted out seven strips across the wall, and have come to my last (8th) strip. Look at my pencil mark – it’s at 21.” Remember that the paper is 20 3/4″ wide. This means that, to cover that last, scant 1/4″ width , I’ll have to use a ninth strip. Which will be a whole 9′ high strip that’s 20.75″ wide.
Useing a 1/4″ wide strip off a 9′ long length leaves us with a whole lot of waste – paper / square footage just going into the trash.
This is, again, why you should not purchase wallpaper based on square footage. It’s more a matter of determining how many strips you will need – factoring in the pattern repeat, etc.
Even better , have the wallpaper installer make a site – visit and calculate for you.
Going a step further … Since this is a (faux) grasscloth and has not pattern match , the seams will all be visible . So we try to balance the panels on the wall. Meaning, the wall will look better with panels of equal-widths, instead of, for instance, eight panels at 21″ wide and one at 1/2″.
For the record, it also looks better to not have a seam fall at dead-center on the wall. Better to have that center panel straddle the mid-point.
With this particular install, that’s what I chose to do. I took the first (let’s just call it 21″ wide for ease) … I took the first 21″ wide panel and used my laser level to line it up so 10 1/2″ fell on either side of the center line on the wall. So, this first panel was straddling the center line.
From there, I used full-width (21″) panels one either side.
Until I got to the last panel on the left, and the last one on the right. These two ended up each being about 15″ wide. So I had seven panels that were 21″ wide, and then two flanking on either side that were 15″ wide. This gave the wall a nice, balanced, uniform look.
Yes, I could have hand-trimmed each strip to 19″ wide or whatever the math would have worked out to. But my option was simpler, faster, maintained uniformity between the majority of the panels, as well as uniform width on the two outer panels, eliminated the worry of gaps at the seams due to unevenly trimmed rigid vinyl goods, and the 6″ width difference wasn’t very noticeable. And, also, since this was a faux grasscloth and color variations were minimized, you could hardly see the seams, nor the width of the panels, anyway.
From 5′ away, this wall looked perfectly homogeneous .

Finished Pearland Floral Master Bath

Before, with walls skim-floated smooth and primed .

So fun! So much personality and energy!
The door on the left opens to the water closet / potty room, which was papered in a coordinating plain gold, textured material. See previous post for photos.

Long wall behind his & hers vessel sinks.

Tub area, with shower area behind. Wallpapering all these little nooks and crannies took a lot of time!

The opposite side of the tub area.

This non-woven wallpaper is made by York and was purchased from the Ballard Designs showroom in Montrose / River Oaks ( Houston ).
It was nice to work with, the seams are nearly invisible, and it will hold up for many years to come.

Creating Wallpaper To Cover An Area That Was Not Planned For

When I first consulted with this family about wallpapering one wall in the master bedroom closet, the homeowner didn’t tell me that she also wanted an 11″ wide outside corner (sort of like a column) papered. No pic of that, sorry.
The mural to be used, shown above, was custom-sized to fit the main wall, so there wasn’t enough to cover this 11″ wide column.

But because the door and mirror covered up so much of mural, I figured I could use these unused areas to cover that column.

Here I’ve taken a scrap of the white sky area and applied it to the top of the column.

Now I’ve taken a section of the tree area that I liked the pattern of, and hung it on the lower 2/3 of the column.

Since I was making do with salvaged scraps, I had to take what was available. The top portion of this scrap is cut off, because it was used in the mirror / door area of the room. The straight cut doesn’t look so great.

So I used a scissors to cut along the design, creating a more natural edge of tree tops.

Overlaying this on top of the straight cut white sky area would result in a horizontal ridge under the paper. It would hardly be noticeable, but I could disguise it better. I used a pencil to mark the outline of the edges of the tree tops and then cut around it with a scissors. I made sure to leave about 1/2″ so the bottom printed tree paper would overlap on top of the sky area.

Here it is put back in place. Now the ridge follows the contours of the top edge, and is less noticeable.

Dark Flowing Floral Mural on Bellaire Bedroom Accent Wall

Headboard wall skim-floated smooth and primed – ready for wallpaper.

Having the foliage hang from the ceiling means you see more of it as the leaves and blossoms fall and fold around the bed. Moody and brooding colors make this perfect for a master bedroom.

