Yesterday’s post focused on centering two desired motifs in between two windows. Today’s post is about centering a dominant design element on the most visible / important wall in a room. In this case, it’s the only wall that doesn’t have any windows or doors on it, and also the homeowners will have a credenza or other similar piece of furniture placed against this wall. This is also the first wall you see when walking into the living room from the front door. Note that the trim carpenter has set the bar , by placing his molding panels smack in the center of the wall. And they’re perfectly equally sized, too. Now I’m challenged, and have got to get my birds down the center of that wall. 🙂 In the photo, I’ve started applying my wallpaper primer to the wall on the right. That’s my paint roller tray hooked on top of my ladder .
For reference, here’s the finished wall. The other three walls will be papered, as well. When I’m getting ready to hang wallpaper, I want to see what the overall pattern looks like. This, plus a little math, helps me know how to place the various motifs. In this case, to be sure (if possible) that no bird gets his head cut off at the ceiling, nor his feet cut off at the chair rail or floor. All that depends, of course, on the length of the wallpaper pattern repeat , as it factors into the height of the wall. Getting back to viewing the overall pattern on my phone – that’s often quite a bit more difficult that it should be, because most vendors just show a small portion of the design . And if the homeowner has purchased a sample, it also shows just an 8″ x 10″ or so section of the pattern. I want to see the whole design as it plays out across a wall, in what I call a room set view. If you check enough vendor websites, you may find such an image. But … quite often they’ve styled the photo with furniture (OK, that’s good, because it helps you see the perspective and scale of the pattern). But they’ll also hang artwork on the wall, add vases full of sprawling flowers , all kinds of stuff that occludes the view. But, most of the time, I’m able to find an image that shows what the whole pattern looks like on a real wall. Then I can determine what I think is the most dominant part of the design , or maybe some other feature that I want to put the viewer’s focus on. In this case (see photo above), I definitely felt that the black bird with his white tail feathers , as well as his black buddy just above him, were the most eye-catching . So those are the guys that I wanted to put in the horizontal center of the wall .
This pattern comes as a 3-panel set , and has a very long pattern repeat of nearly 40″. Here I am laying it out on the home’s entry floor (helpful that no one’s home and won’t need to go up and down the stairs or through this hall any time soon!). I’m using yardsticks (no, I don’t use no stinkin’ tape measurers – will be a blog post on that at some point) to plot how the pattern motifs fit in with the height of the wall, and hopefully not cut off anybody’s head or feet. The horizontal yardsticks are marking where I want the pattern to hit the top of the wall, as well as the bottom / chair rail.
Back to the two black birds . Here I’m discerning the vertical center of the birds. It’s a bit tricky, because the all black bird doesn’t sit perfectly centered above the other bird; he’s a bit off to the left. So you have to figure out what you think is the most pleasing center point of these two birds. I have the yardstick standing on edge to help find that point. (Try doing that with a tape measure!)
The yardstick is 9 5/8″ from the right edge of the wallpaper. Factor in that the yardstick is 1/4″ wide, and half goes to the left side and half to the right, I’m going to add 1/8″ (half of 1/4″) to my measurement. So my measurement from the right edge of the paper to the center point is now 9 3/4″.
Here I’ve measured the width of the wall and determined the center point. Note arrow marked “Mid.” But my center motif isn’t in the center of the strip of wallpaper, nor at either edge. It’s 9 3/4″ over to the left of the right edge. (Note, the wallpaper is a standard 20.5″ wide, which makes the middle of the panel at 10.25″. But that’s not where the center of the design is. So always focus on the center of the dominant motif , not the center of the wallpaper.) Back to placing my first strip … To keep the birds at the center point of the wall, I need to pull the right edge of the wallpaper over 9 3/4″ to the right. Marked with a pencil line and my word “ici” (French for “here.”) Side note – always make your marks on the wall and wallpaper with pencil or chalk . Never use ink or marker or wax crayon , as these substances are known to bleed through wallpaper and stain the surface. Do a search here to read more.
Here I’ve placed the vertical red beam of my laser level 9 3/4″ to the right of the wall’s mid point. This is where I’ll butt up my strip of wallpaper. The black and white bird should fall right at the center of the wall.
