A cozy nook. The homeowner likes to spend time here, soaking and relaxing. And recovering from supervising high school athletic activities ! This is a 1939 4-plex in the Montrose area of Houston that was beautifully renovated into a single-family home. So this entire master suite is carved out of what was originally one 1- bedroom apartment . Note my white 2′ x 4′ sheet of plywood over the claw-foot tub , so I can safely access the wall above. The wallpaper was placed on just one accent wall , above the tile wainscoting / chair rail . During the initial Sunday afternoon consultation , both the homeowners and I felt that this pattern on all the walls of this large master bathroom would be too overpowering . So they opted for just one accent wall . The design doesn’t have a strongly noticeable secondary or vertical pattern , but I still took the time to center the most dominant feature (the pomegranates) on the tub faucet . The faucet guy , tub guy , and tile guy didn’t get everything perfectly lined up – but nobody’s even noticing. What matters is that the finished nook looks fantastic! Also of note is that, in this near-100 year old home, the wall was bowed , and it wasn’t possible for the tile to lie flat against the entire surface. So there were some areas where the grout was 1/4″ wide, and some areas where the wall actually overshot the tile, leaving no visible grout at all. So at the area where the wallpaper met up with the top of the tile and the uneven grout line, I made a fat cut , to try to disguise the uneven line. Do a Search here to see previous posts on fat cuts . This wallpaper design is by William Morris , who was a strong force during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s , in the Art Nouveau and Arts & Crafts movements . His work is having a resurgence in popularity right now. Most are more symmetrical and repetitive than this example ( Google Strawberry Thief ) , but, true to the design aesthetic , all of them involve natural elements , such as plants , flowers , fruits , birds , and animals . In this close-up shot, you can see the raised ink of this print , which gives a slight textured feel . The manufacturer is Morris & Co. Usually M&C prints on a user-friendly non-woven material . But in the last year or two I’ve come across more and more M&C that are printed on the old-fashioned, traditional, what we call a British pulp substrate . Non-wovens are strong , durable , stain-resistant , humidity – resistant , easy to install , and easy to remove when you redecorate . Pulps , on the other hand , are just the opposite . Do a Search here to see my previous posts. None of this is a deal-breaker. The installer just needs to know what he’s getting into, before taking on the project. We hunted. This particular pattern was not available by any vendor in the NW material. Maybe it’s COVID , or supply chain issues , or maybe it’s a British thing (even though many American and Canadian companies are printing the Wm Morris designs ). Couldn’t find any outfit offering Fruit in non-woven. At any rate, the paper went up beautifully, and the basic paper material will hold up well, even if the homeowner steams up the room on her long tub soaks , and the pattern is lovely in the vintage home with new tile , tub , and faucet .
The same pattern is used in both the sink room and the commode area of this powder room. I positioned the pattern so that it would continue in the toilet room moving from left to right the same as in the sink space. Hard to explain, but it means that you’re looking at the same pattern repeated behind itself. Well – that was even more confusing! Well – just look at the picture and you’ll see what I mean. The inner face of the entry arch and of the window return will be painted . It’s undetermined as of yet just what color will be used, but it will be a hue pulled from the flowers in the wallpaper. Options in the running include the murky red, the murky blue, a murky grey (will match the vanity color), or, my favorite – a murky dusky gold. The paint will have a slight gloss, to coordinate with the sheen of the wallpaper. These bands of strong color will really pump up an already very powerful look!This mural came as a 4-panel set . Murals provide a scene, with less of a repetitive pattern . This design and dramatic colorway are very popular right now. Manufacturer is House of Hackney and the design is Artemis Block . It’s a very good quality , non-woven , paste the wall material , durable , and designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece with no damage to your walls when it’s time to redecorate .
Moving from the entry to the adjoining dining room of the historic home in Houston mentioned in my two previous posts. This pattern by William Morris is called “Fruit,” and is true to the period in which the home was built.
I love the way the colors work with the wainscoting and also the picture rail around the top.
This pattern is less repetitive and the color is softer than the option used in the entry (see yesterday’s post), making it an easy-to-live-with choice for this large dining room.
The material is a traditional British pulp which you don’t see much these days, as most European manufacturers have moved to the newer non-woven substrates. I do like the pulps for their matt finish and tight adhesion to the wall. Although, they are brittle and tend to drag and tear when being cut, so they require some special handling.
This one also has a raised ink feature, which adds just a tad of texture. Look closely at the close-up shot.
This was purchased from FinestWallpaper.com, who has a large selection of Morris and also Voysey (another designer from that Arts & Crafts period) patterns. The home is in the Old Sixth Ward neighborhood in central inner-loop Houston.
Yesterday’s basket weave wallpaper pattern caught me off guard. The label said this was a drop match pattern. That means that you have “A” and “B” strips… On the A strips, a certain design motif (let’s say a sailboat) is at the top of the wall. On the next strip, the B strip, the sailboat will be dropped down a few inches. On the third strip, back to A, the sailboat will be back at the top of the wall.
So I started cutting a wall full of A and B strips. Luckily, a little bug in the back of my head told me to stop and plot.
Turns out this was not a simple drop pattern match with A and B strips. It was a multiple drop match, and the pattern spanned four strips. This meant that the pattern played out across four strips before that sailboat got back up at the top of the wall. Therefore I had A, B, C, and D, strips.
It’s a good thing that little bug screamed at me. If I had cut all my strips in the A and B sequence, half of my strips would have been in the wrong pattern match, and I would have either come up short of paper – or I would have had a whole lot of plotting and splicing and finagling to get the room done.
Multiple drop pattern matches do keep the design from appearing too repetitive. But they are not very common. However, they have been popping up more and more over the last year or two. I just wish that manufacturers would label their material correctly – that would help a lot to avoid costly mistakes.
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