It looks like it was painted on canvas or burlap, or possibly like you are looking through a window screen out onto a dark forest.

There are some very expensive versions of ” upside down over-scaled dark floral ” patterns. rebelwalls.com makes it affordable for any budget, and with a DIY friendly, easy-to-install non-woven paste-the-wall material. Murals are custom-sized to your wall(s), which is more tricky than it sounds, so be sure the paperhanger calculates dimensions before you order.
Rebel Walls sells mostly murals, but they also sell traditional rolled goods, too. They can even create custom-made designs.
The home is in the Bellaire area of Houston.

Another Calm and Quiet Bathroom

Textured walls have been skim-floated and sanded smooth, wiped free of dust, primed, and are ready for wallpaper.

For the master bathroom, the homeowner again chose a symmetrical, fanciful, woodland themed design in muted tones of cream on tan.

The overall look is balanced and calm.

I added the paper towel cushions to the cabinet handles on the left, to prevent them from slamming into and marring the new wallpaper.

Close-up shows the unique light texture of raised ink on this material.

The manufacturer is Schumacher, pattern name is Chenoceau. Usually I don’t like this brand, but this paper was actually pretty nice to work with. It does not have a protective coating, so the homeowner will need to be careful with splashes of water and toiletries to prevent staining, and to not let damp towels hang against the wallpaper.

Brightening and Updating a Master Bedroom

Old, dated and dingy paper has been stripped off, walls are primed, and now ready for wallpaper.

Done. Palm leaves accent wall on the left looks out into a landscaped courtyard. The quieter paper on the right going on three walls.

Close up of the accent wall. The paper has a light sheen.

By Fine Decor. A non-woven material / paste the wall installation method (I usually prefer to paste the paper).

Bright pastel colors, and an easy-to-live with design that sort of fades into the background, giving a textured look. This is a good choice when you want the items in the room (furnishings, artwork) to take center stage, and the wallpaper simply provides a soft backdrop.

Close up.

A Street Prints, a very good brand. This is also non-woven, paste-the-wall wallpaper.

This room adjoins the master bath I blogged about on Nov. 12. Scroll down and see how beautifully the papers in all three areas coordinate, both in color and in theme.

Gradually, through my blog posts, you will see how five rooms in this home were updated and “cheered up” by the new colors and patterns.

This home is in League City, a south suburb of Houston.

Bright Cheery Accent Wall in New Home Bathroom

Perfectly centered wallpaper pattern on one accent wall over the sinks in a master bathroom.

Th manufacturer is Designer Wallpapers

A fresh, clean look for a master bath in a new home in the Cypress neighborhood of far northwest Houston.

You don’t see a lot of accent walls in bathrooms; usually I recommend that baths look better with all the walls papered. But I have to admit, once the homeowner adds the mirrors and light fixtures, this will be a crisp, fun look.

this paper was purchased through the showroom at the brand new Ballard Designs brick-and-mortar store on W. Gray in the River Oaks / Montrose neighborhood of Houston.

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A Sweet Laundry Room in the Heights

Before: Drab, lifeless khaki paint.

After: Bright and cheerful, and definitely unexpected.

Wallpaper coordinates nicely with the stained glass window.

Fun surprise – Are they pineapples or flower bouquets?

The pattern is “Ludic” by Woodchip & Magnolia.

The home is a nicely renovated bungalow in the Houston Heights. The only place to tuck in a laundry room was in an alcove off the master bedroom. Not only does the wallpaper brighten the space, but it looks pretty when viewed from the bedroom.

The material is “non-woven” and can be hung by pasting the back of the paper, or by pasting the wall. I usually choose to paste the paper.

Cute, Sweet Pink & Blue Hallway

This is one of those houses that has a lot of crystal and glitter. The little girl’s bedroom has a LOT of crystal, glitter – and PINK.

So this hallway, which leads to both the girl’s room and to a glitzy guest bedroom, is fittingly outfitted with a navy-floral-on-pink wallpaper pattern. The colors show up much better in real life than on my phone camera shots.

The wallpaper is by designer Caitlin Wilson, made by York, in their Sure Strip line, and is one of my favorite wallpapers. It is a pre-pasted material. It is designed to strip off the wall easily when it’s time to redecorate.