The homeowner wanted a tropical , jungle , palm , sorta wild look for her powder room . She unfortunately had not read my link (to the right) about the perils and misleading claims re peel & stick “wallpaper.” So she bought some and attempted to cover the walls in her powder room. First mistake was purchasing this stuff in the first place. Second was trying to hang over textured walls . Third was not having a properly smoothed , sealed and cured surface. Beyond that, just the concept of peel and stick material is a project doomed to fail. IMO Note wrinkles and warps in the material. Paper not adhering .More wrinkles and warps. Gap at seam over door .Paper looked good when she put it up, but seam split / opened within a short time . This is characteristic of P&S wallpaper , especially if the walls have not been prepped as spec’ed.So now the P&S has been removed , I’ll step in and skim-float the textured wall to smooth it , prime, and then we’ll be ready for wallpaper . REAL wallpaper !Done. No wrinkles , no warps , good adherence . She found a pattern that was very similar to her original choice , but more visually pleasing , I think, because it’s less “spiky.” A good idea of hers was to paint the sink / mirror wall , as this pattern on all four walls could have been overwhelming . This is a traditional wallpaper , install ed by pasting the paper . It’s good quality , seams were flat and invisible , and it was nice to work with. Close up. Closer-up.Just tossing in this photo of how I use a baby’s T-shirt to protect the toilet seat cover . I guess I forgot to take a photo of the label, but this is made by Designer Wallpaper . Pattern number is TA20004 . Oddly, when I Google this, I get pattern names of Jamaica and Tortuga . And also get the brand name Seabrook . Wallquest took over Seabrook, but leaving the old brand name on older patterns . My best suggestion here is, if you want this wallpaper pattern, contact Dorota at the Sherwin-Williams in the Rice Village of Houston (713) 529-6515 . She is the master at tracking down patterns and all things wallpaper. The home is in the Timbergrove / Heights neighborhood of Houston . installer
The living areas in this new home in the Oak Forest area of Houston are cloaked in grey , black , brown , tan , wood tones , textures – subdued , but a little warmer than the current trend toward all white and minimalist . The homeowner wanted to add a little pow factor in the hall bath . The stripes of dark paint on the wall are to keep the white primer from peeking out at the seams if the paper shrinks a bit as it dries . Do a Search here to learn more. The large scale of this foliage and floral pattern adds the pow , while the 2- color scheme keeps things in character with the rest of the home . I centered the large flower on the vanity faucet and the light fixture , and the mirror will sit nicely in between the flower motifs . Detail looks like an artist’s painting . Made by Wallquest . It’s a very nice paper -type wallpaper . It’s thin and breathable and should hold up to humid conditions in a bathroom , although not extremely stain resistant . I like this brand and material a lot.
The homeowners knew they wanted something brighter for their entryway . But their paint samples tested on the wall were falling flat.Wallpaper was the answer! Brighter and more personality and interesting than paint of the same color .Here’s a better shot showing the actual color . And here it is with my 100-watt light bulb gone and the room’s chandelier providing the light . This is a stringcloth material . Note that, just like grasscloth , another natural fiber material , you will see the seams a bit. On this one, the heavy inked areas of the white berries showed more than the background areas . From a few feet away, none of this was visible. Close-up showing the texture of the strings and the thick ink . I do think this will have some sound-reduction qualities ( absorb noise ). Also a note … cats and even dogs love to scratch or chew textured fibers like this.Rolling it out on my work table. The rolls / bolts were really heavy . Made by Wallquest in their EcoChic line. The home is in the Tanglewood / Galleria area of Houston . installer
A lot of my clients are choosing designs that harken back to the turn of the (last) century, particularly by William Morris. A lot of those are made by higher-end companies, and the material can be hard to work with. So I was thrilled when my favorite wallpaper sales person, Dorota, showed me these new books at her Sherwin-Williams store in the Rice Village. British Heritage is by Wallquest , a brand I like a lot. Below are room-set photos from those books.This is the very popular Strawberry Thief by William Morris. I’ve hung it before, and have it coming up again soon in the Heights ( Houston ). Arts & Crafts designs are very rhythmic and stylized. Some, like this, have a lot of color and impact.Others, with muted or tone-on-tone color pallets, are more subdued.Revival is another wallpaper selection book with designs of the same theme. A Street Prints is by Brewster, another great company. Most A Street Prints are on a non-woven , paste-the-wall substrate, which makes them quite user-friendly and affordable. CFA Voysey was a designer of the same period. I would say he was far ahead of his time, with some patterns reminiscent of MC Escher, and others bordering on … well, sort of psychedelic. Very progressive for the 1880’s! He continued to design through the Art Nouveau ( 1920’s ) and Art Deco ( 1930’s ) periods. I have his Bat & Poppy in my powder room. Search here to see photos. The fluidity here speaks of the Art Nouveau style. Alphonse Mucha was a European artist known for his elaborate theater and advertising posters in this style. I was lucky enough to have seen a fabulous exhibit at the Taft Museum when I was in Cincinnati for a Wallcovering Installers Association annual convention.
