Powder Room

Powder Room Reveal (Yes, Another One!)

I had the powder room re-wallpapered over 3 months ago so this post is long overdue. But hey, better late than never, right? So without further delay, ta-da:

You may recall that about a year ago, I proudly showed you this room, which was our first attempt at wallpapering. Well, I loved it for a good 2 months and then was ready for a change. I’m sure subconsciously it was just an excuse to shop for more wallpaper …..

So for months I had a ball looking at countless papers and after waffling between a few (as usual), I finally decided on Kelly Wearstler’s Fern Tree. Here’s a closer shot of the paper:

And this time, I called in a professional to hang it. All that stuff about what I learned about wallpapering and how I would do better the next time – fuggedaboutit. A wallpaper hanger is the best money ever spent.

Look how perfectly the repeat on the pattern fit in the space. It’s almost as if it were made for this room. I am so, so pleased with it. Oh and I should let you know that even after 3 months, I still smile every time I go in there. (Just in case you’re worried that I’ll quickly tire of this one too!)

If you missed the “before” and the “before” the “before, you can see them here.

(Photos: FROM THE RIGHT BANK)

 

Can We Talk About Wallpaper (Again)?

There are just so many beautiful wallpapers how’s a girl supposed to choose??

To recap, we wallpapered the powder room last June. I loved it initially but within a few months, I was over it (typical) and I started the search for a replacement. For the past couple of months, I thought I had decided on the Schumacher Fern.

But yesterday I went to look at more papers with Sherry and fell back in love with the Farrow & Ball Wisteria which you may remember I went mad for last year. To make things worse, I now love all these colorways on top of the other ones I already loved.

I also picked up a sample of the Hicks’ Hexagon in another colorway because I’m still in love with it too:

I just love the bit of pink and look how pretty the colors are with the Venetian mirror in there:

Life must be so much easier for people who can just make a decision and stick to it.

Powder Room Reveal (Or, Lessons in Wallpapering) + Poll Results

Well, we did it. We wallpapered our first room. Here is the tiny powder room, naked:

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And here it is now:

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It’s not perfect but it’s not bad and we did learn a few things which will give us much better results the next time:

1. Follow the instructions that come with the paper. Apparently, I don’t know better.
2. Don’t get aggressive with the scraper. Um, this one is self-explanatory.
3. If it’s your first time, don’t get the expensive paper. Think of it as a practice run.

At least I was smart enough to get inexpensive paper for this first try. If we had made all the mistakes we did on paper that cost $200/roll, I would have been pretty upset. But this paper was only $15.94/roll! The bottom half of the walls have millwork that I left alone so it only took 4 rolls which came to just over $65 for the whole room. After searching high and low, I stumbled on it at Sherwin Williams. (Their website won’t let you link directly to the details page for some reason. If you want the details, go to their website and enter: SW9WS2215 under the Pattern Number.)

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While we were at it, we replaced the plain mirror with the Venetian mirror that we bought in Paris that used to hang in our living room. I think it totally makes the room.

And that’s it! I’m pretty happy with it but I have another paper that I think will look good in there too so don’t be surprised if it gets another makeover in the next few months(!) And sorry I couldn’t get a wider shot of the room but it’s off of a hallway and it’s as far back as I could get.

Now, remember the poll from last week? If you missed it, I asked whether you were interested in seeing my decorating in progress or just a complete Before & After.

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As of yesterday afternoon, there were just over 200 votes and 84% wanted to see things in progress. So . . . I will be posting more rooms as they’re coming along, but at interesting stages, of course, so it’s not just a whole lot of ugly(!) Thanks to everyone who took the poll!

Even Darker and Busier Wallpaper

[It's finally move-in week - hooray! - so posts may be sporadic this week. Thanks for understanding!]

Thanks for all of your great wallpaper suggestions yesterday. I had so much fun looking at all the gorgeous patterns. In the end I narrowed down my choices to Solitude from Graham and Brown suggested by Lesley:

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which is neck-in-neck with the Thatch pattern from Cavern that I posted yesterday:

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And the wild card is Shantung which is also from Graham and Brown:

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This sort of satisfies my desire for dark as well as frou frou but I’m probably going to file this one away for another room in the future because it comes in two other colors:

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and I really love both but not necessarily for the powder room.

So for now, it’s between Solitude and Thatch. As Jessica wisely suggested, I’m going to order samples before I decide on anything. In the meantime, I’d like to take an informal poll: Solitude or Thatch?

Dark and Busy Wallpaper

[It's finally move-in week - hooray! - so posts may be sporadic this week. Thanks for understanding!]

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My plan for the powder room is to go dark and busy. This one is from the inspiration house I posted last month and I love everything about it. I’ve been itching to wallpaper something for a long time and I think the powder room would be the perfect place, especially for a busy pattern like this.

I also really like this pattern from twenty2 that I found through Katy Elliott:

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This pattern from Cavern Wallpaper would be stunning:

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and I’ve loved this one from Ferm Living forever:

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But I’m also really loving lighter floral patterns like these:

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I don’t want to get too traditional which I think the floral can be but they are awfully pretty. Any thoughts?

(Photos: 1.D Magazine 2.Twenty2 3.Cavern Wallpaper 4.Ferm Living 5.Pierre Deux 6.Lonny)