The Atomic Age Comes to a Small Master Bathroom

This small master bath in a newly-renovated 1935 home across from Rice University (Houston) has a black & white checkered floor and a shiny black tiled shower (no pic). The homeowner wanted to move up a couple of decades in decorating theme, and so chose this fun space-age pattern. Now the room is ready for the George Jetson family to move right in! (All the Baby Boomers know whom I’m talking about.)

The wallpaper is by Spoonflower, comes pre-pasted (water-activated), and was pretty easy to work with. The hard part was keeping all those horizontal dashes lined up, in a house with mega wonky walls due to foundation issues and to just plain old Father Time.

“It Makes My Heart Happy To Walk In Here”

“It makes my heart happy to walk in here. I’ve had neutral pallets for so long, I was ready for something cheerful and colorful and happy.” That’s what the mom of this 11-day-old baby girl said when she saw the transformation of her infant’s nursery. Originally all the walls had been painted a soft pink. Three walls are still pink, but the fourth accent wall is abuzz with color and critters.

This cute pattern by Anthropologie (sorry, I musta forgotten to take a photo of the label) has colorful flowers in shades of salmon pink, and foliage in shades of green – but is also dotted with butterflies, grasshoppers, and other whimsical cuties. The mom noted how the design makes the room look larger.

This wallpaper is sold by Anthropologie, and is made by York Wall, in their Sure Strip line. It is pre-pasted (water-activated), is thin and pliable and hugs the wall nicely, and is on a non-woven substrate which is designed to strip off the wall easily and with little-to-no damage to the wall when it’s time to redecorate. Sure Strip is one of my favorite products to hang. Most of what York makes is mighty nice, too.

Originally this family was prepared to wait a few months for my next opening (I stay pretty booked with work), but I had a last-minute schedule change and was able to get their job worked in with – literally – only about 10 hours’ notice. Happy baby girl!

A More Grown-Up Room – But Still Way Fun

I put this paper up back in the ’90’s. It’ still in perfect shape!

The two girls who shared this bathroom have grown up and moved away. Mom thought it was time to get rid of the girlhood décor and move to something more suited for a guest bathroom.

The original paper was a pre-pasted solid vinyl. The vinyl layer stripped off easily, and left the paper backing clinging to the wall. A good soak with plain water softened and reactivated the paste, and the backing came away from the wall easily and with minimal scraping (the putty knife is there more to show perspective). The primer I used back then, oil based KILZ Original, helped protect the walls, and prevented moisture from the removal process from soaking through. KILZ was a superb primer, and I wish I could still use it. But the EPA required changes to many products, to be more environment-friendly, and wallpaper paste will not stick to the new formulas. 😦

Back to the wallpaper … This pattern is from Anthropologie. It is made by York, and is in their SureStrip line – one of my favorite papers to work with. It is pre-pasted and water-activated. The non-woven substrate is thin and pliable (unlike most other brands), conforms nicely to the walls, and exhibits no shrinkage / gaps at the seams when it dries.

The material is designed to strip off the walls easily and in one piece, when it’s time to redecorate. (Although I pretty much doubt that claim – and I would prefer that it not … There is much less chance of damage to the wall if the top layer of wallpaper strips off, leaving the backing on the wall, and then the backing is soaked with a wet sponge, the paste reactivated, and then the backing will come off easily, with minimal or no damage to the walls.)

The home is in the West University neighborhood of Houston.