Just to be sure, before pasting or hanging the strip, I brought it to the wall to see how what I determined was the center of the motif, actually lines up with the center of the wall (“mid”). All seems good.
Here it is done. Laser level marking the mid point of the wall. As I mentioned, the two birds aren’t lined up perfectly symmetrically, with the smaller one sitting a bit to the left. Don’t stew over it … choose which part of which bird you want to base the center on, and go with it. All that said, standing across the room, the first three panel set I hung looked good – but just appeared a tad off-center to me (no pic). Like a half an inch. TBH, the mid point of the wall was at the center of the larger bird. But, because the bird has an uneven shape, and because of that smaller bird sitting above him and a smidgen off to the left, the whole scenario did appear just a teeny bit off-center. I kept thinking, what’s a half an inch? Especially when the homeowners are going to place furniture in front of it, plus a vase full of sprawling flowers. No one would notice anything off-kilter – except me. I debated a while, and finally decided to pull the three strips off and re-hang them 1/2″ to the right. This is tricky, because the wallpaper can be firmly stuck to the wall by now, and removing it could dislodge the primer and paint underneath it. Or pulling the paper off could stretch it, so that it might not fit the wall correctly, or the pattern match might get skewed. After testing to be sure the three strips were not irrevocably stuck to the wall, I removed them and re-hung them, one by one, this time butting up against the laser level red line moved 1/2″ to the right.
Here’s a close-up of how the laser level beam lines up with the center of the wall, the molding, and the wallpaper birds .
Finished wall again. See how balanced it looks to have those two dark birds lined up over the center of the wall and the panels below. The birds are also nicely balanced vertically, and no one got his head chopped off at the ceiling, or lost any feathers at the bottom of the wall. Note: We usually plot wallpaper motifs to hover just below the ceiling. But in a room with a wainscoting like this, it’s assumed that the wainscoting / chair rail are closer to eye-level, and thus it’s the main place you want to make sure the motifs don’t get compromised (if possible). In other words, you would position your motifs relative to the chair rail, rather than the ceiling .
Pulling off those three strips and rehanging was successful in large part due to a solid surface under the wallpaper. First, the builder ‘s paint was good quality and was applied over a sound surface – no dust , and no PVA primer . Also is that the wallpaper primer I use is designed to do many tasks. One of those is to facilitate removal of wallpaper. For most surfaces and wallpapers , I like Roman Pro 977 Ultra Prime . The wallpaper itself was a factor, too, as the non-woven substrates are tear-resistant , and don’t (or shouldn’t) expand when tugged on. They’re designed to strip off the wall easily and with no damage to the wall when you redecorate later. Lots of other advantages for NW materials, too.
The pattern is called Royal Garden and the manufacturer is Mind The Gap , out of Transylvania, of all places. The home is in the West University area of central Houston . installer
North wall before. The walls had a tad of texture, left by the thick nap roller used by the painters . I usually like the walls to be perfectly smooth , so I do a lot of skim-floating (do a Search here to read more) and sanding to smooth the walls. But in a large room like this, that can add one to two days, so it ups the install price . The existing wall texture is pretty light, and this brand of wallpaper is fairly heavy . Plus it’s a busy pattern . So it’s not likely that anyone would notice a little texture under the wallpaper . After discussing with the homeowner, we decided to skip the smoothing time, expense, and dusty mess, and simply go with a primer.
Here’s the primer I like under wallpaper . By Roman , called Pro 977 Ultra Prime . It will stick to the light gloss on the existing paint . And it provides a good surface for the wallpaper to adhere to. Wallpaper primers are designed to withstand the tension put on seams as the paper dries and shrinks , and to hold the edges of the paper nice and tight to the wall . A good primer also allows for sliding the strip around on the wall , or pulling off and repositioning , if needed. And makes it easier to remove / strip paper when it’s time to redecorate .
Finished north wall. Note I centered the dominant motifs ( black and lg round white birds ) on the wall, which looks nice with the carpenter ‘s expertly centered molding panels below. More on this in a future post.
Laser level helping get bird motifs centered on wall .
South wall before
South wall done.
Note birds centered between the windows . More on how I did this in a future post.
