Toned Down Geometric in Powder Room

Large powder room in 1980’s era home is prepped , primed , and ready for wallpaper .

This soft geometric really brings the room up to date . Note the new green paint on the vanity .

The homeowner thought I would “just start in a convenient corner.” Yes, that would have saved time. But it looks much better, don’t you think, with a geometric pattern like this, to balance the design and center it on the counter top and faucet . I also lined the bottom of the motifs along the top of the backsplash .

The manufacturer is Thibaut , one of my favorite brands . It’s a traditional paper, installed by pasting the paper . This was purchased through my favorite source , Dorota Hartwig at the Sherwin Williams in the Rice Village in central Houston. She’s expert at helping you quickly zero in on your perfect pattern. Call before heading over (713) 529-6515 .
The home is in the Champions area of northwest Houston .

Dark Cornflower Pattern in Small Powder Room

Powder room before.  The original paper dates to the ‘90’s , and was a popular theme at that time.  Fast-forward 30 years and add a young family with active kiddies = time for an update .  For various reasons, the existing wallpaper could not be removed .  So I’m prepping and will hang the new paper over it.  Here I’ve skim-floated over the seams, so there will be no ridges showing under the new paper .  Next I’ll seal with a stain blocker (see previous post) and follow that with Roman Pro 977 Ultra Prime wallpaper primer .

Primed and ready to for wallpaper .

Such a pretty pattern , full of movement and cheer .  The homeowner wanted something dramatic , hence the dark color .  Dark works quite nicely in a small room like a powder room . 

The homeowner also wanted the ceiling papered .

Close up .

From a distance .  A large , sculpted mirror with a heavy white frame will be hung over the sink.  This will contrast against the dark paper , and really stand out .  I like to think that the wallpaper is the star attraction , but I really think the mirror will take center stage

The pattern is Cornflower and is by Rifle Paper , made by York , one of my favorite brands .  This is a non-woven / paste the wall material .  It’s relatively easy to work with , and is designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece without damage to your walls when it’s time to redecorate .   This was purchased from Dorota at the Sherwin-Williams on University in the Rice Village .  Excellent help in tracking down your perfect paper , and discounted prices , too.  Wed – Sat .  Call before heading over (713) 529-6515 . 
The home of this install is in the West University / West U area of Houston .

Light Under Sink

Even in the daytime and with good lighting in the room, it’s hard to see in this corner under a sink in a utility / laundry room. So I called into service my handy little flashlight .

Got this at Sherwin Williams for about $10. It has two stages of brightness, and also a flashing red light for emergency use. It will stand up on its own (pictured) and the base is magnetic , so you can adhere it to a metal surface . Very small and light and easy to carry in my toolbox. AND, best of all, it puts out a LOT of light .

Fun Hoppet Folk Wonderland Wallpaper in Powder Room of Young Family

This is a 2-room powder room in the Memorial Villages area of west Houston. The home is new and openly spacious, but has many classic elements like very elegant moldings and trim work.
I absolutely LOVE this 1890’s Victorian era marble sink with metal legs – a lucky eBay score.
The homeowner has young kids and an active family and wanted to do something ” wild ” in the powder room.

I’d say this Wonderland pattern fills the bill!

The look is especially effective due to the homeowner’s bold choice to paint the woodwork this rich mustard ochre color.

Looking from the sink room through the arched doorway into the potty room.

Cute, cute pattern! And lovely material to work with.

The glass flower light sconces are vintage, too, dating to the ’50’s or ’70’s. A similar-themed glass, floral, and brass chandelier will hang in the adjacent potty room.

This is the mirror that will go up, almost touching each light sconce on either side. The grey tones in the mirror look super good with the grey marble vanity / commode sink.

Manufacturer is Borastapeter distributed by Brewster , both fine companies. It’s a non-woven material and can be hung by the paste the wall method or by pasting the paper.
The original wallpaper came from Finest Wallpaper in Canada, a good company. But the homeowner ordered half of what was needed, and was not able to get more in time for our install date. I suggested she call Dorota at the Sherwin-Williams on University in the Rice Village (713) 529-6515) and, sure enough, she found a source that had the paper in stock and could get it here lickety-split.
This is the second time I’ve hung this paper in one week, and I’ve hung it several times previously and have it coming up again – always in this dramatic and colorful black version. People sure love the whimsy of frolicking frocked pigs!

Arts & Crafts / Art Nouveau Wallpaper Books at Sherwin-Williams

A lot of my clients are choosing designs that harken back to the turn of the (last) century, particularly by William Morris. A lot of those are made by higher-end companies, and the material can be hard to work with. So I was thrilled when my favorite wallpaper sales person, Dorota, showed me these new books at her Sherwin-Williams store in the Rice Village.
British Heritage is by Wallquest , a brand I like a lot.
Below are room-set photos from those books.

This is the very popular Strawberry Thief by William Morris. I’ve hung it before, and have it coming up again soon in the Heights ( Houston ).

Arts & Crafts designs are very rhythmic and stylized. Some, like this, have a lot of color and impact.

Others, with muted or tone-on-tone color pallets, are more subdued.

Revival is another wallpaper selection book with designs of the same theme. A Street Prints is by Brewster, another great company.
Most A Street Prints are on a non-woven , paste-the-wall substrate, which makes them quite user-friendly and affordable.

CFA Voysey was a designer of the same period. I would say he was far ahead of his time, with some patterns reminiscent of MC Escher, and others bordering on … well, sort of psychedelic. Very progressive for the 1880’s!
He continued to design through the Art Nouveau ( 1920’s ) and Art Deco ( 1930’s ) periods.
I have his Bat & Poppy in my powder room. Search here to see photos.

