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 .

More Timorous Beasties – Indie Wood, Mislabeled and Correct Versions

The top photo shows the wallpaper sample the client had received and made her selection from. She had taped it to the wall in the dining room, to designate which paper was to go there. It’s an overall foliage pattern with realistic delicate birds and insects, and a pattern that matches across the seam from strip to strip.

But when I opened the shipping box, the paper that we received was a very large and bold non-repeating vertical stripe. There were large forest creatures and plants drawn in a whimsical style. The design did not cross the seams, so there was no pattern match.

Obviously, the sample the homeowner had received was not the same as what we had received.

Happily, the wild and bold forest scene is what she wanted.

Like yesterday’s pattern by the same manufacturer, this is one long mural-like design that runs through the entire 33′ long bolt without any element or motif being repeated. The pattern does not cross the seam, so there is no match – you are free to place any element of the design at any position on the wall you wish.

Of course, you want to make sure not to place the same squirrel, for example, at the same wall height on every strip, and especially not on two strips next to each other.

This will be a bit of a mind-bender to plot and lay out, and will take up a lot of space on the floor while I roll out all the bolts to get a good look at the pattern.

I’m looking forward to this challenge. Plus, the beautifully-drawn pictures and the fairy tale-like feel of the design are mesmerizing, juxtaposed with the strong pattern color and width and the swirling vertical movement. I can’t wait to see how it transforms this dining room.

More in a day or two … !!

DON’T CUT UP THE WALLPAPER BOOKS!

Digital Image

Oh boy. The wallpaper store generously let shoppers take this wallpaper selection book home for a few days, and look at how it was returned. “Someone” took a razor and sliced out the sample of blue cork. And another “Someone” didn’t even bother to be neat, but crudely ripped out the most popular colorway sample of Candice Olson’s “Onyx.”

Wallpaper shoppers – DON’T DO THIS. First of all, we know who you are. After all, to check out the book, you filled out a form with your name and contact info. Oh, and that same form had a waiver that you signed, and the first line, in all capital letters, said, DO NOT CUT THE BOOKS. Did I mention that you signed your agreement that you would not cut up the book, and would return it in its original condition?

But beyond that, there is no need to do this. You can easily and very inexpensively order samples of any wallpaper pattern you like, and that sample will be much larger than the puny page you ripped out of the book. It will arrive in just a few days. But even quicker – you can snap a photo of the sample, front and back, and have it immediately.

Did you stop to consider that those wallpaper sample books cost the stores $100+ each? It takes a lot of wallpaper sales to cover employee salaries, facility costs such as air conditioning, phone/Internet, parking lot, etc., and then extras such as a good selection of wallpaper sample books. And if a page is missing, then another shopper will miss the opportunity to see and consider that wallpaper selection.

Please click and read the “Comment” link below,  which is from my favorite wallpaper retailer.  (Click the page on the right entitled “Where to Buy Wallpaper.”