Um, I think I am developing a wallpaper "problem"

10 years ago

Before renovating the house we moved into this year, I had never experimented with wallpaper and now I keep thinking of new projects. I just got back from being away most of the summer and I should be unpacking and helping my kids get ready for school, but instead I just spotted the PERFECT wallpaper on Houzz for the back of a set of built-in bookshelves on our second floor landing. It's this O&L Boa paper - I already emailed my wallpaper store to see if they have the book in! I have a botanical theme going for sure - koi in the powder room, hummingbirds on an accent wall in the master, and song birds in my laundry room. I just spent a half hour looking for (non-botanical) paper for our entry vestibule.... My husband is rolling his eyes!

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Comments (14)

Holly- Kay
10 years ago
Love it but not as much as your beautiful Koi wallpaper.
chispa
10 years ago
I spent hours one day last month walking through the wallpaper showrooms at my local design center. Osborne & Little had the best selection and I was surprised how many of them were labeled as washable. We are having our first wallpaper installed soon ... a metallic duo sisal in our guest house. We like the small sample and hope we like it when it covers all the walls!
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I had tin tiles in a bathroom in my old house. They were ugly and rusted, but I painted them anyway. Made a HUGE difference and lasted several years! I think we used epoxy paint, but it was a long time ago. I'm sure a paint dealer would sell you the right stuff. It was not hard at all...just like ordinary painting, looked flawless and there were no brushmarks at all...had a high gloss, mirror finish! Easy to keep clean, too. As for wallpaper, I love the stuff. I have it everywhere! I have vinyl type in my kitchen, where I do a LOT of cooking, and it washes easily and well. I have it in my main bathroom, too, and despite all the steam four of us could put it through every day for the past 9 years, it still looks terrific. And those walls were (still are) awful underneath the paper. I think paintable wallpaper is a good suggestion, but why not just use wallpaper and eliminate one process? You will always see the seams on wallpaper, paintable or not, but done correctly, printed wallpaper seams are almost invisible - IMO, they are far less visible on printed than they are on paintable wallpaper. If you didn't notice the bad walls under the old paper, you probably won't be able to see the bad walls under new paper, either. I also think 5 years is not long enough for such an expensive investment as good wallpaper. But, then, I'm not much for change in my house. And whatever paper you use, be sure you size it first!
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Thinking About Wallpaper In The Den
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Comments (7)
I used a lot of wallpaper in my last home. I kept it neutral and made sure the transition from room to room coordinated. The wall paper in the DR was up for over 10 years. Wallpaper in the kitchen was up for over 12 years. Wallpaper and moldings was a factor for the quick sale. The new owners loved it. The wife thought my taste was great and the home was move in ready. While it is costly, it outlasts paint. If you are looking for a contractor, please make sure you find someone who is very reputable and you have seen their work. Matching patterns and seemless edges are key.
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What do I do? I am at my wits end with this wallpaper mess!!
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Comments (6)
katybug, you mentioned you don't want it to look bad, so from reading what you are saying, I would much rather take the time and do it right than have to look at a room or wall all the time and never be satisfied because I was in a hurry . If you have knicks, gouges, scrapes, etc. the best thing to do of course is to mud it out; or even if you are going to do a finish with joint compound you are still doing work (unless you want a textured finish). So either way, there is going to need to be work from either way you choose. Just throwing out some of the possibles. Just doing a decorative finish over your wall imperfections with paint is not going to take care of the walls condition, unless you take some other kind of steps to correct what you have mentioned above. One thing for sure after I removed all that paper, I surely wouldn't put anymore up. :)
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I think I am going to have a nervous breakdown
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Comments (39)
My problems have been relatively minor so far. Demo started last Monday. On the first day, the power went off in my neighborhood for two hours. Not my GC's fault. This was, however, an omen. I had told the GC that I wanted the wall oven lower because I'm short, and he said he'd keep it at the same height as the current one. But, in fact, he raised it 6 inches. That one I caught in the framing stage, so he's fixing it. I think he forgot. Then he asked me as he was heading out to buy lights, did I want black or white UC lights. He recommended white, I'm not good with quick decisions (why I read GW for months) and said OK. Before I could tell him I really thought I'd rather have black, the white was installed (it was the same day - at least he's quick). That wasn't really his fault - I should have asked for time to decide. But we did discuss where to place the recessed lights, since the joist ran right where they should go, so they could be too close or too far from the cabinets, and I'm quite sure we had decided on too far, but he installed them, instead, too close. If this was due to a decision on his part, shouldn't he have mentioned it to me? I think he forgot again, and it was the same day. But I didn't notice until the ceiling drywall was done, so too late! The most recent thing is not really his fault, except indirectly. I'm donating the cabs and metal stuff to Habitat for Humanity Restore. They said they would be selling the oven for scrap, which was a shame, but at least it wasn't going to the landfill. When the GC demo'd, he put the oven in the driveway instead of the garage with the rest, and I reminded him that it was being donated (I'm seeing a pattern of forgetting here). I knew it was very heavy, so I told him that it was OK to leave it there - it was up by the garage, behind the dumpster, not easily visible from the street, and it didn't matter if it was rained on, but I told him to be sure not to put it in the dumpster. That was last week. Habitat comes tomorrow. Today, while my teenage daughter was home alone, a man and woman in a pickup truck came up the driveway with a dolley and took the oven, wheeling it between the dumpster and our Buick Rendezvous. My DD called my DH, who doesn't ever listen to me when I tell him what is going on, and he told her it was OK if someone could use it. She was afraid to go out and say anything to these people anyway - she's only 13. So my beloved oven was stolen by scrappers. I understand if something is at the curb, it's fair game, but no one should walk up your driveway and spend 15 minutes trying to figure out how to get an double oven into their pickup truck. I'm really PO'd. So it's been only 7 days of remodel, and I can't wait to see what's going to happen next. From now on, every piddling thing is going to be in writing. Still, my stories are nowhere near as bad as all of yours. Clearly, no amount of planning - or wine - is ever enough.
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dakota01
10 years ago
I also LOVE wallpaper! Once I pick one I never tire of it.
Very soon, I will startlookingfor powder room and laundry room paper. I may even decide to paper my stair risers
mtnrdredux_gw
10 years ago
Oh the Boa will be perfect in bookcases! Or, on shoes. : )

