Funky New Orleans Toile in Inner Loop Houston Powder Room

 

The wife grew up in New Orleans and these days she and her husband visit family there regularly.  So the city and it’s vibe is ingrained in them.  

Enter “New Orleans Toile” in a bright green on white colorway by Katie Kime wallpaper.   The design features ionic images of life in that city, including the St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square, Mardi Gras revelers, a second line parade, a paddle-wheeler on the Missippi River, live oak trees draped with Spanish moss, and even alligators in the bayou.  

Once the homogeneous sea-foam green paint gave way to this bright wallpaper, the room lightened up and felt festive.  When the homeowners walked in, the first thing they did was study the line-drawing depictions.  I could tell that they related to the scenes.

Katie Kime products are becoming more user-friendly.  As in the past, this particular product came with a selvage edge that I had to trim off by hand.  But their intel says that the company has shifted to pre-trimmed wallpapers.  This makes installation much simpler and faster, and more DIY-friendly.

KK also has shifted to a non-woven substrate for their wallpaper.  While I do like the traditional paper substrate, there are many advantages to the newer non-woven materials.   For this room, I did use the paste-the-wall installation method.  

Classic Chinoiserie Toile in Powder Room

The homeowner chose the rough marble tile backsplash wall in hopes that it would enliven the room. But with the other walls painted a bland taupe, the effect fell flat. She chose this classic 2-tone “Pillement Toile” by Scalamandre to add softness to the room and to bring out the tile wall. Mission accomplished!

This was not the easiest wallpaper to hang. For starters, like many higher-end papers, it comes with a selvage edge that had to be trimmed off by hand. (5th photo)

Also, as with many hand-screened prints that are made with “stinky inks” – the ink smells like mothballs – the ink, substrate, and moisture from the paste all fight each other, resulting in what we call curl. (4th photo) There was also some warping and stretching. It took quite a bit of time and effort to finesse that strip in the fourth photo to lie flat and tight to the wall.

Once the paper started to dry, the seams laid down tighter to the wall.

If you’re curious, that blue plastic tape in the fourth photo is placed on the edge of the wallpaper to prevent paste from getting onto the marble tile wall. Once the wallpaper is trimmed along that edge, the tape is removed. Voilà! No need to wipe paste off the stone!

The home is off Braeswood in Houston.