Three-Dimensional Square “Dots” on Pale Neutral Grasscloth

Thibaut’s “Union Square” wallpaper pattern is a response to the popular Phillip Jeffries’s “Rivets.” Thibaut’s looser design and pattern placement make it much easier to align with the walls and woodwork – including rooms that are out of square and out of plumb. Which is just about every house in every neighborhood in every state.

The 3-D squares are made of some kind of plastic stuff, and are virtually impossible to cut through with a razor blade or a scissors (such as when trimming at the ceiling door or window moldings). I was able to engineer the room so that I did not have to cut through any of those rivets! Because the PJ pattern is much tighter, this would have been virtually impossible.

Also, I found that my soft short-bristled smoothing brush worked well enough to press the material against the wall while skimming over the 3/8″ high square bumps (sorry, for some reason, the photo did not turn out). But my beloved plastic trapezoidal squeegee smoother was just about useless, because it would not accommodate the 3-D “rivets.” So I had to adjust my install tactics a bit, and figure how to get along without the plastic smoother.

This wallcovering is made of grasscloth, which provides the subtle texture that homeowners are loving these days. But because grasscloth is made of natural fibers, there can be a lot of variations between bolts, and even between strips off the same bolt.

For that reason, Thibaut not only notes the run number of a bolt of wallpaper, but also the sequence in which the material was produced (see photo). The idea is that if you hang strips sequentially, you will see less shading or paneling (difference in color between two strips of wallcovering). Thibaut’s insert also includes a LOT of jargon about the color differences inherent to natural products, and the admonishment to use the bolts and strips sequentially.

I used three double rolls / bolts of grasscloth for this entry. Two of the bolts (the first two in the sequence) were pretty homogenous in color. The room was small and had low ceilings, and so I was able to keep the three strips needed for the longest wall all from the same bolt (#1).

I cut my other full-length strips from the second bolt (#2). That left the third bolt (#3) for the many short pieces needed to go over the four doorways in the room. As you can see from the last two photos, even though it was the same run number and printed at the same time, this third bolt was noticeably different in color from the previous two. The background color is the same, but there is a lot – a LOT – more dark brown fibrous material that got worked into the woven grass material.

Keeping these darker strips over the doors was a good way to minimize this color difference. The strips were only 9″ high. If these strips had been placed side-by-side on an 8′ high wall, the color difference would have been abruptly noticeable.

Color variations are to be expected with grasscloth, or any natural product. But helpful labeling by the manufacturer, and careful plotting by the installer, can minimize these differences.

This ’60’s-era ranch-style home in the Briargrove neighborhood of Houston is very much a “sea of tranquility,” as the whole house is entwined in off-whites, creams, and tans, with various textures like rough wood, sisal, and this grasscloth, used to pull in depth and warmth.

The interior designer on this project is Layne Ogden, of Layne Torsch Interiors.

Think You Want Grasscloth?

Think you want grasscloth? This natural product is often rife with color variations between strips, or, as seen here, within the same strip. This is called shading or paneling. Or sometimes the material is a lighter color at the edges, causing an unpleasant striped effect. This photo is of a high-end brand called Phillip Jeffries.

Of course, sometimes the material is very homogenous, like the Serena & Lily brand I hung on November 28, 2018. (Look up the post in the archives on the right.) But uniform color like this in grasscloth is pretty rare.

If you are considering using grasscloth, ask me to send you my Info Pack on the product, before you make your purchase.

Stretching the Paper to Avoid a Pattern Mismatch / Color Shading in Grasscloth

Two things about this photo. First, you can easily see the color difference between the narrow panel on the left, and the one to its right. You can also see that the color of the grasscloth darkens 2/3 of the way down the middle strip.

This variation in color is normal – even expected – in grasscloth, and is called “shading,” or “paneling.” It’s referred to as the “inherent beauty of this natural product.” But, personally, I don’t care for it.

Read my informative page to the right, to learn more about grasscloth.

Another thing to note … this corner is the last corner in the room to be papered. Virtually always, this last corner ends in a pattern mis-match – which can jar the eyes. So I placed it up over the door, in the least conspicuous space I could find.

Indeed, since the distance between the motif on the final strip did not sync with that on the first strip, the pattern was going to end up with a floral stem being split in the corner, leaving half of the greenery visible and half cut off. I didn’t want any cut off flower stems.

So I “grew” the paper. The distance between the flowers was supposed to be 5″. I used some scraps of paper to cut a strip 3.5″ wide, and another 4″ wide. This gave me an expansion of 7.5″ – wide enough to bridge the final distance without cutting off any flowers, but not wide enough for the eye to detect that the spacing was not exactly as the artist originally plotted.

The pattern is “Acanthus” and the manufacturer is Schumacher.

Shading in Grasscloth – Girl’s Bedroom in Aqua

Homeowners are loving textured wallcoverings these days, and grasscloth is all the rage.

However, I am almost always disappointed in this natural product, due to the visible seams and the lack of uniformity in color. The effect you see in the photo is called “shading” or “paneling.” Note the darker color of the second strip from the left.

Click the link on the right to read more on my page about grasscloth.

If You Buy Grasscloth, Expect To See The Seams

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Grasscloth is popular right now, but buyers must be aware that, because there is no pattern that can be matched, all the seams will be visible. In addition, color variations are to be expected.

The top photo shows a slight color difference between two strips. This is called shading or paneling. This is not a defect. It is considered “part of the inherent beauty of the natural material.”

The second photo shows a lighter colored line that often appears at the far edges of the grasscloth strips, due to irregularities in the dying process. This can often be minimized by trimming off the edges of the material. But sometimes the lighter area extends beyond the area that can be trimmed off. And if you trim off too much, you will have narrower strips, and may well run out of paper before you finish the room.

The bottom photo shows a seam where the lighter colored edges were successfully trimmed off, and a nice butted seam resulted.

Another Example of Paneling in Grasscloth

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This finely textured grasscloth is by Phillip Jeffries, a fairly high-end brand. All the bolts were the same run number. Yet, as you can see, there is a noticeable color difference between strips. This is called paneling. Here – short strips, under and above the windows, somewhat obscured by drapes – it’s not too noticeable. But imagine if you had 9′ strips next to each other on a wide wall, with this color difference.

This is not considered a defect (and the manufacturer will not replace the wallpaper). This is normal, and it’s considered part of the “inherent beauty of the natural product.”