Handy Motif Placement by Mfgr

It’s nice when a manufacturer does this.  Notice that all of the pattern motifs are contained within the width / borders of this strip of wallpaper.  Nothing passes across the seam.  There is nothing to match from strip to strip. 

Even if the walls are out of plumb , or the ceiling is not level , this allows me to keep the same design element at the same spot below the ceiling, all the way across the wall or around the room .  See photo.  All seven strips across this nursery accent wall have the design motifs at the same distance below the crown molding.  Not having to connect a pattern motif to another across each seam means that I can pull each strip up to where I want it under the crown molding.  No going off-track or sloping / tracking down or up. 

This cute pattern of pastel hot air balloons is by Caitlin Wilson and is in the Sure Strip line of pre-pasted , easy to install and easy to remove wallpaper s made by York .  I like this material a lot. 

Odd Streak Shows Through Non-Woven Wallpaper

Look to the right of my pencils. You can just make out this odd curved line through several feet of this wallpaper . Read my post above for more information about this.

The streak doesn’t really hit you in the face. But if you were standing back from the wall , I believe this subtle break in the pattern would catch your eye.

Manufacturer is Designer Wallpapers . It’s a non-woven / paste the wall material .

This strip of wallpaper was to have gone on this wall to the left. I believe the streak would have been noticeable ; a sloping vertical line against the horizontal texture and the lantern motifs . I discarded it.

Door Opening OUTWARD Makes It Much Easier To Work In Small Powder Rooms

There are a lot of building mores about how to place a door on a powder room. From preventing accidental bump-into’s in the hallway, to odor control. (I’ll let you do your own sleuthing on that one!)
Bottom line – for many reasons, most of the time, doors are set to swing inwards, into the tiny room.
Remember, there will also be a ladder and an installer (me!) in that space, dodging past the inward-swinging door continually.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve cussed these doors! On account of having to squeeze past one while carrying tools, or with a pasted strip of wallpaper – I’m ready to hang it … just need to figure out how to get past this door!

Fabulous Jolt of Color in a Little Girl’s Bedroom

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The homeowner was originally looking at doing one accent wall behind the bed, and was loving a contemporary design with sort of concentric wavy-edged circles in a rhythmic pattern, by a high-end manufacturer that is known for printing defects, and that was crazy expensive and had a 65″ pattern repeat (lots of waste).

Over time, she looked at the room differently, and did an about-face, ending up having block paneling installed on the lower 1/3 of the walls, and then papering all four walls with a classic trellis pattern in a bold and contemporary color.

Unlike the original choice with the wavy circles, this trellis design has been around for hundreds of years and will not go out of style. The strong turquoise color stands out brilliantly against the white paneled wainscoting, so the room looks crisp and fresh for its young inhabitant, a six year old girl. The décor will be pumped up even more with the addition of a few jolts of bright coral – a vase, a throw pillow, and – most daringly – the chandelier.

Although this room presented challenges (unplumb walls coupled with an unforgiving geometric design, plus two windows with crooked edges and dimensions out of sync with those of the wallpaper), it was a fun install. A lot of plotting and brainwork was required to get that geometric pattern to look straight against those unplumb walls.

The 4th photo shows the kill point – the point where the last strip of wallpaper comes back around to meet the first strip. This almost always ends up in a mis-match. This corner did mis-match, but I had a lot of fun fiddling around to make it look like it matched.

Most men don’t care too much about decorating, but this father was really excited about the transformation of his daughter’s room.

This wallpaper pattern is called Downing Gate, and is by Thibaut Designs, and was bought below retail price from Dorota Hartwig at Southwestern Paint on Bissonnet near Kirby. Dorota was also able to get the paper shipped here super fast, so the homeowner could keep her original installation date. (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.