This pattern comes as a sort of mural, in a 3-panel set. One roll = 3 individual panels. Each panel is 20.5″ wide x about 10′ high. Because of the wainscoting , the wallspace to be covered with wallpaper was only about a bit less than 7′ high. This means that at least 3′ of the strip would be cut off and not used. In addition, the design has a pattern repeat of more than 3′. This is way longer than most, and it means that we can’t count on using the portions cut off at the top or bottom anywhere else. So, like I said, into the trash pile they go. Important to note, when calculating how much to purchase, with this long pattern repeat and 3-panel set, even for shorter areas over doors and windows (19″), you can only plan on getting one strip out of each panel. So, again, a whole lot of this material will go to waste. And, again, another reason to let the installer calculate how much to buy. Again – it’s not about square feet! Moving on … After looking up the pattern on the company’s website, to get an idea of the full scope of the design , in the photo above, here I am, laying out the goods on a wide stretch of floor space in my client’s house. I’m comparing the height of the wallspace with the length of the pattern repeat, and the placement of each bird – so that once the wallpaper is up on the wall, no bird gets his head or feet or bum cut off. Sometimes, the math and the placement just don’t work out, and someone gets chopped in half. But here everything works out, and the birds will fall nicely and fully intact, down the height of the wall. Additional thoughts … Don’t forget to add two inches (2″) to both top and bottom (total of 4″) of your strip, to allow trimming at ceiling and baseboard / wainscoting , and to accommodate un-level ceilings and floors, and wonky walls. Also, in most cases, we installer s like to place a key motif or design element at the top of the wall. But when there’s wainscoting, like this in this room, the eye is drawn more to the bottom of the wall, which is the wainscoting. So here’s where I focused on placing the most dominant and visible birds. Also, if the dimensions worked out so you did have to end up with someone getting his head cut off, you’d put that at the top of the wall. And keep the whole / intact motifs / bird(s) at the level of the wainscoting / or, closest to eye level .
Close up of the design. This pattern is called Royal Garden , and it comes in several colorways . It’s by Mind The Gap , who is a company pretty well known for innovative / adventurous ways to dress up your walls . Most MTG wallpapers are packaged differently from standard papers . So, again – don’t order until the installer has measured and calculated . Their wallpapers are on a non-woven substrate , which can be hung by pasting the paper or by pasting the wall. I found that pasting the paper was the best option. More on installation techniques in a future post . Most non-wovens are stain-resistant and tear-resistant . And they are designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece, with no / minimal damage to the wall when you redecorate some years later. One more thing about MTG wallpapers … Once you unroll them, and especially if you roll them backwards to get rid of the ” memory ” – the desire to stay tightly rolled up. If you unroll them, they unfurl and get stiff , and they spread out all over your room , and are difficult to corral for measuring , trimming , pasting , etc. All that considered, I do like this company. Mostly because of their innovative designs . They’re based in Transylvania , hence the bat on their label . If that doesn’t mean anything to you young ‘un’s , look up the book / movie / story / legend Dracula . And also because of (relative) ease of working with their material. See future posts for some techniques that were necessary with this brand . The home is in the West University Place / West U neighborhood of Houston
This is a short wall in the back of a powder room . The sloped ceiling is under the stairs . The dark stripe is on the wall under where the seams will fall, to help prevent white from showing at the seams . Do a search here to read more about that. We’re hanging wallpaper from right to left. The first strip of wallpaper was hung on the right. The second strip is to the left. As you can see, the second strip is narrower than the first one. That’s because you don’t wrap wallpaper around a corner. Because walls are never plumb and corners are never straight . As an example, just look at the top edge there, where the ceiling bows down more like a banana than a straight line . But that banana curve is a topic for another post. For now, we’re talking about the corner to the right. You don’t want to wrap wallpaper around corners, because, if the corner or drywall is not plumb , the left edge of the wallpaper will hang off-plumb , and your design will start tracking either up or down the wall. Also, if the wall / corner is not straight, the left edge of the wallpaper will not be straight, either. And that means that your next strip of wallpaper will not butt up perfectly with it. There will be gaps and overlaps . You can also end up with wrinkles and bubbles in the corner itself . So what you do is split that strip on the left . Measure the width from the previous strip into the corner, add 1/8″ (or 1/4″), and trim the strip vertically , taking off the portion that needs to go on the wall to the left. Install the wider strip, and it will wrap 1/8″ or 1/4″ around the corner. Look carefully at the second photo below and you can see that. The narrow strip that you cut off will be placed on the new wall, overlapping that 1/8″ or 1/4″ wrap. Note that, because you’re overlapping the strips, you will lose some of the pattern, so the squirrel and cherries won’t match up perfectly. I hate that, so I have my clients purchase a little extra paper, so, instead of using that trimmed-off strip, I can cut a new strip, and trim that new strip vertically so that the pattern matches as perfectly as possible.
