Kill Point Over Door

aaHere’s what this flowing viny wallpaper pattern looks like in this dining room in the Garden Oaks / Oak Forest neighborhood of Houston . The bottom 1/3 of the wall is block paneling / wainscoting , so the wallpaper on just the area above is not overwhelming .
A kill point is the place in a room where your last strip of wallpaper meets up with the first strip you hung . this virtually always results in a pattern mis-match . So we try to hide that in an inconspicuous place, such as in a corner behind a door .
In this room, all of the corners are very visible . A mismatched corner of 7′ high would be very noticeable .

So in this room, I was able to cleverly disguise the mis-match in a much shorter area, over a door . This is only 6″ high . Here my first strip is on the left, and my last strip is on the right, with two short strips needed to bridge that gap .

Here the strip on the right has been put into place.

Here’s the piece that will butt up against the strip on the left. Eeek! It’s 1/2″ too narrow to cover the gap. Also, as you can see, there is an obvious pattern mis-match at that seam on the right.

look at this tree branch . I’m going to use that to my advantage.

Here I’ve taken another piece and have matched the pattern on the right side. Note that it’s not matching on th left.

Here I am, back to that strip we saw a few photos ago, that will match with the strip on the left. Remember tha tree branch I pointed out? Here I’ve trimmed the wallpaper vertically along that tree branch .

Here I’m putting it into place, butting it up against the strip on the left, and overlapping the strip on the right. But that’s going to leave a vertical ridge under this strip, where the strip underneath it ends on the left.

But you won’t notice that overlap if it runs under a design motif . Here I’m using a pencil to trace the outline of that tree branch, bringing it in so that the tree branch will overlap just 1/8″ – 1/4″ over the strip on the right.
Note that since the surface of this paper is vinyl , and wallpaper paste doesn’t always adhere well to slick plastic , I’ve used a special border paste or vinyl over vinyl or seam repair adhesive just on this small 1/8″ overlapped area .

Strip on the right trimmed to conform to the curves of the tree branch.

Tree branch piece being put into place.

Tree branch strip trimmed and finished.

SDone and viewed from below. OK, so the pattern doesn’t match 100% perfectly the way the designer intended. Some of the motifs are closer together than they “should” be. From here, who the heck is going to notice?! This looks pretty darned good – and it looks way better than having a 7′ long mis-match in a very visible corner .

The pattern is called Twining and is by Graham & Brown . It has a very light texture , and also a slight
metallic sheen on the branches . It’s a non-woven / paste the wall material , and will strip off the wall easily and in one piece when it’s time to redecorate . I like their papers a lot .
You can purchase G&B from Dorota at the Sherwin-Williams in the Rice Village . Call first, as hours vary. (713) 529-6515 .
Here’s another cool thing … Go back to that first photo. Since I started hanging paper by centering the pattern between the two windows on the wall to the right (not visible in the photo), by the time I worked my way around to the wall between the windows you see in front of you, the pattern was not going to be centered in between the windows. I thought it would look better if it was balanced symmetrically. So I positioned the dominant part of the tree branches in between the windows. And then I used the same overlap-and-disguise trick over the window on the right.

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 .

Animal Menagerie in Baby’s Nursery

What a cute pattern! Suited for a boy or girl, and will “grow” with the child for several years.

Before. The parents had this block paneling wainscoting added before the wallpaper went up. It keeps the wallpaper pattern from being overwhelming, and the green color really sets off the colors in the wallpaper.

Trees , flowers , forest animals , deer , leopards , peacocks , birds .

Made by Rifle Paper by York , one of my favorite brands.

Rifle Paper is a non-woven material , DIY – friendly , and designed to strip off the wall easily when it’s time to redecorate .

Diamonds Brighten a Bellaire Bathroom

Originally, this home in the Bellaire neighborhood of Houston was rife with the “Tuscan” look, and this under-the-stairs powder room shows just that … The gold overlaid with a red glaze was a good look, but the new homeowners wanted a brighter, more modern look.

Just look at how the diamond pattern on a white background changed the room! The heavy darkness is gone, and the feeling is totally modern. The black and white scheme goes beautifully with the new black countertop and white sink.

One not-so-great thing is that somehow we got two different run numbers. Different run numbers were printed at different times, and can be slightly different in shade, so cannot be used on the same wall. Luckily, we had enough paper that I was able to plot out which bolts to use on which walls, and the room turned out looking great.

This paper is by A-Street Prints, which is made by Brewster, a good company. It is a non-woven product with a high fiberglass content that is designed to strip off the walls easily and in one piece when it’s time to redecorate. The material is dimensionally-stable and will not shrink as it dries.

It can be hung by the paste-the-wall method, but I preferred to paste the paper. In a bathroom with choppy areas, this ensures that paste will get to every surface, and it also makes the paper more pliable and malleable, which is essential in a room like this with crooked corners and a curved wall (not shown).

This wallpaper 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.

Glamming Up and Brightening Up a Master Bedroom

This young family, in the Tammaron subdivision of Katy in far west Houston, has been in their home for two years, but had never gotten around to decorating their master bedroom. (Look closely, and you’ll see the protective plastic still on the mirrored parts of the headboard.) With a new baby coming next week, whom they plan to have share their bedroom for a while, they wanted to get the room’s décor pulled together so that when the baby comes, she’ll be all they need to focus on.

I am usually booked several months out with work, but I had a schedule change and was able to get this family’s paper up – a mere three days before the baby is due.

Originally, the whole room was painted a deep purple, which you can see to the right in the top photo. It was a pretty color, but it made the large room oppressively dark. In that top picture, the heavily textured wall has been smoothed and primed, and is ready for wallpaper.

The home has pretty contemporary furnishings. The wife’s taste is more glitzy and glamory than the husband’s. So she had to choose something that went with their modern style, but was not so shiny or highbrow that her husband would be uncomfortable.

The second photo shows the finished accent wall. I think she did a super job of choosing a paper with shine and glitz, but that does not overwhelm the room with Hollywood sparkle or femininity. And that one accent wall does much to brighten the dark room.

This wallpaper pattern is a textured, shiny vinyl on a non-woven backing. It was a paste-the-paper procedure, and was very nice to work with. When it’s time to redecorate, the paper is designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece.

The paper is by York Wallcoverings, and was bought at below retail price from 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.

Message from the Manufacturer

Besides the instruction sheet, this note was wrapped up inside the rolls of wallpaper I am hanging this week.

The polka-dots on this wallpaper are slightly raised, to give a 3-D effect. The manufacturer is letting us know that the inks are fragile and can be abraded or wiped off, and so the paper should be handled with a little more care than other papers.

I didn’t experience any flaking or abrading problems, and found the paper quite nice to work with.

This hot pink on silver is #RB4286 from the Sure Strip line by York Wallcoverings. It’s one of their newer non-woven substrates, intended to strip off the wall easily and in one piece, when you’re ready to redecorate.