Photos in Wallpaper Selectioon Books Not Always True to Scale

I encourage my clients to look not just at the wallpaper pattern they like, but also at the photograph of it used in an actual room. Most selection books provide these, and they are invaluable for showing the scale of the design, secondary pattern (do a Search on my blog – upper right), and other important features you would not see in a one-page sample.

But I got a surprise the other day while visiting Dorota (see links at right “Where to Buy Wallpaper”) and she showed me some new wallpaper selection books. Some of the patterns in the room sets (photographs) were way larger than they should have been.

That’s because the room sets are not really photos of actual rooms that have been wallpapered. Instead, the graphics guys use computer tricks to simply plop a photo of the wallpaper pattern into the background of a room setting. Apparently they don’t always bother to adjust the scale, so you can up looking at a pattern that looks like it’s 12″ high, but is really 4″ high. What a shock when that pricy package of wallpaper is delivered to your jobsite and it’s not what you expected!

Another reason to order samples before you buy. And Dorota is really knowledgeable about this, so working with her for your selections is another safeguard to be sure that what you see is what you get.

Angles, Arches, and Polka-Dots

The angles and arches in this bathroom, along with the bull-nosed corners and unlevel ceiling line were a bit of a challange. It turned out super, and the teen gal loves it.

This is a hot pink polk-dot wallpaper pattern on a silver background. It is #RB4286 from the Sure Strip line by York Wallcoverings.

Flaw of the Day – Spots & Smudges on Thibaut Trellis

In the first photo, small but noticeable dots mar the wallpaper. In the second photo, you see a different type of dot. These first two came off the roll like this.

In the third shot, what happened is, the paper went up beautifully and looked perfect. But as I did a final smoothing with my brush, this smudge appeared from out of nowhere. It is some kind of tar, and would not wipe off. I had to replace the strip. This happened three times today.

My rags are absolutely clean, my brush and other tools are spanking clean. All I can think is that the small dots you see in the first two phots were composed of this tarry stuff, and when they got run over with the brush, they were scratched open, and the tar was released.

It ruined a several 4′ long strips.

Thibaut wallpaper pattern #T-1801

A Really Happy Paper

This cheery wallpaper pattern went into the small entry of a cottage inside the Loop. You simply can’t help but smile when you catch sight of it.

It’s by Hygge & West http://www.hyggeandwest.com/