Wallpaper and YouTube Don’t Mix

This West University mother of young children went to YouTube for some primers on how to hang wallpaper, and then, along with hubby, spent a 3-day weekend tackling the powder room redo project. They didn’t do a horrible job (first three photos), but there were some things that must not have been covered on YouTube.

First, and probably most important, the walls should have been primed with a product designed for wallpaper.

Second, seams should be butted, not overlapped.

Third, wallpaper should not be wrapped around the door moldings, but trimmed at the base.

Fourth, I’m not sure what’s going on with the cuts at the baseboard. I think the room had seen a number of redecorating efforts, and that the baseboards took a bit of a beating in the process, leaving a surface that wasn’t smooth and wasn’t willing to hold on to wallpaper.

I stripped off their wallpaper, patched bad spots, sanded the walls, then primed with Gardz, a penetrating sealing primer that bonds together porous surfaces and that is also a good base to hold wallpaper.

The rest of the photos are of the room after I hung the new paper.

This product is a pre-pasted, paper-backed, solid vinyl material. It happens to be one of my least favorite kinds of wallpaper. The homeowner chose it because she has young children and the vinyl is reputed to be more water-resistant and durable than other types of wallpaper. If she had consulted with me before she bought her paper, I would have steered her in another direction.

It’s true that the vinyl surface is resistant to water, and it’s more resistant to stains than a paper-wallpaper. But that doesn’t make the product wonderful.

The main problem is the paper backing. This stuff is not horrible, but it does have a reputation for curling a tad at the seams (do a search on my blog for previous posts). Humidity (such as in a bathroom with showering) can cause increased curling at the seams. Any water that falls on a cut edge of the paper (along backsplashes, seams under hand towels, etc.) can wick into the paper backing and cause it to expand, which will cause the seams to curl.

To reduce the potential for seam curling, I used a special pasting process (rather than following the manufacturer’s instructions). And I ran a bead of caulk along the top of the backsplash (see 4th photo – the caulk will be clear when it’s dry) to prevent splashed water from wicking up under the wallpaper.

My trim cuts along the baseboard looked better than the homeowners’, but I still felt the baseboard was compromised somehow and that wallpaper did not have a good surface to grip ahold of. So I ran a bead of caulk along the top of the baseboards, too.

This wallpaper is by Exclusive Wallcoverings, a British manufacturer. It is a faux grasscloth, and, unlike true grasscloths, it is pretty water- and stain-resistant, and it has a pattern that can be matched. In fact, the close-up photo above shows a seam – and I’ll bet that you can’t find it! The pattern number is FD44143

Next time around, when a mom has concerns about her kids touching or splashing the wallpaper, I would suggest she consider one of the newish non-woven products. Or, better yet, a scrim-backed (woven fabric-backed) solid vinyl product, such as something from the Thibaut brand Texture Resource line, particularly Volume 4. Everything in that book is beautifully textured and realistic, and virtually indestructible. Do a search here to see my previous posts.

More Durable Alternative to Grasscloth

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This couple wanted a textured paper, rather than a busy pattern, for their powder room in a newish home in the Montrose neighborhood of Houston. After spending several months looking at options, and also seeking my input, they decided on this. The design is meant to look like grasscloth, but to me, it has much more of a sleek, modern look, all of which is enhanced by the slivery grey color.

What is extra nice about this selection is that it is a scrim (fabric) backed vinyl material, and will hold up to water splashes and dings quite nicely; real grasscloth, and even paper wallpaper products, cannot say the same. Because it is meant to mimic grasscloth, there is no pattern to be matched, and so the seams are more visible than with other patterns. But this product did not have the paneling and shading problems that plague real grasscloth, so the seams really are barely noticeable.

This wallpaper pattern is by Thibaut Designs, from the Texture Resource line, pattern # 5834, and was bought at a 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.

Home Office Make Over For A Man

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The cheery bird-and-butterfly pattern is a pricey designer wallpaper, and looked super in this sun room off the living room of a 1940’s home near the Rice Village (Houston). But the thing is, the new homeowners are using this room as a home office for the husband. Needless to say, he was not thrilled with the frilly wallpaper!

The couple was considering grasscloth, but I explained about the highly visible seams, the color differences between strips, potential for staining by young children with sticky hands and being ripped up by their dog. They took my suggestion and went with this faux grasscloth, with a woven texture and subtle two-toned color. The charcoal color looks sharp against the white woodwork and desk, and the feel is crisp and tailored – just perfect for a man’s space.

I love this particular product! Because it is a thick vinyl on a woven fabric (scrim) backing, it will wear like steel, and will be resistant to water and stains, too. The color is very uniform, and you cannot see a seam. It’s nice to work with, too – although the thickness makes it a little difficult to cut through when trimming at ceiling and floor and door moldings.

This wallpaper pattern is by Thibaut Designs, from their Texture Resource Volume 4 book, and has become so popular that it is available in about 30 colors! This one is called Bankun Raffia, #839 T-14146. It was bought at a discounted 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.

Looks Like Grasscloth – But It’s Better!