I can't do wallpaper. My tastes are too fickle. I am a decor amoeba. I think I am selecting things, only to realize I am channeling things I have already seen. I once did an entire bathroom renovation, then walked into one of my favorite local bistros, and realized I had copied it all from them!

I fall in and out of love with rugs, art and bedding. It's terrible.

Id love to see peaks of all the papers you mentioned, Chispa, they sound lovely.
patty_cakes
10 years ago
I remember your Koi paper~so pretty as well as unique. That's my winter project~powderoom, master bath, as well as MB closet dressing room. I lovvvvvvvve wallpaper, but know if I sell, it will more than likely have to be removed, but who knows. Is it really any different than having to repaint rooms which have been personalized with color(paint)? Well it is a lot easier to repaint, but in the meantime, not as satisfying to me, personally.
chispa
10 years ago
Mtn, come visit LA and we'll go spend days looking at design stuff! I don't know anyone here who enjoys going. Only moved here a few years ago and slowly building my list of good stores to visit. Last 2 weeks I was looking for an area rug, so I now have a good list of stores for that.
MarinaGal
Original Author
10 years ago
Chispa -please post photos when your paper is up!
Holly-kay - I love my koi paper too, but for the back of bookshelves (which will really be display shelves) I have had my eye open for something more subtle, but textural, and that could stand up to the rest of the house ;)
Mtn - I am fickle, too, so I have used the wallpaper sparingly with the exception of the koi in the powder room which does define the entire room. Now that I see how "easy" it is to use paper, I feel less nervous about using it more, if that makes any sense. Maybe I should learn how to hang paper myself?
Jeannie - it's great to hear from a fellow wallpaper lover! Powder rooms and laundry rooms are so much fun! Here is the paper I used in my laundry room (which is a converted 2nd floor bathroom):
Sueb20
10 years ago
I am currently obsessed with the idea of wallpaper, too. Trying to decide whether to wallpaper (1) our teeny tiny powder room and/or (2) the wall behind the headboard in our master bedroom. I still haven't moved beyond looking at pics online, though...
grlwprls
10 years ago
I am torn between wallpaper and stenciling our second floor hall. It's complicated because currently the end of the hallway curves for the spiral staircase and because, should we ever renovate, the hallway bears the brunt of the construction so the paper would be destroyed.

But, I love wallpaper - always have!
anele_gw
10 years ago
Oooh! If you do it, please post. Your koi is so pretty!

I would completely adore wallpaper in our LR. I don't think DH would go for it, though, so I will have to try stenciling.

I love this kind of wall, but with informal, relaxed furniture (minus the Chinoiserie secretary; it can stay)

Or this

A more relaxed look:

A Frieze:

Fun:

I think it would bring some life to my dark and minimally-windowed room.
madeyna
10 years ago
Hello my name is Tina and I have a wallpagper addiction;) I have to admit to decorating my last home around the perfect wallpaper that just screamed it wanted to live at my house.So it did for 16 years. I think the problem with wall paper is when it really works and you love it there is a tendency to keep it forever so it ends up dating the home. I have only used it for focal walls here so far. Well maybe in my daughters bedroom as well but that doesn,t count since I already took it down when we sheetrocked her room.
dakota01
10 years ago
Oh Marinagal - I love your birds wallpaper!!! Who is is by? I would like something similar - but I would need it to be in the blue family.
I always wanted to put a wallpaper with monkey's in a powder room - DH would never have stood for that! LOL

Now that am live alone - and new house is more modern the beloved monkey pattern just wouldn't work. I want to start looking for paper soon!
lala girl
10 years ago
I love the koi and the song birds and the Boa is fantastic! I love wallpaper too - I've only done my stair risers so far but am hunting for another spot to paper....there are so many fabulous choices, it will be hard to narrow it down. Cannot wait to see the pics of your built ins once they're done (hint hint) - that is going to look amazing.
MarinaGal
Original Author
10 years ago
SueB - I put paper on an accent wall behind my master bed headboard. I love it, but trying to get the right paint color for the rest of the room drove me mad. I finally figured it out, but it was tough.

Jeannie - that song bird paper is by Schumacher. It's called A Twitter in Summer. It makes my laundry time happy!

Anele - beautiful papers! I have seen that orange one in a magazine and it is super fun and energized. I see it in a Vermont farmhouse.

madenya - so true about the risk of dating a house. My paper is definitely confined to small places!

laurainlincoln - I will def post pics of the boa paper if I use it - it may be a couple of months, however. sigh.

Um, I think I am developing a wallpaper "problem"

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Holly- Kay

chispa

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Um, I think I am developing a wallpaper "problem"

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