Not all Sherwin-Williams stores have wallpaper books, so call before you head over. Dorota isat the 2525 University store. This store has more wallpaper books than any other in Houston. Her hours vary, and someone may have checked the books out, so call before you head over. (713) 529-6515
Vanity area before.Vanity area after.Vanity from the front. Note the stripes perfectly centered / balanced on the wall, both above and below the sink. The wall-mounted faucet and handles, along with the stuck-to-the-wall mirror made this wall challenging. In fact, this one wall took me two and a half hours. Stripes on the toilet alcove are also nicely balanced. Looking up past the linen cabinet.Close up. The wallpaper looks textured, but it’s just fooling your eye. It has the look of fabric.
This is a semi-contemporary new home in the Woodland Heights neighborhood of Houston.
The manufacturer is Wallquest, one of my preferred brands, and the pattern # is MS91603.
Textured wall has been smoothed and primed. This wallpaper pattern goes beautifully with the yellow adjacent walls, and is a nice change from the pink chosen for many girls’ nurseries.The pattern looks like an artist’s study.I love the drips and runs – it looks like a real watercolor painting. Wallquest is a good paper. Their EcoChic line is environmentally friendly.
The baby’s crib will be centered on this wall.
This home is in the Braes Heights neighborhood of Houston.
Walls were originally mud-brown. Here my wallpaper primer has been applied. So lively and fresh!Close-up.Detail. It looks like a water color artist has taken his brush to the walls.Wallquest – one of my preferred brands.
A once-drab, cookie-cutter powder room in a new build in Cypress (far northwest Houston) is now airy and fresh, thanks to this water color-y pattern of trees, leaves, and birds.
The manufacturer is Wallquest, and the wallpaper was purchased at Ballard Designs. This well-loved mail order company has a brand new actual store on W. Gray in River Oaks / Montrose (Houston). They sell a number of wallpaper brands (good quality and medium price range), and have designers with extensive wallpaper experience available to help you (call before heading over).
Perfectly centered wallpaper pattern on one accent wall over the sinks in a master bathroom. Th manufacturer is Designer Wallpapers
A fresh, clean look for a master bath in a new home in the Cypress neighborhood of far northwest Houston.
You don’t see a lot of accent walls in bathrooms; usually I recommend that baths look better with all the walls papered. But I have to admit, once the homeowner adds the mirrors and light fixtures, this will be a crisp, fun look.
this paper was purchased through the showroom at the brand new Ballard Designs brick-and-mortar store on W. Gray in the River Oaks / Montrose neighborhood of Houston.
Look dead-center – the strip on the right is slightly darker than the strip on the left (Effect shows up better in person than in photos). We call this shading, or paneling. Even though the pattern can be matched from strip to strip, which eliminates the eye-jarring break in the design at every seam which you get with real grasscloth, I am disappointed that Walquest allows this color difference. I’ve noticed it on each of their colorways. It is less noticeable on this light version, but is readily apparent in their darker colorways. At the right edge of a strip of faux grasscloth wallpaper (center in the photo), a string either didn’t get put in place, or was pushed too far to the side. Either way, when this strip on the left is butted up against the next strip to the right , this “missing string” creates a very obvious void area, which runs vertically for about 4.’
I have long loved this Walquest alternative to grasscloth, because it has the texture that clients are seeking these days. But it sidesteps many of the problems with real grasscloth. Because it has a pattern that can be matched from seam-to-seam, so you don’t get the visible breaks in the reeds at every seam as with real grasscloth. And because it’s man-made, so the color is more uniform, reducing the color differences between strips that is prevalent with real grasscloth. (Do a Search here (upper right corner) to learn more.)
Unfortunately, I am becoming disenchanted with this product. The last several times I’ve worked with it, there have been color differences (shading / paneling) between strips. And a couple of times, I’ve had issues with strings not being uniformly placed across the strips.
The furniture, bedding, artwork, wall paint, in this bedroom of a college-aged girl are all pretty neutral. The mother wanted bolden things up with a dramatic accent wall behind the headboard. This would be a surprise when the gal came home from school for the holiday.
One wallpaper choice was the Phillip Jeffries “Wish” wallpaper. Well, anything with that designer’s name is going to be really expensive. Plus the cost of smoothing the wall and hanging the paper.
Dorota Hartwig of DMH Designs (dmhdesigns44@gmail.com) found this – very similar pattern, but much more affordable price. It is by Wallquest, one of my favorite brands, and is called Dandellions.
In one photo, you see the paper rolled out so I can see the full-size pattern and determine how I want it placed on the wall, behind where the headboard will go.
In the last photo, you see a scrap of dark chalk which I used to color the white edges of the wallpaper, to prevent them from peeking through at the seams.
The home is in the West University neighborhood of Houston.
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