Some Non-Woven Wallpapers Crease Easily

This is the bottom of the strip , where it meets the wainscoting . It needs to be pushed into the right-angle between the wall and the molding, so the excess can be trimmed off.
No matter how gently I push, or what tool I use, or how carefully I approach this, some papers buckle and fold and crease as they are bent backwards into the corner .

The wallpapers that do this are typically the thicker and ” puffy ” non-woven / paste the wall materials. It happens in just about every right-angle corner. Luckily these areas are usually not in the line of sight, so not very noticeable.
Note that many non-wovens are thinner and more flexible , and do not present this behavior.

Wallpaper Chinoiserie in a Powder Room – South Sea

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

The powder room in this 20-year old home in the Houston Heights was originally painted a deep avocado green. It was beautiful but claustrophobic, and the new homeowners wanted an updated change. This two-toned Chinoiserie in grey and white is lighter and brighter, has an uplifting feel, trends modern yet is timeless (Chinoiseries never go out of style), and visually expands the room.

This was a difficult room to wallpaper. Due to its location under the stairs, it has a sloping ceiling. There is a window smack in the middle of the focal wall, there was a wall-mounted mirror and a wall-mounted cabinet, there were four points of intricate molding to cut around, there were obtuse wall angles (more tricky than right angles), the width of the wallpaper strips didn’t correlate to the dimensions of the walls, door, or window, and there were numerous areas where the paper had to go from floor to ceiling, instead of the traditional ceiling to floor – all to name a few challenges in this room.

The wallpaper rolls had shards of shavings left on its edges, which I scrubbed off with a toothbrush, and then used a sanding block to really clean the edges of each strip. Still, there were rough edges so that not all the seams fit together quite as nicely as usual.

Instead of being set in the ceiling, the exhaust fan was set in the wall. This directed it straight outside which is nice, but it left the ugly vent cover smack in the middle of the wall. To disguise this, I covered the appliance with wallpaper. This took about an hour, and presented challenges in itself. See other post (do a Search) for more info.

This wallpaper pattern is called “South Sea,” by Thibaut Designs, and 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.