Digital Image
Digital Image
Digital Image
Digital Image
Digital Image
This homeowner wanted to brighten up a drab bathroom (previous paper was a dark tan, with no pattern). She loves texture, and was thrilled to find this herringbone “man’s suit” pattern by Anaglypta.
This is an embossed paper, and the herringbone pattern is quite deep and tactile.
So all that was quite nice for the homeowner. What was not so nice for me was that the material was positively horrible to work with.
It was so thick and stiff that it was honestly impossible to unroll it, let alone lay it out flat so it could be pasted.
Even gentle handling could cause it to crease. Laying my straight edge against it could cause it to crease.
It was impossible to paste, book, and then table-trim, as one would do with a “normal” wallpaper.
I finally started sponging the back with clean water, which relaxed it enough to open it up, so I could paste it.
Once I got a pasted strip to the wall, it was not easy to press the hard stuff against moldings or ceiling, so it was difficult to get tight cuts in those areas.
Cutting around curved crown molding was a challenge – I couldn’t see around it or feel through it, so it was tedious going.
The seams showed a little, depending on what angle you are looking from, because the puffy texture of the herringbone on one strip didn’t necessarily line up with the puffy texture on the next strip.
The last pic is a shot of just this. The photo doesn’t look all that bad . … It looks worse in real life.
It took me probably twice the originally planned time to hang this bathroom. Let’s just say that I was there ’til way after dark.
The end result, though, is that it looks great. The homeowner loves it, and said that she is “beyond pleased.”
Still, I’d like to point out that there are companies that make textured, embossed, paintable wallpapers that are not such bugger-bears to work with. Most of these other brands are softer and more pliable, and will allow themselves to be worked around turns and moldings and etc. My wallpaper source (below) can help you find one.
I hung this in a guest bathroom in a newish home in Montrose (Houston). The wallpaper is by Anaglypta, a company that dates back to the 1800’s. The paper can be left as-is, or it can be painted.
It was bought at below retail price from 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.
