This couple in a beautifully updated 1939 home (4-plex converted to single family) in the Montrose neighborhood of Houston loves Africa and has traveled there several times. This spare bedroom on the first floor is devoted to Africa. On the walls they have hanging artifacts from their travels. And now they have a map of the continent , front and center! accent wall Close up looks like old paper that has been folded and stashed and aged , then uncovered and now placed on the wall. The mural is custom-sized to the wall. Remember to add 3″ to both width and height, to accommodate trimming and also wonky walls. The material comes as one big roll , with six panels all in one long piece. You have to unroll the whole thing and cut the panels apart . Note that five panels are 19″ wide. But that sixth one on the far right is only 16″ wide. I have cut off the 3″ overage. So when you’re plotting your lay-out, don’t go assuming that you will have six panels of the same width. That last panel is going to be whatever it needs to be, to custom-fit the size of the wall. Here, I’m laying the panels out to compare dimensions of width and length with those of the wall . Also checking to be sure the sequence of panels is correct. Note the diagram provided by the company on the white sheet of paper at the top of the photo. Here’s a close-up of the diagram / install instruction sheet . The mural is by Rebel Walls , a part of Gimmersta . I love their hundreds of selections, their material , quality , and excellent customer service. This particular mural is called World Map . I’m not sure, but it may come in other colors . Here’s the mock-up the company sent. The homeowner requested that Africa be placed in the center . You see what a good job Rebel Walls did with that. The mural that we received was actually a little smaller, and didn’t contain that much of America on the left, nor the far right sides of the countries on the right. Interestingly, the mural doesn’t meet up with itself. In other words, you can’t place two murals side-by-side. Look at the left, where America is. There’s only the eastern half of America. But there is no connecting western half of America on the right side of the mural. So you couldn’t order several of these and place them next to each other, to go around a bedroom , for instance. This may be because the mural was designed to fit one wall only , and to focus on Africa . It’s possible that the same mural is available so that it will connect to itself, and so that you could use it all the way around a room.According to the shipping box, Rebel Walls is also connected with Sandberg , another manufacturer of fine wallpapers . This stuff comes from Sweden . It is a non-woven material and can be hung using the paste the wall method . I often prefer to paste the paper , but on this simple accent wall, I did paste the wall . Saves space, because I don’t have to set up my big table . Non-woven wallpapers don’t expand when wet with paste like traditional papers do, which is a nice advantage for many reasons. They also are durable and stain-resistant . And are also designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece, and with no damage to your wall when you redecorate . Non-woven is MUCH better than the false-hopes peel & stick material being pushed by some mfgrs today. Click my link to the right. Rebel Walls also includes special paste for this non-woven paper. This is important, because some other types of paste have been known to stain N-W’s, also called blushing – paper looks wet in areas, but never dries out . It’s believed that excess moisture is a reason for this staining / blushing . Which is the main reason why I don’t used the paste provided by RW. If the powdered substance has to be mixed with water to turn into paste , it stands to reason that it can be too liquidy and could bleed through the surface of the wallpaper, causing staining. I prefer a pre-mixed paste made by Roman called 780 . You can also use Roman 838 . These both have lower moisture contents, and have good record of not staining wallpapers . Most Sherwin-Williams stores carry these pastes. But call first!
Two walls in this bedroom to be wallpapered. Primed and ready!The colors in the wallpaper work so well with the color of the other two walls and the woodwork. This little girl sleeps with a lot of stuffed animals, so more jungle critters on the walls just makes sense! Cheetahs, tigers, jaguars, wildcats ,,, you name it! Majvillan brand from Sweden, Black Panther pattern name. This non-woven material was stiff and somewhat difficult to work with. Pasting the paper rather than pasting the wall helped tame the beast, as did rolling the paper backward and securing with an elastic hairband for an hour to get rid of the curl .