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When clients start talking about grasscloth, I go into my “lecture” about my disappointment with this product, because of color variations including “shading,” “paneling,” “staining,” “bleeding,” and others, like “cats love to tear it up.” So when I first met with these young homeowners, I was delighted that they listened to me, and took my advice to buy this faux grass product instead.

When properly reverse-hung (hang every other strip upside down), there is no color variation, and the seams are invisible. The material is a heavy vinyl that supports a textured surface (see close-up). The vinyl is water and stain resistant, and if it needs to be cleaned, it can be scrubbed. The material is reinforced with a scrim (woven fabric) backing (see photo) that makes it strong and durable, so no worries about their kids banging toys or tricycles into the walls.

And it looks remarkably like real woven grasscloth. It is a handsome paper, and the overall look is smart and tailored, providing a good backdrop to this mid-century-goes-21st century style home.

I hung this in a typical entry way in a typical ’60’s era ranch-style home, in Shepherd Park Plaza (the neighborhood with all the Christmas lights!) in Houston.   The job took two days, with the first day being spent smoothing the textured walls, so the bumps would not show under the wallpaper.

The pattern is by Thibaut, and is in their Texture Resource Volume 4 collection. It was bought at a discounted price from Dorota Hartwig at Southwestern Paint on Bissonnet near Kirby. (713) 520-6262 or dorotasouthwestern@hotmail.com. Dorota’s eye and knowledge of color and products was a big help to this couple. They were originally leaning toward a different colorway, but Dorota said this was a more neutral color and would work better in their space. Once they saw the wallpaper on the wall, they knew that Dorota had been correct! Discuss your project and make an appointment before heading over to see her.

And notice – the day’s trash all rolled up into one neat package. 🙂

Growing Boy Needs a More Grown Up Room

The little boy had outgrown the bright colors and cartoon characters painted on his bedroom wall. His mom wanted something durable, with a pattern that would work as the boy goes through grade and high school.

She chose this faux grasscloth in a woven pattern. It’s tailored look will be a good backdrop to any style of decorating the boy may want. It’s super durable, too, being made of scrim (woven fabric mesh) backed vinyl, like what they put in hotel hallways, so it can survive dings and washings.

This wallpaper pattern is by Thibaut Designs, from their Texture Resource line, and was bought at a discounted price from Dorota Hartwig at Southwestern Paint on Bissonnet near Kirby. (713) 520-6262 or dorotasouthwestern@hotmail.com. Discuss your project and make an appointment before heading over to see her.

Faux Grasscloth Adds Texture, Lasts a Lifetime

Here are two faux grasscloth wallpapers, working together in texture and color, in a bar area in a home in el Campo, about 90 miles southwest of Houston. Both patterns are by Thibaut, and I think both are from the Texture Resource book.

I love it when clients listen to my suggestions. Real grasscloth can have paneling and shading issues (do a Search on my blog, upper right corner of this page), plus they stain easily and can be damaged by kids or cats’ claws. This homeowner had three young children, so I steered her away from the real thing and toward this product, which is much more durable and resistant to water (and to little boys with poor aim! 🙂 )

You can see in the close-up shots that the heavy vinyl allows texture, plus the color is much more uniform and the seams match better than the real thing. There is seam behind the faucet in the first photo, but you can barely see it. With real grass, the seam and the difference between the right and left strip would be very obvious.

Wallpaper – It’s Time to Man-Up!

This bathroom is used by the homeowner’s son. The flowery wallpaper was fine while he was a toddler, but now that he’s in grammar school, it was time for something more age-appropriate. This neutral colored, woven grasscloth pattern will work for him through his school years and into college.

And – surprise! – it’s not grasscloth at all, but a faux made from vinyl. I encourage people to look at these faux grasscloth options, especially in bathrooms. Real grasscloth comes with many problems; this vinyl stuff is virtually problem-free.

It looks as good as the real thing, but it will not stain or bleed if splashed with water, cannot be damaged by little boys’ “bad aim,” the seams are absolutely invisible, and there is no paneling or shading (difference in color or texture between strips).

This wallpaper is by Thibaut, from their Texture Resource collection, pattern #839-T-14135. I like the Thibaut line of fauxs better than most of the others I’ve seen.

This was bought through Dorota Hartwig at Southwestern paint on Bissonnet, for less than retail price. CALL AND MAKE AN APPOINTMENT before heading over. (713) 520-6262

Faux Textured Wallpapers That Look as Good as the Real Thing

People these days LOVE textured wallpapers. I have blogged before about problems with many of the natural goods, such as grasscloth, and have told about advantages of the fakes. One of the best looking lines is by Thibaut.

Well, Thibaut has upped it’s ante, with it’s Edition 4 of the Texture Resource line. They’ve added more colors, more patterns – and the book is FANTASTIC!

Here are durable vinyl goods on a sturdy woven fabric backing, that will not stain if splashed with water, the color will be uniform from strip to strip, seams won’t show, no chance of paste staining the seams, and the cat won’tshred it to bits. (Well, I can’t guarantee that one… some cats are determined to destroy even the most iron-like vinyls.) The line features fake grasscloth patterns, linen look-alikes, wood grain, little tiny dots, and lots more.

The wallpaper is both visual and tactile – a real feast for the senses.