Wildwood Floral Pattern in Water Closet

Nicely centered pattern in the potty room of this beautifully renovated 1926 home in the Woodland Heights area of Houston .

Toilet alcove before … along with my cute baby T-shirt used to cover and protect the toilet seat.

Toilet area finished.

Looking from the main room into the commode room / potty .

Finished. The colors coordinate beautifully with the tile .

Wildwood is yet another of the cheerful and fresh patters by Rifle Paper . I’ve been hanging a lot of their papers lately … the brand is very popular .

wallpaper installation houston

Making the Best of Plumbing Problems

OK, so this master bathroom suffered a water leak, and the plumber had to cut through the drywall in the potty room in order to access the shower fixtures.
Here the contractor has replaced the cut-out piece of Sheetrock. He did a really nice job. For the most part. Of course, he didn’t bother to remove the wallpaper before doing his repairs. This is vinyl paper (thick, slick, slippery, backing absorbs moisture) and really should have been removed first.
But I was able to work around the patched-in area.

The prep for this small room was a lot more involved than I anticipated, and required an extra day. Too complicated to get into, but there were two layers of wallpaper, and no primer by either of the previous installers. Original install dates back to the ’80’s. It took me a day and a half just to do the prep on this small commode room.

The room finished. Note the stripes centered nicely on that back wall.
The pattern and material were chosen to coordinate with the green stripes in the main area of the master bathroom.

Kill point (final corner) over the door. I “shrank” some sections in order to get even widths and maintain the pattern repeat and match.

The plumbing problem also damaged an area on this wall outside the water closet. So this area around the door needed to be replaced. The homeowners didn’t have any left over paper, so they chose something similar in color, style, and composition to the green striped paper you see to the right.

Here is that transition door wall finished.

We decided to use the stripe to define the ‘break’ between the two patterns.
The alternative would have been placing the stripe against the door molding … but I felt that would be too repetitive, plus it would have left a cut-off section of flowers running along the side of the green stripe, and same on the opposite side of the door frame.
And, yes, the wall definitely is not straight, square, or plumb.

And here is that opposite side of the door frame, with the stripe running nicely along the shower tile.

Some overlapping was involved in this job. Since the wallpaper is vinyl, and vinyl is slick, you need a special paste to be able to grab ahold of the glossy surface. These days, I sure don’t use often border paste, also sometimes called VOV or Vinyl Over Vinyl . But I was mighty glad to find this 10+ year old container deep in the bowels of my van. Still fresh and sticky, too!

Besides borders not being popular today, these “satin” and “silk” look wallpapers are not very common. But this is exactly what the homeowners were looking for, to coordinate with the existing, 30-year-old paper in their master bath. Saved them having to replace all the wallpaper in both rooms!
This paper is very economical, too. The couple shopped with Dorota at the Sherwin-Williams in the Rice Village, and she was able to track down the perfect material, pattern, and color.

Now, aside from all the positive things I just said about this paper in this current application, I do want to make clear that I am not at all fond of this type material. Without getting into a long schpiel here, please click and read the page link to the right “Stay Away From Pre-Pasted Paper-Backed Solid Vinyl …. ”
I will also add that I’ve developed a technique to work with these materials, and so far the installs, including today’s, have been going nicely.

One double roll bolt had some of these blue mark printing defects running through about half of it. Luckily, most of these were on a section of paper that was cut off in order to turn a corner, so was discarded and not put on the wall.

Exclusive Wallcoverings is the manufacturer. Usually I work with their non-woven or traditional paper products, which are quite nice.
The home is in the West University area of Houston.

Water Closet in Textured Gold Wallpaper

Potty room prepped and ready for wallpaper.

Finished. This textured vinyl product had no pattern repeat or match. I used the reverse-hang method, which is where you hang one strip right side up, and the next strip upside down. That way the same edge is being placed next to itself – hard to explain. But the purpose is to reduce the chance of color variations at the seams.

Here you see the true color and texture of the material.

York is the manufacturer. I like just about everything they make.

Just for fun, here is the coordinating paper that’s going in the adjoining master bathroom.

Fine Wallpapers is also by York. Both these papers were purchased from Ballard Designs, their new brick-and-mortar store on W. Gray in Houston.

Swirls in Black on White in Master Bath Water Closet

Just about everything in this townhome is white. The master bath has white walls and woodwork, white cabinets and countertops, a white tub, and a white marble floor with wisps of soft grey.

This wallpaper continues the crisp clean look, but adds some contrast, dimension, and movement. In addition, the swirls are composed of dots about the size of a pencil eraser, and they are slightly raised, so the wallpaper actually has a bit of texture to it.

