Wallpaper in American Farmhouse Style Magazine

I’m always thrilled to see wallpaper featured in magazines – especially magazines that historically promote sparse , all-white interiors and décor . This February / March 2023 issue showcases a LOT of wallpaper – including right her on the front cover !
The magazine didn’t list much, if any, info about the patterns or brands. So please just enjoy the patterns and decorating elements. If you want to pursue one of these, I can hook you up with a merchant who can probably find it for you, or something similar.

Whimsical but muted ” village ” pattern as backdrop for headboard accent wall .

Note the use of nubby textured textiles to warm up this wintery room.

Sweet roses . I hung this very pattern just a few months ago. https://wallpaperlady.wordpress.com/2022/06/26/romantic-vintage-look-rose-bedroom-accent-wall/

Shore birds in flight have been a popular theme .

This is an obvious (and much more affordable ) riff on the $$$ ” Acanthus ” design by Schumacher . This one is a lot more playful , too, IMO.

We’re entering a guest house / B&B / airBnB with several rental units having the same footprint , but different decorating.

Look all the way to the left – a tiny snippet of wallpaper on the accent wall , nicely coordinated with the color of the cabinets , as well as complimentary to the pink-ish wall paint .

Wheat wreaths on wheat wallpaper .

Subtle stripes in a sleeping area . Note how nicely the installer centered / balanced the stripes on the headboard / focal wall .

An earthy, natural pattern I hung not too long ago, and also have it coming up again. Looks like dandelion seedheads, maybe. Fun upward movement.

Many ” Farmhouse ” styled homes these days are using tile that looks like this. But this backdrop is actually wallpaper . Showing how you can get the visual impact of patterned tile without the expense or permanent impact on your wall .

Cute idea for the backs of narrow shelves . This is a clever look on stairs , too – I’d say mostly in ” artsy ” themed homes .

This wall is actually made of ship-lap . But there are many wallpaper patterns out there that mimic the look of this popular decorating material . Particularly the Magnolia Home line by Joanna Gaines , made by York .

More wallpaper masquerading as tile on this bar backsplash .

Bright colorful butterflies .

Same color scheme , different wallpaper pattern .

Cheery lemon pattern . Here’s a similar one I did recently. https://wallpaperlady.wordpress.com/2022/11/11/picasso-slept-here-crazy-pattern-in-a-complicated-powder-room/

Fun with green and leaves

Moving from pattern to texture . Here you see natural fiber grasscloth flanking the entryway , as well as on the back wall .

A fun Industrial Modern / Rustic look for this accent wall . Not sure if this is a plastic 3-D faux brick material , or wallpaper . But there are plenty of brick-look wallpapers available , many with light texture on the surface . For help tracking down something you love, contact Dorota at the Sherwin-Williams on University in the Rice Village. Call first and discuss your project. Wed – Sat (713) 529-6515 .

Slightly ethnic look to this dark blue headboard accent wall in a guest bedroom .

From 20 Years of Red to Sweet Light Floral

Red is a classic dining room color, and painted walls served well since the late ’90’s. This homeowner has classic taste – note the elegant moldings below the chair rail and around the windows.

The update is lighter and brighter and opens up the room, making it feel larger.
Note the wallpaper around the corner on the right.

This is the paper in the adjoining hallway, which has been in place for decades. The new pattern coordinates beautifully in theme and color!

Close-up. Roses and script.

Norwall is a very economical brand (something like $25 per double roll on sale). Not my favorite quality, because the gritty paper backing can absorb humidity and separate from the thick vinyl surface, plus the seams tend to “pouch” a bit and don’t look great. But I’ve discovered that rolling a bit of wallpaper paste onto the wall under the seam areas will help to “suck down” the edges, creating better seams. I also do believe that the manufacturer has improved the substrate.

I was pleased with the way the seams looked on this install. You’re looking at a very close-up picture. Once the paper is dried and from two feet away, these seams will be invisible. In fact, the homeowner kept walking around the room remarking how she couldn’t even find a seam. Note the slightly textured surface.

The home is in the far west area of Houston.

Sweet Watercolor Floral for “Big Girl’s Room”

Toddler Claire is moving from a crib to a bed, and her “Big Girl’s Room” needs a new look.

Enter “Watercolor Roses” in the Joanna Gaines Magnolia Home line by York (yorkwall.com), in their SureStrip line – one of my favorites.

The material is pre-pasted, and designed to strip off the wall easily when it’s time to redecorate.

The home is in the Oak Forest neighborhood of north Houston.

Sweetening an All-White Bathroom / Treating Trials

This homeowner was just trying to update her hall bathroom. She chose a new countertop, new tile, and new wallpaper. Unfortunately, some of the workmen who showed up for the job were less than stellar. I won’t say anything about the tile guys or the painters, but in the top photo, you can see how the “I can hang wallpaper” guy prepped the wall… which he proclaimed as “wallpaper-ready.”

I took down the light fixture, removed the remaining old wallpaper, and skim-floated the surface. Because the ridges in the original guy’s float job were so thick, I went there a few days early to get an initial layer of smoothing compound spread on the wall, so it would have time to dry. Then when I came back, I skim-floated the entire room. Because this second coat was thinner, it dried in a few hours (with fans, a space heater (to pull humidity from the air), and the home’s A/C unit cranking dry air through the room.)

I sanded smooth, vacuumed and wiped off the dust, and applied a coat of Gardz, which is my preferred primer for newly smoothed walls.

Mysterious tan dots worked their way through the smoothing compound and the Gardz. I didn’t know what they came from (mold, oil, tobacco, soft drink or food the workers splashed on the walls?), but I knew they would eventually bleed through the new wallpaper. So I rolled on BIN, a shellac-based stain-blocker made by Rust Oleum, to seal the wall.

This effectively sealed the stain, and the wall was nice and white after that.

A week later, I came back to hang the wallpaper. First I applied a coat of Roman’s Pro 977 Ultra Prime, a primer made specifically for wallpaper. For some reason, this product didn’t stick well to the BIN – which is surprising, because one reason I use this primer is because it sticks to anything, even glossy surfaces (the BIN was not particularly glossy). Look closely or enlarge the third photo, and you will see it sliding and dripping down the wall. Well, no fear. I brushed out the worst of the drips, and as the primer dried, it tightened up and clung flat and tight to the wall.

With the wall finally smooth and appropriately primed, I was ready to get that paper up on the wall. This was an old fashioned pulp paper, which the British companies were making before most of them switched to non-woven materials. I was looking forward to working with an authentic pulp paper, because it’s been a while since I’ve come across one.

But this one didn’t behave as most of them do… It was thicker and stiffer, which made trimming and intricate detail work difficult, and increased the potential for creasing (for instance, while fitting the paper into a corner at a ceiling line). And it sucked up paste and dried out way sooner than I could get a strip to the wall. So I ended up using a spray bottle to add extra moisture to the back of the paper while I was applying the paste. This did help a lot.

Some of the edges had been banged up during shipping, so some of the seams looked a little weathered. And the edges had not been cut perfectly straight at the factory, so we had a bit of what we call “gaps and overlaps.”

Still, the finished room looks great. With its sweet flowers and calming colors, the pattern reminds me of the Laura Ashley era. The blue really pops against the white woodwork and tile in the room, and the red roses are nothing short of romantic.

Such a happy turn-around, for a bathroom that started out full of trials and tribulations.

I’m not sure what the brand name is, but the label says “English Florals.” The homeowner found it on-line (free shipping!), and the cost was low – about $60 for a double roll bolt. The home is on the north side of Houston.