Although it’s free and loose, this is essentially a symmetrical pattern . After studying the pattern on-line , I determined that this dark berry motif with the red bird was the dominant element in the design . I measured and plotted carefully , to plant that motif right in the center above the window molding . This would ensure that the dark berry motif would fall evenly on both sides of the window as it moves down the wall . What I didn’t anticipate is how the individual design elements would also play out , being divided equally on both sides of the window . Take a look … On the left side of the window molding is the rear end of a bird . See his tail ?And on the right side of the window , at the same height , is the front end of the bird ! The flowers and other motifs were affected the same way . The pattern is called Apothecary’s Garden and is by C.F.A. Voysey , a designer from the turn of the last century, in the Arts & Crafts period . This is by Lord Twig Wallpaper , out of Canada . I’ve heard all positive results in dealing with this company. Please see previous post for more information re the wallpaper itself.
I wanted to position this pattern so that the stripe ran right up along the right side of the door frame. That would be more visually pleasing than having half-sections of those angular motifs. The stripe did run along the outer edge of the wallpaper strip, so I could have easily butted the edge along the door molding. But that would have put a vertical seam running right up over the corner of the door. My experience has shown that this area gets a lot of stress, especially in the case of shifting foundations and walls. So I really avoid letting a seam fall there.My solution was to take a strip and move the seam over – easy to do with this striped pattern. We had very little paper for this job, so before cutting anything I made sure that reducing the width of this strip by one section of diagonal motifs would still allow me to reach the corner on the far right (not shown). So I measured down a little more than the height of wall above the the door and kept that intact and full-width. The rest of the length of that strip I cut along the strip in the design, all the way down to the floor. Here that strip is in place. Leaving the top portion a little long ensured that I had enough to cover this area, and then all I did was trim off the extra 1″ or so, just as you normally would trim around a door frame. The best part is that we now have the paper reaching across that “danger zone” above the top right corner of the door, with no seam to split open or gap should the wall shift.Here’s a close-up of the irregular strip as it falls alongside the door molding. Here’s the left corner of that door. I did some tricks to get that strip straight along the edge of the door frame, too. No pics, but, in a nutshell, I cut vertically along the lines in the design over the door, to cut the sections apart. Then I overlapped the sections about 1/4″, with the vertical stripe disguising the overlap. This made each section of diagonal motifs narrower. Once I had narrowed the whole area by removing about an inch, I had pulled the full-height strip on the left over to the right far enough that the tan line lined up along the door frame, and above the door it butted up with the left edge of the last section of diagonal motifs. Note that this is a very easy pattern to play tricks with, because, although there is a pattern match, it really doesn’t matter much if you ignore it. Also, the lines are not perfectly straight, but a bit squiggly, and that makes it much more forgiving. In fact, because we were really short on paper, the only way to get the room done was to mis-match the design in most places. The homeowner was OK with that. In fact, she (and he) were delighted with how the room turned out. This very popular pattern is called Feather and is by Serena & Lily . Just about everything they make, I love hanging. (not so fond of their non-woven / paste-the-wall option) This comes in many colors, and you can purchase directly from them on-line. wallpaper installer houston
Before. The previous installer did a beautiful job with this earthy grasscloth. But it didn’t suit the homeowner’s taste, nor did it fit with the feel of this 1939 cottage in the historic Norhill section of the Houston heights.Done! The dark towel and mirror really set off the pattern and colors.Wall behind the toilet. This Asian-influenced design, with its pagodas and minstrels, is referred to as a Chinoiserie . These designs have been popular for centuries. Close-up. The green and blue tones coordinate beautifully with adjoining rooms in the house. I rolled the wallpaper out on the floor, so I could see the full-size design. This one has a 46″ pattern repeat, which is awfully long, and means there can be a lot of waste. This design had a straight pattern match, and came packaged in a 24″ x 33′ bolt, like traditional wallpaper. It did not come as an A-B set, as many M&K products do. I couldn’t find a full-size room-set photo on-line, so I availed myself of the Milton & King ‘s ” chat ” feature … I was connected with a live and knowledgeable representative in mere seconds, and he very quickly sent me a link to a picture of this pattern in a room. In the photo, I’m using my yardstick to determine a centerline of the design motifs.As are most of Milton & King ‘s wallpapers, this one was on a non-woven substrate. Rather than paste the wall, I chose to paste the paper, which works best in a bathroom with things to cut around and tuck paper behind. miThe pattern is called Mulberry . Milton & King’s bolts come packed individually in protective boxes – no worries about banged edges with this outfit!
The furnishings in this home are traditional, so I was surprised when the homeowners chose this ombre (shaded, graduated, faded) pattern for their powder room. I have to say, it turned out fantastic!
This innovative look is a mural, packed as two 36″ wide panels per “roll.” It took seven panels (four rolls) to do this very small powder room.