Here is the wall with the sloped ceiling wallpaper in place. Now we’re ready to start hanging that wall to the left.
Here’s my freshly cut narrow strip, about to go in place. The blue plastic tape at the top is to keep paste from smearing onto the wallpaper on the ceiling.
A narrow strip like this is not very stable, and likely to not hang perfectly straight , so the left edge might not be perfectly straight. Also, pushing the strip into the crooked corner may make it conform to the undulations of the corner. And, again, that will render the left edge to not be straight.
Because I cut a new strip (instead of using the strip left over from trimming the piece vertically), the pattern matches perfectly.
But – whoops! As we move down the wall, short as it is, because the wall and corner are not plumb or straight, the pattern starts to not match. Note that the idea is to match the pattern as perfectly as possible at eye level, and let it go off in less noticeable places – like toward the ceiling or floor.
Trimming off the excess at the ceiling . Note that this brand of non-woven wallpaper material is much more fragile than most, and so you see that the trimming razor blade has snagged and torn some of the paper. A scissors will help clean up this jagged edge.
Note that the pattern on the plumb wall is not going to match up with that on the sloped ceiling. Also, remember that we matched the pattern as it went up the back wall. But as you turn a corner and start a new wall, the pattern won’t match at the ceiling. That’s to be expected. There are a few tricks to help disguise some of these mis-matches, which are discussed in other blog posts.
So here I am, hanging the next strip of paper, a full-width strip, against the narrow strip in the corner. My full-width strip is much more stable, so the right edge is pretty straight.
But as it butts up against the narrow strip to the right, you see some gaps …
… and some overlaps.
So I’m gently pulling that narrow strip away from the wall. If you’ve properly primed and prepped the wall, and used adequate paste , and kept that paste wet, and not waited too long … you should be able to do this easily, without damaging either the wallpaper or the surface underneath. Now you can manipulate the narrow strip (which is flexible because it’s both narrow and because the material itself is malleable), a bit to the the right or left to eliminate those gaps and overlaps.
In order to get this narrow strip to butt up against the full-width strip, the bottom portion is repositioned and moved toward the right. And you can see that it’s starting to wrap around the corner. Naah. Don’t want that. We want the paper to stop right in the corner.
So I’m going to use a straightedge , snap-off trimmer blade , and scissors to carefully trim off the overage.
And here you go. Note how pulling this strip to the right also corrected the slight pattern mis-match . Funny how crooked corners work!
The brand is called Home Style and is from the U.K. It’s a vinyl -coated paste the wall product and is more resistant to stains than traditional paper-papers. Non-woven wallpapers are also designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece, with no damage to the wall, when you redecorate . The home is in the Garden Oaks area of Houston . installer
Before shot. The empty nesters lost their Braes Heights ( Houston ) area home during the unprecedented flooding brought by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Over a year, they built a new home on the same site. Once completed, decorating was put on the back burner, and they moved in and set about trying to get back to “life as usual.”
But the homeowner always wanted wallpaper in at least the powder room, and so had the builder leave the walls untextured . Today, her dream was achieved!
Coordinates beautifully with the marble vanity countertop , as well as the brushed silver faucet and handles .
The wallpaper pattern has a modern feel and really brightens and freshens up the powder room .
It features a silver metallic finish on a textured / embossed vinyl surface .
More on how the arched window top was treated in a separate post.