The fluidity here speaks of the Art Nouveau style. Alphonse Mucha was a European artist known for his elaborate theater and advertising posters in this style.
I was lucky enough to have seen a fabulous exhibit at the Taft Museum when I was in Cincinnati for a Wallcovering Installers Association annual convention.

Not all Sherwin-Williams stores have wallpaper books, so call before you head over. Dorota isat the 2525 University store. This store has more wallpaper books than any other in Houston. Her hours vary, and someone may have checked the books out, so call before you head over. (713) 529-6515

Precautions During CoronaVirus – Sherwin-Williams

These notes were on the window of my local S-W store. They had us sit in our vehicles in the parking lot, phone in our orders, pay via credit card by phone, and then they would bring the merchandise out to us.

Minimum exposure, maximum distance, I applaud their approach to keeping us safe while keeping us working!

Grasscloth in Heights Master Bedroom

This is the 1st floor master bedroom of a nicely-remodeled-but-still-retains-many-original-details-and-all-its-original-charm 1920 bungalow in the Heights neighborhood of Houston.

The textured walls started out dark green. I skim-floated and sanded them smooth. The new wallpaper is a brown grasscloth with a faint greenish tinge, and it has a nubby texture with a lot of knots (more pics tomorrow!)

The homeowner ordered her paper before I measured the room, and I told her to get two additional double roll bolts. In the 4th photo, I am checking labels to be sure we have all the same run / dye batch; we lucked out and the new bolts were the same run as the original lot.

In the 5th photo, I have cut strips for a wall, and have them lined up and ready to paste and trim. In the background, you can see how I place bolts against each wall, as a way of keeping track of how many strips I need and which bolts I will take them from.

Because there are shading / paneling issues with grasscloth (do a Search here on those terms), it’s important to not mix strips from different bolts. That way, if there are slight color differences between bolts (as there usually are) these differences will be minimized. Still, as you see in the third photo, the three strips on the right came from one bolt, and the strips on the left came from another bolt – and there is a noticeable difference in shade. This is not a defect – it’s simply the nature of grasscloth – a product made from natural materials.

This one long wall used seven strips from three bolts, so a color difference could be expected. On the other, narrower, walls, all the strips came from the same bolt, so the color differences were minimized. When I had to use different bolts on the same wall, I was able to place the “break” over a door or window, with only 1′ of color difference. That’s a lot less noticeable than the 8′ you see on the long wall in the photo.

This wallpaper was bought through Sherwin Williams. There is no brand name on the label.

More photos tomorrow!

Innovative Solution for Drywall Cracks

I had noted that the walls in this powder room had one horizontal crack in the drywall. I picked up a roll of mesh tape, so I could fix the crack.

But when I got to work, the HO had already applied this. It was recommended by the Sherwin-Williams guy. It’s peel-and-stick, and comes in several widths. It feels like vinyl, and if there is any movement within the crack, it is supposed to expand and contract without opening up another crack.

The instructions say the feathered edges allow you to paint over it invisibly. The wallpaper was thin-ish, and I worried that the patch would show under the paper, so I chose to skim over it, which smoothed away any rides.

I don’t have any history or info on this product, so time will tell how it performs in this application.

“I Should Have Done This Years Ago” – Adding Color to a Previously Brown-and-Bleak Bathroom

Sorry, I didn’t get ‘before’ photos – but it was a ’70’s era brown-and-gold-disco-theme paper that didn’t fill the space well, and it felt heartless.

This new lavender-colored wallpaper isn’t much brighter than the old brown paper, but it does have a lot of life. The vines in the floral pattern have an upward movement that engages the eye. The scale and pattern fill the space nicely (this bathroom has very high ceilings).

Best of all, the lavender color – while subdued – is a real game-changer. The room finally, after nearly 25 years, has color and vibrancy.

While I was working, and as the wallpaper began to cover more and more walls, every time the homeowner walked into the room, she said, “Why didn’t I do this YEARS AGO?!”

This is a large master bathroom in the Bellaire neighborhood of Houston. It’s a pre-pasted, paper-backed, solid vinyl paper by Exclusive Wallcoverings, and was sold by Sherwin-Williams.

Good Reasons NOT To Let The Handyman Hang Your Wallpaper

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“He was good at everything else he did,” said the homeowner. “Painting, drywall, and everything else. He just had never encountered un-prepasted wallpaper before.”

Pre-pasted or hand-pasted material has little to do with it … this poor fellow’s skillset didn’t cover basics like matching the pattern, wrapping corners, butting seams, trimming neatly along the edges, patching over a mistake, removing the old wallpaper, properly prepping the walls, or using an appropriate adhesive (he made a mad dash to a local box store… Sherwin-Williams or Southwestern Paint would have been better).

He also failed to remove the existing wallpaper. I am sure that that paper could have been stripped off, with proper knowledge and a little time. Then the walls should have been primed – another step he skipped.

In addition, there is a gummy residue that feels something like rubber cement left along the top of the tile. This will be pretty difficult to remove, and any product that can dissolve it will probably stain the wallpaper.

And this rubbery-feeling gunk makes me fear that this wallpaper will be very difficult to get off the wall. There are some versions of “wallpaper primer” that result in a tacky surface that is great for grabbing ahold of wallpaper – but NOT for letting it go when it’s time to change décor.

The bottom line for these homeowners…. They paid this guy to put up their wallpaper, and will now have to pay me to fight to get it off the wall, fix any damage to the wall surface, subjugate the problematic adhesive residue, re-prep and reprime the wall, and then rehang the new paper.

The last photo is from a different house, but shares some of the same problems, most particularly improper wall prep.