Fun Floral on a Tall Wall

The terra cotta color of the walls in this guest bedroom was cozy, but lacked pop. The homeowner added pizzazz with this fun, large-scaled floral wallpaper pattern. The colors are fairly mono-chromatic, so don’t overwhelm the space.

The paper is by York, one of my preferred brands, and is a non-woven material. I hung this using the paste-the-wall method, which saved me hauling my heavy pasting table up to the second floor of this home – which is located in the Rice Village neighborhood of Houston.

This wall vaulted to nearly 13′ high – higher than I usually like to work. But the homeowner set me up with his 8′ step ladder, so I was able to safely access the wall and hang the paper.

Foresty Flair for a Bare Powder Room

Covered with beige paint, this powder room in a new home in the Rice Village / Medical Center area of Houston didn’t have much going for it. And despite it’s large foot print and 12′ high ceilings, it felt close and claustrophobic.

This lively pattern helped a lot, by visually opening the space. All those swirling tree branches add a lot of movement. Yet the paper does not feel busy, because of the monochromatic color scheme.

To reach the high ceiling, I had to bring in my 8′ stepladder. Working with it is always a challenge, especially in tight quarters like a powder room.

This wallpaper pattern is by York, in their Dwell Studios line, and reminds me a lot of “Daintree,” by Thibaut. https://wallpaperlady.wordpress.com/2017/03/19/wild-whimsical-wallpaper/

This paper is on a non-woven substrate, and could be hung using the paste-the-wall method, or the paste-the-paper method; I chose to paste the paper.

This was bought from my favorite source for good quality, product knowledge, expert service, and competitive price – 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.

Soft-Toned Damask on a Tall Bedroom Accent Wall

I don’t get many opportunities to pull out my 16′ extension ladder, but this week I did … the ceilings in this master bedroom were 12′ high! – just a few inches further than I could reach using my 6′ ladder. The first two photos were taken yesterday, as I was “floating” or “skim coating” the wall, to smooth it so the texture would not show through the wallpaper. The whiter areas you see have the plaster-like substance applied, as I work my way from top to bottom, from left to right.

Because of the dark paint on the other walls, I stopped the white “mud” just a hair away from the corner. In the second photo, that is my floating trowel hanging from the brace of the ladder. I floated the wall yesterday, and let it dry overnight. Today I sanded, vacuumed, wiped dust off the wall with a damp sponge, primed, and then finally hung the wallpaper.

I started in the middle (third photo), so I could center the damask motif on the wall, which will look nice once the homeowners get their bed and headboard back in place. The plastic is on my ladder to keep wallpaper paste from slopping all over it. I don’t have to do this with a normal step ladder, but extension ladders require a different angle of approach, and I couldn’t avoid having the pasted paper unbook and flop against my ladder. Yuck.

Fourth photo just shows some of the mechanics of how all this happens. The next pics are shots of the pattern; really pretty, soft, and nicely suited for a bedroom. They wanted a light color on the wallpaper, as it would contrast nicely with their brand new, very dark hardwood floors.

This wallpaper pattern is by Etten (by Seabrook), and is printed on the newish non-woven substrate, which is designed to peel off the wall easily and in one piece, when it’s time to redecorate. Note that, since these papers are generally thick and somewhat puffy, you often see the seams just a little (last two photos).

The room was a master bedroom in a fairly new home, and the location was Pearland, a suburb of Houston, Texas.