This accent wall in a home office in Cypress ( Houston ) has a long story of mishaps, frustration, and $$. Originally, the interior designer had suggested Feather Bloom grasscloth / sisal by Schumacher . I prepped the wall and prepared to hang the paper. But we discovered printing defects (very, very common with Schumacher), and other issues. Search here to see my previous posts. We had to abort the install that day. This turned out to be a good thing, because, truth be told, the homeowners really didn’t like the Feather Bloom, but felt a little pressured to go with it. So back to the vendor the ugly duckling went. Then the homeowners took their time without the designer’s input, to look at wallpaper selections and purchase $1 samples they could see, feel, and tack up to the wall. Their new choice (below) fits their style, color scheme, and pocket book much better (this option cost thousands less than the Schumacher). The actual purchase was made through Dorota at the Sherwin-Williams store in the Rice Village (713) 529-6515. Everything was done over the phone, and, to save the homeowners driving all the way into the city, I picked up the paper for them and delivered it to their home on install day. Starting in the middle of the wall so I can place the very symmetrical pattern dead in the center of the wall. The colors in the paper work beautifully with the green cabinets you see to the left. And I love the way the airy feel and foliage and flowers compliment the open-air view outside the window. This pattern is reminiscent of designs by William Morris, a designer of the Arts & Crafts period around the turn of the 20th Century. I’m seeing a lot of interest in these patterns of late. Apelviken , Midbec , 33006 , A Street Prints , Spring, non-woven material made in Sweden , was very nice to work with and will hold up well for many, many years. I installed using the paste-the-wall method , although you could also paste the paper.
Just the sink wall will be papered. Sorry for the photos … the room is so small, and the door is blocked by the toilet, so I can’t get good distant photos. Here’s that accent wall with the wallpaper on it. The room also had an art niche with a curved rear wall. This is the first thing you see when you open the door. I positioned the pattern so the dominant white flower would fall in the center of the wall, under the spotlight. This is such a cute and whimsical pattern. Who ever heard of frolicking pigs wearing knitted sweaters?!The manufacturer is Borastapeter from Sweden. It’s a non-woven material, and was perfectly lovely to work with. It can be hung by paste the wall , but I prefer to paste the paper .
It was going to use up a whole 21″ wide x 9′ long strip of wallpaper to cover this narrow section between the door molding and the wall. I didn’t want to use just a little and then throw away most of that strip. I also didn’t want to wrestle a 21″ wide strip into that narrow space. So I cut the piece over the door and left just a bit hanging below the door. I trimmed this bottom edge along a part of the design. But I had some scrap paper from another area in the room, so used that. I found the pattern that matched the area above the door and trimmed the right edge along the corresponding design. Then I cut a 1 5/8″ wide strip long enough to snake down between the door and the wall. I trimmed the top to match the bottom of the piece over the door. A little bit of this narrow strip overlaps the bottom of the wallpaper that was already on the wall. Here’s how it looks going down the side of the door. This dachshund dog pattern is called Tillsammans and is in the Studio Lisa Bengtsson collection. Made in Sweden, a non-woven product and a paste-the-wall installation method.
Two opposing walls in a home officecovered in quirky doggie pattern.This cute design of dachshunds is called Tillsammans, and is by Studio Lisa Bengtsson and comes from Sweden. It’s a non-woven wallpaper material, and I used the paste-the-wall method to install. This is a townhome in the Montrose neighborhood of Houston.
Here is a much more economical take on the hand-painted silk Chinoiserie or Oriental murals crafted in China that can cost $1000-$2000 per panel (this accent wall required 10 panels).
This digitally-printed mural is made in Sweden on easy-to-install Non-Woven material, and was sized to fit the wall with no major measuring gymnastics required. No color differences between panels, as with real silk products. Close-up photos show the detail work that mimics silk material and hand-painted fowl and foliage…. Just as nice as the $$$ cousin.
But this entire mural cost only about $600. (plus labor to install)
The finished wall, seen from a distance through the entry and dining room is jaw-dropping.
The family intends to use this as a “cocktail room,” with svelte custom-made tables and sink-into lounging chairs. I sure hope they send me a picture of the finished room!
I skim-floated the wall to smooth it, and the top photo shows my fans working to dry the smoothing compound.
Another photo shows the strips cut from the bolt, collated, and rolled backwards to both reduce “memory” (the inclination of the material to stay curled up) and to prevent the surface from bopping into the paste on the wall.
To hang this wallpaper, I use the paste-the-wall method.
An important thing to note is that, when measuring to order a mural, measure your wall’s height and width accurately, and then ADD TWO INCHES TO EACH SIDE. In other words, add 4″ to the height and 4″ to the width. This will allow for trimming at floor and ceiling and either side, and will help accommodate crooked or unlevel / unplumb walls and ceilings.
The homeowner wanted the serene feel of this muted colorway, but this mural is available in other colors, too. The home is in the Energy Corridor area of West Houston. The manufacturer is Rebel Walls. I have hung their paper a good number of times, and like it a lot.
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