Before. Heavily textured wall has been skim-floated with smoothing / joint compound and then sanded smooth , and then primed with Roman Pro 977 Ultra Prime wallpaper primer . I’ve run a narrow line of dark green craft paint along the top of the chair rail / wainscoting , due to uneven edges . More on that in a soon-future post. Sink wall is done. Pattern is centered nicely on the faucet and in between the electrical boxes for the new sconces – They haven’t arrived yet and will be installed in a few weeks . The homeowner’s carpenter created this beautiful wainscoting out of 3D block paneling , and then painted it a rich dark hunter’s green . Right now there’s some sanding dust collected on it, plus bad lighting . In person, it’s gorgeous . The same company did a fantastic paneled wall / fireplace surround in the family room (not pictured) . Back to wallpaper … This shot is pretty color-accurate. I love the way the dark wallpaper coordinates with the green paneling . The pink and orange flowers , as well as the row of purple foliage , really stand out against all the dark . Close-up looks like an artist’s painting . Besides centering the pattern on the sink wall, the dimensions worked out so that I was able to balance the chameleons between the ceiling and chair rail , one just below the ceiling and the one here just above the chair rail. So no critter got cut in half . This product comes as a 2-strip (roll) set , with an “A” strip and a “B” strip in each box. Together, the two strips equal just a hair under 6′ wide , and a little over 9′ high . Here I’m rolling out the two strips so I can gauge the pattern , measure width and height , and plot the layout on the wall. Sobering fact: Each 2-strip set (one “roll”) cost about $500. This room used four of those sets. I always try to keep that in mind when working with people’s purchased wallpaper . OK, this damned Word Press blog account has AGAIN (2nd time in two nights!) deleted paragraphs that I spent a lot of time typing. I can’t recreate all the info I put into that lost post, but below I will try to include some of the important points. First and foremost – since the switch to the New Editor back about 2015, I pretty much HATE WORDPRESS . Anyway, here the company is providing a mock-up of what the “A” and “B” strips look like. The mock-up above shows the two panels next to each other. Since this is essentially a mural and the pattern doesn’t repeat vertically as more typical wallpapers do, you can plan on getting only one strip out of each panel. These walls are 6′ high , and the panels are 9′ high. So you’re losing 3′ with every strip. Further, the area over the door needed one panel that’s 2′ high. But an entire 9′ panel was needed for this, to get the 2′ high strip. So 7′ are going into the trash. Add to that, since this product comes as a 2-panel set , the homeowner had to buy a 2-panel set (at $500), even though only part of one panel would be used. This means that 1 + 2/3 9′ long panels were purchased but not used. Also, because this comes in panels instead of traditional rolled goods, there are no “extra” strips. This means that I can’t make any mistakes. Nothing like a little pressure while trying to install wallpaper ! No fears … this pattern and material went up nicely, and we had just enough paper to git ‘er done. Manufacturer is Breeze and the pattern is called Fantasy Tree . It was purchased from one of the show rooms in one of the Design / Decorative Centers in central Houston. It’s printed on the user-friendly / DIY – friendly non-woven material , which can be hung by pasting the paper (which I prefer) or the paste-the-wall method . It’s designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece with no damage to the wall when it’s time to redecorate . Definitely better than peel & stick (click my link on the right to read more about P&S ). The home is in the Oak Forest / Garden Oaks / Heights neighborhood of Houston .
I have no idea what’s going on here, but it happens from time to time. I had been rolling on wallpaper primer in two rooms for a few hours . I’m suspecting I held a tool in a certain way for a long time , or somehow blocked circulation to a part of this finger . It doesn’t hurt , but it is a little swollen. The color got darker and lighter during the rest of the day. I did some shopping on the way home, and the store was cold , and that seemed to exacerbate the issue – finger got cold and numb and really purple . Back at home in my nice warm home office , it’s still discolored , but not as much.