Each panel is 8′ high. Like most newer homes, this townhouse has 9′ high ceilings. So, to shorten the wall height, the homeowners decided to add a very short wainscoting at the bottom of the wall, topping it off with a strip of decorative chair rail molding. The deep navy color works perfectly with the tones in the mural, as well as the graduated saturation effect. I like it better than having the design come all the way to the floor.
The homeowners said it was near Divorce Court, with both of them squeezing into this 3′ x 6′ space (and toss in a toilet), trying to measure and hammer and paint and agree on install steps.
They were wise enough to not tackle hanging the wallpaper themselves. 🙂
Back to the wallpaper. This is by Brewster, in their A Street Prints line. It is a non-woven material, and can be hung via the paste-the-wall method …. but I chose to paste the material, for more flexibility and for getting around obstacles like the vanity and toilet.
This wallpaper should strip off the wall easily when it’s time to redecorate. The mural was purchased from Southwestern Paint / Benjamin Moore near the Rice Village, but can also be bought on-line from various vendors, including Brewster’s own website.
Originally, this powder room in a brand new home in the Clear Lake area south of Houston was painted a taupe-y grey, and the walls were heavily textured. This bright and crisp Pineapple pattern in navy on white really opened up and brightened the room, and made it fitting for a family with two toddlers.
It took a day and a half to smooth the textured walls, and a full day to hang the paper. The extremely un-plumb walls and un-level ceiling and floor and sink, and other features were all obstacles. The homeowner and I decided that it would be better to have the pattern match in the corners, and then let it run crooked along the ceiling and floor lines. Too complicated to get into here. But in the end, the finished room looks great!
I usually love Serena & Lily papers, but this time I encountered several printing defects. There was a slight pattern mis-match at the seams. There was a faint smudge on one motif at the point of every pattern repeat. And one bolt had a line of dark blue ink along the right edge that ran for several feet. AND … this bolt came with no label. I assumed it was a return, and was of a different run, and thus was unusable in this powder room Luckily, I usually have the homeowners order enough paper to accommodate issues like this.
Coincidentally enough, my Wallcovering Installers Association colleagues on our private Facebook page had just been discussing Serena & Lily papers, and a rash of printing defects and other issues that many installers had been experiencing lately.
Other than the printing defects and wonky walls, the paper went up nicely.
Serena & Lily papers (and other home good merchandise) can be bought on-line, or through their paper catalog – which they just mailed out recently.
Before you start any wallpaper project, it is important to check the Run Numbers (Batch Numbers / Dye Lot).
This means that all the bolts / rolls have been printed at the same time, and are of the same shade.
Bolts printed at different times (different Run Numbers) will be of a very slightly different shade.
They canNOT be placed next to each other on the same wall, because you will notice a subtle-but-disagreeable difference in color between the strips of paper.
So make sure that all your bolts of paper are from the same Run Number.
Note that many on-line vendors are clueless about run numbers, so this is an important thing to check, if you buy low-priced papers on-line.
Like animals? Like the forest? Like a little whimsy? Then this wallpaper pattern is for you!
I hung this in a children’s bathroom in a very nicely remodeled 1939 brick cottage in Montrose (inner Houston). The bottom 1/3 of the walls was shiny white subway tile, and the straight-lined vanity cabinets below were painted a strong, glossy yellow. The navy blue wallpaper pattern looked smart against the white tile, and the color perfectly complimented the yellow cabinetry.
This wallpaper pattern is called “Otomi,” and is in the Emily Isabella line by Hygge & West. This wallpaper can be bought on-line.
This pattern, with its varied-height lines of giraffes marching along to the left is just plain fun.
And, as a hand-printed gold metallic option from a boutique manufacturer, was quite expensive.
The mom-to-be maximized the punch factor of this paper by putting it on just one wall – the wall behind the crib. Even though the pattern had a very long repeat (36″), I was able to cover the wall with just one 27′ long double roll bolt of paper. That’s getting a lot of bang for as reasonable price as possible.
As you can see in the last photo, this wallpaper came un-trimmed, and had to have the unprinted selvedge edge trimmed off by hand (meaning, a 6′ straightedge and a hand-held razor blade).
Matching the pattern was a real bugger, because, even though all those giraffes LOOK the same, they are NOT the same, nor is their sequence of appearance in any given line. There was a lot of waste with the 36″ repeat, and some accommodating the un-plumb walls and un-level floor and ceiling of a 1930’s home in West University Place, but the finished wall looked super.
This wallpaper is by Sissy & Marley for Jill Malek, and is available on-line.
OK, here is the same room, clothed in lively blue & white paper from Anthropologie. The homeowner found this wallpaper on-line and fell in love with it. It really transforms the room!
In the last photo, I humbly invite you to note that the pattern is perfectly centered, left-to-right, as well as top-to-bottom. It also lines up perfectly with the pattern on the fur down above. This was no accident – I spent a lot of time plotting and measuring and engineering how to get this to work out. I figured the homeowners would have something pretty sitting on this built-in buffet – an antique tea set, a beautiful mirror – so I wanted to balance the pattern so it would accentuate whatever they placed in the recessed area.
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