The wallpaper is by Thibaut , one of my favorite brands . It’s on a non-woven substrate , and can be hung by pasting the paper (which I prefer, especially in chopped up rooms like this) or by the paste the wall method. With 20% polyester content, it’s more resistant to water splashes and stains than traditional papers . And it’s designed to strip off the wall easily and without damage to the wall when you redecorate . This wallpaper was purchased below retail through Dorota at the Sherwin-Williams in the Rice Village ( Houston ). She has 25+ years selling wallpaper and 300+ selection books – and she knows what’s in every one of them! So she can easily and quickly help you find your perfect pattern. Hours fluctuate, so call to make an appointment, and let her know what you’re searching for. (713) 529-6515
The nursery before. I have skim-floated and sanded the textured walls to smooth them, primed , and now it’s ready for wallpaper .
Not your average baby’s powder blue or teddy bears ! Mom saw the look and fell in love with it. Here’s how the manufacturer’s website described it: “Channel the spirit of the Scottish Highlands with our take on iconic tartan plaid.”
Big screen TV will go on this wall.
The mom recreated everything she had seen in her inspiration photos , including the black crib and dresser / changing table .
The pattern is called Equestrian Plaid . The parents are debating over finishing touches that lean toward a horse or racing theme , or a ” to the hunt ” look.
I’ve hung plenty of the Mind The Gap brand before, but this is the first time for their Complimentary line. It’s packaged in rolls rather than their usual panels , and has a repeating pattern , so you might get a little extra paper , like short left over ends that can be used over doors . Like their other lines, this is a non-woven material and can be hung by the paste the wall method . And it will strip off the wall easily and with no / little damage to the wall when you redecorate down the road. It’s nice stuff.
Oh, and each roll / bolt comes wrapped up in its own individual box, complete with satin ribbon. Snazzy! The home is in the greater Heights area of Houston . Read future posts for more on this install .
Got a query from a gal today who had been wooed by the (false) claims that P&S ” wallpaper ” is easy to install , and will adhere to your wall, and will strip off easily when you redecorate . She bought some, and decided to try her hand at it. Here is what she wrote me: “I recently tried to do stick-on wallpaper myself and it was a huge fail! I completely agree stick-on wallpaper is the biggest scam in the diy world. After I tried hanging it, I felt it made all my other upgrades look abysmal.” Here’s more information, and photos, on this squirrely concept: https://wallpaperlady.wordpress.com/peel-stick-stay-away/
Beautiful tile backsplash and really fun sink . But boring walls .
Wallpaper to the rescue! The interior designer did a wonderful job of pulling together the gold geometric in the wallpaper design , with the gold faucet , and with the fluted lines of the sink . See previous post for more.
Bathroom before .
Done! The paper is a bit hard to see – but that’s much of the point … an understated , yet crisp and bright and modern feel to this newly renovated hall bathroom .
Another before shot . Transformed!
Look how nicely this wallpaper pattern and gold color coordinate with the backsplash tile and the gold faucet . See previous post for more .
The wallpaper looks translucent and delicate , like parchment paper – but it’s not. It’s a durable non-woven material , also called paste the wall . It is DIY friendly to install , and will strip off the wall easily and with minimal damage to the wall when you redecorate later. Look in the upper right corner of this photo, and you’ll see the glint of gold , as well as the raised ink in the lines design . This adds just a bit of depth and visual interest , even though the overall look and feel of the room is very spa – like and serene .
The brand is A Street Prints . This wallpaper was purchased below retail through Dorota at the Sherwin-Williams in the Rice Village ( Houston ). She has 25+ years selling wallpaper and 300+ selection books – and she knows what’s in every one of them! So she can easily and quickly help you find your perfect pattern. Hours fluctuate, so call to make an appointment, and let her know what you’re searching for. (713) 529-6515
Close up of the really cool sink and backsplash , which reiterate the geometric theme – while adding some fluidity with the oval features of the sink .
And the new shower tile is a show-stopper! That diamond pattern across the entire shower would have been way overwhelming . The designer was so smart, to contain the angles to one wall and the toiletries niche . Look at the skill of the tile guy , to get the pattern so straight and centered ! Cool deep, soaking tub, too. See previous post for more.
The homeowner totally loves this French style toile pattern on the bed in her guest bedroom . She hunted for a long time to find a wallpaper that would compliment in color and theme , for the bottom of the walls beneath the wainscoting .
Here’s the west wall, in the midst of prep work . More on that in a future blog post .
Here it is finished. A lot warmer . And you can see how the color of the wallpaper perfectly compliments the bed spread .