A few months ago, I papered the adjoining powder room in this same watercolor -y wallpaper pattern. Now that the homeowner’s new custom cabinetry has been installed in the laundry room, I’m papering that area, too. Here’s the before picture.The homeowner made the point that, after all the money they spent on the carpentry, everything was swallowed up by the all-white walls. Well, a little color and pattern from wallpaper changes all that! Besides being beautiful, note how the wallpaper makes the moldings and cabinets stand out. Here the roses look purple … they’re actually more navy blue in color. Close up. The design looks like real watercolor brush strokes. Note there’s a slight pattern mis-match at the seam. This is a very close-up shot. From three feet away, you don’t notice it. Tomorrow I’m hanging another room with the same pattern but from a different run … Let’s see if the pattern matches better in the new run. The pattern is by Caitlin Wilson and is in the Sure Strip line, made by York , one of my favorite manufacturers. This is a unique pre-pasted material, as it’s designed to strip off the wall easily when you redecorate. I like Sure Strip a lot. Do a Search here to read about my install techniques with these. This is a nicely renovated and updated home in the energy corridor / Memorial area of west Houston.
Just as with a powder room I did a week ago, someone thought it would be a good idea to paint this small room very dark – in this case purple. But the whole effect was dark and oppressive.
People said it looked so much better, even with just my light colored primer!
But it looks even better with the new wallpaper!
These homeowners took a bold step with a pretty wild pattern. But they are not alone, because it’s a popular pattern, and I have hung it several times.
it really does a good job of opening up this room, and injecting the fun vibe of this young family.
The pattern is called “Indigo,” and is by Graham & Brown. G&B is a good company, and makes a ton of patterns and textures. You can buy directly from their website.
Most, if not all, of their papers are on a “non-woven” substrate, which means they can be hung using the paste-the-wall method. I usually prefer to paste the paper.
The home is in the Woodland Heights neighborhood of Houston.
This 20-something gal’s bedroom is filled with glitter, sparkle, and mirrored furniture. She wanted to pull in the color purple, and, with help of my suggested source below, she found the perfect pattern, and it incorporated her favorite color, plus a bit of silver sheen thrown in!
This wallpaper went on one accent wall, behind the large, tufted headboard.
The photos are throwing off the perspective a bit. In person, you notice the circular and diamond design motifs much more than the vertical swipes. It’s a super look to finish this room.
This wallpaper pattern is by Wallquest, a good company, and was bought from my favorite source for good quality, product knowledge, expert service, and competitive price – 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.
The home is in the Towne Lake neighborhood of northwest Houston.
Even with high (13′) vaulted ceilings, the original medium-toned purple paint in this master bedroom in a new home in the Town Lake neighborhood of Cypress (northwest Houston) made the room look a little closed-in. And the purple didn’t coordinate with anything the young homeowners own.
So they broke out the extension ladder and painted three walls a creamy white. Then they had me install a textured vinyl wallpaper with a woven grasscloth look on the wall behind the bed.
The job too two days. One day was to apply smoothing compound to the heavyish texture which is typical of new homes in the suburbs. The next day I sanded it smooth, wiped off the dust, primed, and then hung the paper.
Daylight was fading fast, so I had to take the “after” photo when only three strips were up. But you get the idea.
In the top photo, you see I have laid my rolled-up strips against the wall in the order they came off the bolt, and in the order in which they will be hung. This helps minimize color differences
As with most solid color and textured patterns, I used the “reverse hang” procedure to minimize shading – you hang one strip right side up, and the next strip you hang upside down. This way, the same side of each strip is placed next to each other. That way, if, for example, the left side of a bolt of wallpaper is slightly darker than the right side, you won’t notice an abrupt color change between your two strips, because the two darker sides are placed next to each other. I know that sounds complicated, but it’s a common practice when hanging wallpaper, and it does reduce color variations between strips.
One strip did end up a tad darker than the one next to it. They are all from the same run, so who knows what’s going on there. It’s a minor color difference, and not nearly as bad as if they had chosen real grasscloth instead. (Real grasscloth has tons of disappointing color variances between and even within strips.)
