Renovation Uncovers Vintage Wallpaper

I love all things vintage , particularly the early 1900’s – 1940’s . So it was a thrill and an honor to help decorate this 1926 home in the Woodland Heights neighborhood of Houston .
The homeowners revere their new abode , too, and carefully maintained the character of the home during the renovation, while still adding updates that facilitate life in a modern world .
They also preserved many of the original features , and created a sort of ” shrine ” near the back door.
This framed wallpaper sample is one of those.

I love these old papers, and have a growing collection of my own.
Back in the day, the ship-lapped walls were covered with cheesecloth – like fabric , which was tacked to the wood . The wallpaper was pasted and then applied over that.
You can see some of that fabric peeking out at at the top of this sample .

Just about every room had a border running around the top, below the ceiling , as seen in this example.
This was stylish through many decades , so it’s difficult to tell what era this particular paper is from. To me, this looks like the 1950’s – but it could be as early as the 1920’s .
Borders were still popular into the 1990’s , but wider. I’ve hung bunches of them!
This ” history wall ” also included keys , mailbox parts , invoices written in fountain pen , hinges , and other cool old memorabilia .

Working in a 19th Century Historic Home

I don’t normally show pictures of my clients’ personal spaces, but this is a documented historic home, and already well-known to the public. The homeowners were eager to share with me the history of the home as well as its inhabitants.

I am proud to be working in this well-preserved structure. It was built in 1883 and is still mostly authentic, retaining original woodwork, flooring, hardware (door knobs, hinges, transom mechanisms, doorbell), and many other elements.

The home is located in the Old Sixth Ward of central Houston. The whole neighborhood is designated a Historic District. This means that there are protections ensuring the preservation of buildings there, as well as preventing out-of-sync new construction.

I highly approve!