East side of the room. The homeowners have moved the furniture to the center of the room . Yet, note that I’ve only got about 2 1/2′ workspace along all four walls.
East wall done. It’s nice that I don’t have to get up on my ladder , nor haul in my work table. Because this is a paste the wall type of wallpaper, I could roll the material out on the floor to measure , and paste the wall rather than the back of the paper ). But … I gotta tell ya … fit as I am, spending the entire day on my knees, squeezed into that narrow space, I did end up with score muscles and an achy back. Moving on to other things … The homeowner smartly waited until the wallpaper was up, before choosing a paint color for the top portion of the walls. It will probably be a green , or possibly gold , but diluted and soft . On projects where there is a wainscoting dividing the wall sections, it works best to make the division at a 1/3 point, either from the floor or from the ceiling . Design-wise, you want to avoid dividing the wall in half. When selecting a paint or wallpaper color , I like the bottom portion to be darker than the top. That’s because, since the bottom part of the wall is lower , to me, it should be darker, i.e. visually heavier than the area above the wainscoting or chair rail . This photo is a good example of how well that works.
Close up. The design did have a pattern match . But I found that, from two feet away, it kinda surprised me, but it looked homogeneous whether it was matched or not . Not matching the design across the seams is what we call a random pattern match . It can save a lot of wallpaper, because, depending on the height of the walls and the length of the pattern repeat , matching the pattern can result in waste of a lot of wallpaper / square footage .
Here’s a close-up . I love that the background of the wallpaper has a fabric -like look to it, because this room also serves as a hobby / sewing room .
The manufacturer is Designer Wallcoverings . Non-woven materials like this are easier to install . And they are designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece, with no / little damage to the wall when it’s time to redecorate .
Here is the paste-the-wall icon – although, since this picture somehow got turned sideways, and because WordPress makes it incredibly difficult to edit photos, in this shot, it looks like they’re telling us to paste the paper. Never fear … on a simple accent wall with no turns or obstacles to trim around, a DIY ‘er could easily take on this type of wallcovering . This wallpaper was purchased below retail through Dorota at the Sherwin-Williams in the Rice Village ( Houston ). She has 25+ years selling wallpaper and 300+ selection books – and she knows what’s in every one of them! So she can easily and quickly help you find your perfect pattern. Hours fluctuate, so call to make an appointment, and let her know what you’re searching for. (713) 529-6515 The home is in the Garden Oaks neighborhood of Houston .
Most of us installers love the new(ish) non-woven wallpaper substrate materials . With a minimum 20% polyester content (along with cotton or cellulose or other materials), they don’t expand when wet with paste, don’t shrink as the paper dries, so can be pasted and hung with no booking / waiting period . They’re strong and durable , and most are pretty resistant to stains . They’re designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece without / with minimal damage to the wall when it’s time to redecorate . Because of all this polyester fiber content , it’s a little harder to cut or trim , and often darned hard to tear. If you do tear it, as I did with this strip in the photo, to get my strip off the bolt / roll , there will often be revealed the fibers inside the substrate. See photo. Those are short fragments of pseudo fiberglass waving at you!
Before. The homeowners weren’t grooving on the Mediterranean feel of this powder room. They kept the travertine countertop , but had the dark brown vanity cabinet painted white. They’ll be getting new light fixture and towel bar / toilet paper holder . AND – new wallpaper !
Look at how wallpaper changes this room from pseudo- Tuscan to playful and modern !
The homeowner also wanted to pull some navy blue into her decorating scheme , to coordinate with pops of navy in the adjoining living room and open kitchen .
Because the mirror will cover most of the sink wall, I centered the pattern on the next most looked-at wall – behind the toilet .
The pattern is simply called Peacock and is by Rifle Paper , which is by York , one of my favorite brands . It’s a very popular design , and I’ve hung it a bunch of times … including January 30th. It’s a nice, stain-resistant , breathable , non-woven material, DIY friendly , and will strip off the wall easily and in one piece when you redecorate .
The wallpaper was purchased from Dorota at the Sherwin-Williams in the Rice Village . She has 100+ selection books to hunt through, and knows what’s in all of them, so can quickly help you find your perfect pattern. Call first, as hours vary (713) 529-6515. The home is in the Rice Military area of Houston . installer
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