The wallpaper is on a non-woven substrate. With the characteristics of this material, you have the option of pasting the wall instead of the paper. But since bathrooms have more complicated spaces and access, it’s preferable to me to paste the paper.

This wallpaper pattern is by Designer Wallpapers, and was bought from my favorite source for good quality, product knowledge, expert service, and competitive price – 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.

The home is in the Rice Village / West University Place area of Houston.

Wildly Fun Exotic Themed Wallpaper in Montrose Water Closet

Please excuse the bad exposure, and look at the cool color of this wildly fun wallpaper. See the true color in the 3rd photo.

The homeowner worried that the marble floor with black diamond inlays looked dated (the townhome was built in the ’90’s). And this room, along with the adjoining master bath, was awash in blah tan paint … on everything – walls, ceiling, moldings.

Her original choice was a dark green paper with tulip type flowers spaced out on it. I didn’t want to tell her, but it sure looked dated to me. And I mean ’70’s. Luckily, her husband didn’t like it, either.

He DID approve of this much more fun and colorful pattern. In the larger master bathroom, it would have been overwhelming. But in just the potty room, it really packs a wallop!

This wallpaper pattern is by Justina Blackeney. Her line is pretty wild, so Google it and have fun!

Although the label doesn’t state so, I believe that the paper is actually made by York, in their Sure Strip line. It is pre-pasted and easy enough to work with, although quite slippery due to the shiny surface.

When’s The Last Time You Saw A – Bidet?

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Wow, this takes me back to the ’90’s, when all the expensive new homes came with a toilet, and alongside it, a bidet. (If you don’t know what that is, Google it.) I hardly ever see them anymore. (And did anyone ever use them, anyway?)

The odd thing is, if all those homes were built with a large 2-seater water closet – where are they today? I mean, I am in a lot of homes, and a lot of bathrooms, including ones from the bidet-era, but I don’t see bidets. Did the homeowners rip them out? And if they did, what did they do with the floor space left in the large room? Or are these people just hiding their over-accessorized water closets, too embarrassed to reveal that they have one of these relics from the past?

Well, bidet or not, I would be happy to update the room, and I think that wallpaper is the perfect accent to do that!

Silver Cork Wallpaper in a Galleria-Area Water Closet

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This water closet in the master bathroom of a newish home in the Galleria area of Houston was originally papered with an olive green grasscloth, which was then painted over with flat, boring, tan paint, as you see in the top photo. It was bad enough as it was, but when the homeowners renovated the bathroom and changed to a sleek, modern look, that painted grasscloth just hurt to look at it.

The wife loves this silver cork wallpaper by Thibaut Designs. In fact, last year I hung the same thing in their downstairs powder room.

The cork, with it’s bright metallic surface, brought a whole lot of light and life to the enclosed, window-less room. It looked better than I anticipated, and we all were amazed at how large and vibrant the room became.

Because the room had some curved walls, I railroaded the paper (hung it horizontally instead of vertically), and that proved to be a good choice. It also used a little less paper.

The wife loves this paper so much, she is thinking of putting it in a third space in their home – an accent wall in the master bedroom.

This wallpaper pattern is by Thibaut Designs, and was bought at 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

Subtle Stripe Wallpaper Coordinates With Main Room

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This dusty yellow striped wallpaper pattern went in the potty room / water closet of a master bathroom. In the larger room, the homeowner wanted a brightly colored, nautical-themed wallpaper. She chose this more muted color and subdued pattern for the smaller commode room.

I really like the idea of companion / coordinating wallpaper patterns in adjoining rooms. All it takes are colors from the same family, and design themes that are in the same league. This is a perfect example.

This wallpaper pattern is by Thibaut Designs, and was bought at 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.

Brightly Nautical Wallpaper in a Master Bathroom

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I didn’t get pictures of the original wallpaper, but it was a pre-pasted, paper-backed solid vinyl (my least favorite kind) and had been poorly installed on un-primed bare drywall. Over the 12 years it was up, humidity from the bathroom had penetrated the seams and caused the paper to curl.

This paper (not vinyl) wallpaper, hung over properly primed walls, will cling tightly to the wall and perform well for many years to come. Plus, it’s bright and pretty and adds a lot of life to the room.

One shot shows the oceanic paper in the main room, looking into the potty / water closet, which has been papered in a coordinating yellow striped pattern. I really like using two papers this way. See tomorrow’s post for pics of the potty room.

This home is in West University Place (Houston). The wallpaper pattern is #839-T-6701 by Thibaut Designs, and was bought at 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.