Priming a Newly Smoothed Wall

Digital Image

My previous post talked about smoothing a textured wall, so that the new wallpaper would have an intact surface to hold on to, and so that ugly bumps would not show under the new paper. I did the same thing today, in a large powder room with 10′ high ceilings, in a new home off Fannin, south of Loop 610 in Houston.

Once the walls were sanded and wiped free of dust with a damp sponge (rinsed frequently) (a crucial step, because any dust left on the wall can, when paint or primer or wallpaper is applied, delaminate, which means to pull away from the wall, which results in curling or loose seams on the wallpaper).

Anyway, once the walls were wiped and then dried, I rolled on a primer. While I use different primers for different situations, when I have newly floated walls, as in this case, I like to use Gardz (see photo). Gardz is thin and watery and soaks into porous surfaces, such as the thirsty joint compound in this newly smoothed wall. Then it dries very hard and solid, binding everything together, and doing a super job sealing the surface.

It also lends a wonderful surface for wallpaper to adhere to.

In the photo, the areas that are white are unprimed, and where the Gardz has been applied but has not yet dired, you see grey. When the Gardz dries, it will be clear. The surface will look a little irregular, because you see white areas where the join compound is thicker, and the paint color where the joint compound is just thin enough to skim over the high points of the textured wall.

Serene Reading Room

In this room, just two opposite bottom walls were papered.  The original was a poorly-matched and improperly-prepped faux marble pattern.  A little outdated, peeling up, and ready to go.  I stripped the paper, then floated the walls smooth, primed, and hung the new paper.

This pattern has a very tiny dot / squiggle design to it, which was veeery hard to match, let alone see.  It wasn’t really noticeable at all if it was mis-matched, but I know a little trick to matching such a pattern… Instead of trying to find the actual match by laying one strip beside the next strip, on a Straight Across pattern, you know that every strip starts with the same design element.  So i just made sure that the same “dot” was at the top of each strip.  Yes, the near-microscopic dots were danged hard to see, but once your eye gets accustomed to seeing it, it can be found.  Besides, once I knew how to match it, it would have been nearly impossible to ignore that and take the short cut.

The other interesting thing about this job is that I “railroaded” the paper – ran each strip horizontally, instead of vertically.  You can do that with non-directional patterns, and it eliminates seams (less potential for visual distruption of the pattern, less chance of curling seams), and is faster.  So, two long strips per wall, instead of eight short strips.

The outcome is a serene sitting room.  The muted teal color goes really well with the wall color and the chair, and the theme works well with the clean-lined side table.

 

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Baby Booties and Wallpaper – Protecting the Client’s Floor

I don’t always like to use a drop cloth under my ladder – they get tangly and twisty and can be dangerous.

Look at these cute baby socks, just the right size to fit the feet of my ladder. You can find them with non-skid strips on the bottom, too.

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Coincidence of the Day

So I’m working way south of town, in Pearland, today and tomorrow.

Turns out the homeowners work out at the Downtown YMCA,  miles from their house, but very close to mine, where I was a member for 20+ years. (When the Y moved into its new building, I switched to LAFitness.) They go at 5:00 a.m., the same time I used to go. And the wife is a swimmer, same as I – meaning she was swimming at the same time I was swimming.

We had a nice chat about fellow swimmers, the lifeguards, the new facility, and more.

She hates cold water, same as I, so I told her about the blissful 82*-84* degree pool at LA Fitness, which is never crowded, either.

Small world!

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Wallpaper in an Odd Place

I will be the first to say, I am not a fan of wallpaper anywhere other than on walls. But I have to admit, I think this turned out pretty darned well.

This was in the bathroom of a 1930 2-story house in the Rice Village area. I think the wallpaper plays off the original pink tile of this bathroom, and is a perfectly charming accent to the room.

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I’m Drooling – 1927 Kohler Bathrooms in Color

Did I mention that I love retro and vintage? Well, I LOVE retro and vintage!

And there’s not much prettier or funkier than bathrooms from a past era. Every time I watch HGTV and they are bashing out the beautiful 1940’s Seafoam tile and Salmon Pink sinks, I just cringe.

Take a look a these luscious designs, color combinations and tile work. http://retrorenovation.com/2012/07/17/colors-for-a-bathroom-kohler-introduces-bathroom-fixtures-in-six-colors-1927/

The only thing that could improve the beauty of these rooms would be a little era-appropriate wallpaper, to complete the look! 🙂

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Flocked Wallpaper – the Original

Flocked paper was all the rage in the 1960’s… you know, it looks sort of like velvet cut into a design. Often, it had a metalic gold background. Olive green, red, and black were popular colors.

I have a job coming up in a 1962 Meyerland ranch-style home that still has the original flocked paper in the entry and dining rooms. In the entry, it’s the classic fleur-de-lis type pattern in olive on gold, and the dining matches with an olive stripe on a gold background. The paper is in perfect conditon.

As cool as it is, the job invovles removing the paper so the homeowners can paint the rooms instead. 😦 That’s probably the best option, since they are planning to put the home on the market at some point in the not-too-distant future, and buyers like neutral decor.

The questionable part is… some of those old original flocked papers can be the DICKENS to get off, especially if there is no primer under the paper (as there hardly ever is). Wish me luck and an easy job!

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Papering a Man Cave

Well, not exactly a “man cave”…. It was more of the woman’s realm. But it WAS a garage.

Today I installed a mural – photo of a red and yellow sunset over the Caribbean island of Tobaggo http://muralsuperstore.com/catalog/tobago_sunset_pr98097_5221594.htm on one wall of a garage.

The homeowner says she won’t allow herself to smoke in the house, so she sits out in the garage to smoke. She loves tropical islands, and used to have a typical beach scene mural – blue sky and water, palm trees, white sand on the wall. After 15 years, she updated to the sunset mural.

Besides the mural, the garage has wood paneled walls, brown carpeting, and a new nicely textured ceiling. I like the red and yellow mural better with the brown paneling.

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Skulls in Interior Design

Skulls have been all the rage for a while – skull-shaped charms are big in jewelry design, you see them in tattoos and on biker wear, and artists seem obsessed with them.    But how about hot pink skull-themed WALLPAPER?!  Check this out:

 

http://designerwallcoverings.com/WallpaperStore/wallpaper-book-collections-summer-sensation-7-11-c-1604_770_1697/senor-skullingwell-flock-velvet-rose-pink-p-26212

 

It’s even got that velvety flocked texture, à la 1970’s.  By Designer Wallcoverings and Fabrics

 

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Needing Some Knee-way

Uh-oh. I just got a call to go back to a home where I did the wallpaper in a large master bathroom just a few weeks ago.

It seems I forgot to paper the litte knee-area beneath the vanity. 😦

Actually, this is a spot that’s easy to overlook, and I’ve done it many times. My little trick is to put my keys down on the floor beneath the vanity, so I can’t get in my van and head home until I’ve remembered to paper that little spot.

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