The close-up shows the beautiful texture of this embossed vinyl material. I have no idea why it came out grey – the paper is actually navy blue.
The vinyl wallcovering has a woven fabric (scrim) back, and is way more durable and stain-resistant than real grasscloth, or any other wallpaper, for that matter.
This wallpaper pattern is called “Bankun Raffia” by Thibaut Designs, and was bought from my favorite source for good quality, product knowledge, expert service, and competitive price – 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.
This 1960 ranch style home in the Westbury neighborhood of Houston is like a time capsule of Mid Century Modern design. The doors, windows, moldings, cabinetry, and even most of the bathrooms are original – and in mint condition. The homeowners love the look, and wanted to honor that, while updating some of the rooms.
What fun! This wild pattern fills all those bills!
What’s extra cool is that the homeowners painted the walls and woodwork in the room a mauvy-purple color more than a year ago. I showed them a sample of this paper in the orange color (which I had hung in another client’s home in a nearby neighborhood, also Mid Century Modern), and they loved it. When they went to the wallpaper store (read below), the selection book showed this snazzy purple colorway. The shade of purple is the exact compliment to the paint colors they had chosen so long ago. BINGO!
This wallpaper pattern is by Graham & Brown, in their Super Fresco line, which is reasonably priced and easy to work with, as well as easy to remove when it’s time to redecorate. I hung it with the paste-the-wall method. 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.
This homeowner has a vibrant personality – yet all of the walls in her home were bland and boring. She is coming up on a significant birthday, and is planning a huge bash. She wanted to get this powder room gussied up, to both reflect her spunky personality, and to impress her friend who would be coming to the party.
Oh, and she also likes the color purple.
This wallpaper pattern fills the bill in many ways. For starters, it is lively and fun. The scale of the pattern works quite nicely with the width and height of the walls. Next, it is way colorful. And it has the homeonwer’s favorite color – purple.
Originally, we were going to paper the walls from floor to ceiling. But the homeowner anticipated that the busy pattern might be overwhelming if spread over 8′ of wall height. Good call!
So I hung the paper from the ceiling down to 34″ from the floor. (Three feet is a pretty standard height for a chair rail.) The homeowner will have the bottom 1/3 of the walls painted, probably a rich grey. Next, a chair rail will be added around the middle of the room.
I am encouraging the homeowner to paint this molding a vibrant purple.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see what color she decides to use.
I am confident that she will land on the perfect colors, and the powder room will be looking stellar in time for her Bog Birthday Bash.
This wallpaper is by York, in their Cary Lind design line, and in their Sure Strip material line (one of my favorites). It was bought from 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!
My client said, “I went in there confident that I knew what I wanted – but I just wanted to see what else was out there. I advised Dorota what I was looking for, and when I got to the store, she had books marked and waiting for me. But every time I’d fall in love with a pattern, Dorota would walk up to me, holding a new book with new patterns.
Discuss your project and make an appointment before heading over to see her.
The young owners of this newish home in the Houston Heights inherited a guest bedroom that had been drenched in a bright lavender color. They liked the color, but wanted to brighten and enliven the room, but also tone down all that pinky-purple. They also have an eye on a room that would work for a nursery down the road …
I suggested they visit Dorota (see below), and she helped them find this pattern. The color couldn’t be more perfect with the paint on the walls, and the pattern is lively, and it’s charming, without being overly sweet. It’s a grey day, and my cheapie camera is not showing the true colors of this beautiful paper – and I forgot to take a shot of the painted walls, to show how nicely the colors compliment one another. But, trust me, this is one of the best coordinated rooms I’ve seen.
Atypically, they did not do just one accent wall, but two walls opposite one another. I don’t always suggest this approach, but I have to agree this time, it looks fantastic.
I loved working with this wallpaper. It is part of the Eco Chic line, by Wall Quest, and was bought at a discounted price from Dorota Hartwig at Southwestern Paint on Bissonnet near Kirby. (713) 520-6262 or dorotasouthwestern@hotmail.com. Discuss your project and make an appointment before heading over to see her.
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