Galleria / Tanglewood Hall Bathroom Updated and Brightened

What a beautiful, fresh, floaty view as you come up the stairs of this townhome.

Here’s what was there before. Early ’90’s , solid vinyl that was both outdated and beginning to succumb to humidity ( curl at the seams ).

The previous installers (most likely a DIY homeowner couple) had hung the vinyl over existing wallpaper. I stripped off the vinyl, but, for various reasons, I was unable to remove the bottom, original wallpaper. Here is the room after I patched areas, skim-floated over seams, and primed with 123 by Zinsser.

Same view, cloaked in beautiful shimmery , pearlized floral wallpaper .

Over the shower view.

The homeowner was worried about using a modern wallpaper with her ’70’s tile . Replacing the tile was out of the budget . But the interior designer assured her that since the paper had a bit of yellow in it, that it would work nicely with the tile. Boy, was he right! The colors go together perfectly.

Toilet alcove view. The whole re-do was started by a water leak that caused the plumbers to cut a hole in the wall to the right of the toilet.

I don’t usually recommend covering switchplates and outlet covers , because they get soiled quickly. But the homeowner really liked the look of them covered, and she lives alone so promised to keep fingers off the plates . 🙂

This wallpaper is in the Canidice Olson line by York , one of my favorite companies, and was a delight to work with. It is thin and breathable, and will hold up much better in a humid bathroom than the previous vinyl option.
The paper was purchased from Calico on West Alabama in central Houston .
The client was assisted by Ron Dillon , who is an interior designer as well as has sold wallpaper for more than 20 years. He was an immense help to my client, who was dealing with many stressors and uncertainties during this bathroom re-do.

A Small Repair Today – Plumbing Issue

This couple had water damage from Hurricane Harvey, and I repapered their powder room a month or two ago. Well, recently a pipe burst, and, long story short, they had to replumb the whole house. To run the new pipes, the plumbers had to cut holes in the drywall.

The top photo shows where the plumber patched a hole with a scrap of drywall. He left some irregular areas and rough edges that would show under the wallpaper. So I skim-floated over these areas and then sanded smooth, as you see in the second photo.

There was precious little paper left, so a patch was called for (rather than replacing the whole wall). From leftover paper that matched the pattern around the drywall patch, I cut along the pattern design (third photo). This would be less visible than if I cut a square patch with straight edges.

Once I put the patch into place, lining it up with the pattern on the wall, the repair was invisible. (The gap at the bottom will be caulked.)

Cole & Son “Woods” in Bellaire Powder Room

This family’s home in Bellaire had been damaged by flooding during Hurricane Harvey in August of 2017. Four months later, much of the home has been fixed, but the house is still not livable yet and there is still much work to be done. The mom and dad are both at the point where they want just one room done, one room that is pretty, and a little normalcy back in their lives.

I, personally, think they are rushing things a bit (because I like wallpaper to be the very last element done in a home), but the wife assured me she would make sure that other contractors (painters, floor guys, plumbers, electricians, etc., would not damage the wallpaper.

The mom originally planned to have the powder room painted. She was at Southwestern Paint on Bissonnet to look at paint samples, and happened to glimpse a sample of this wallpaper pattern. “Woods” by Cole & Son is a popular pattern (I have hung it many times – do a search for previous posts), and it pulled her in immediately.

The powder room is large, and “Woods” was a wonderful choice for it. It fills the wall space nicely, and adds a lot of upward movement. It also adds an element of contemporary style, which the homeowner wanted to add to her previously-traditional styled home.

This wallpaper pattern is by Cole & Son, a British company. It is a non-woven material and uses a paste-the-wall install technique (rather than paste-the-paper). 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.