"Gather ye rose-buds while ye may." Robert Herrick

"Gather ye rose-buds while ye may." Robert Herrick

Hello Friends!

Friends, Romans, countrymen...y'all. Foodies, gardeners, artists and collectors - let's gather together to share and possibly learn a thing or two in the mix.

Donna Baker

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Wallpaper


When I bought the city house, if you remember, I had lists of things that it had to have - three car garage, large lot, all hardwood floors and tile, no upstairs
 and on and on.  It all went out the window when I found this house.

I could live with the NO lists except for one thing.  The kitchen, the study and this powder room were a burgundyish red.  I'm like a bull when I see red.  I like whites and creams (the rest of the house) and pastels, not deep jewel tones.  These had to be painted before I moved in.  All except for this powder room.  There wasn't time to redo it and personally, picking wallpaper is so difficult for me.  It is overwhelming.  Just too much of it to look at.

I'm tempted to just paint over it so I don't have to look at it.  I see wallpaper in magazines that I like, but gah...  It is unbelievably expensive and even though this powder room is small, it has six walls to match up.  Believe it or not, large prints look good in small rooms.  I love Laura Ashley prints and so many others.  But, I also love the Martinique pattern that is famous from the early 1900's and designed specifically for the Beverly Hills Hotel.  I don't know why I like it, I just do.  See below.


I also like newer patterns as in the one below.



I won't bore you with more pictures as there are probably a thousand different patterns I like.  I think interior decorating would be such a hard job. If only I could open the door and poof - all bought and hung and beautiful.  Sigh.


34 comments:

Down by the sea said...

With the internet we seem to have so much choice these days it's had to make a decision. I would never have thought of using large patterns in a small room. I like the paper and colours you are thinking about. Sarah x

donna baker said...

Thank you Sarah. I think picking wallpaper of all the things in a house, is the hardest. I have subscribed to all the decorating magazines for more than thirty years and I have read that large patterns look good in a small room like a powder room. It would be too much in a large room. I don't know where to buy the paper, who to get to hang it so I might just have to paint it and use pictures or other decor for the walls. I keep the door closed anyway.

Michelle said...

I agree with the previous comment....too many choices today! How does one select anything anymore. Very overwhelming. I have a love/hate relationship with wallpaper. Love the way it looks, but hate having to remove it.

Elephant's Child said...

Good luck.
I can remember the nightmare in removing wallpaper from one room in our house. It was twee, stained, badly hung and stuck to the walls like the devil.
I like your replacement suggestions, but I think the third is my favourite.

angryparsnip said...

Good Luck !
I am looking at some wallpaper for one wall in my studio. It is a put up you can take it down paper. So I am really thinking about it. It is such a small wall I think it might work. It is of prickly pear cactus or I will have a japanese map blown up.

cheers, parsnip ans the hamish

donna baker said...

Yes, and I think in the last decade or so, wallpaper in the US anyway, has been out of fashion, but I like a little. I forgot about removal. Ugh. I think I'll paint over it.

donna baker said...

As I said to Michelle, I forgot about removing it. I might just paint it.

donna baker said...

Funny you said that about the map. I was thinking of old map looking wallpaper too. It is too much work and choice. I just hope it isn't there forever.

Joanne Noragon said...

The old house is all wallpaper. I wonder what the potential buyers think of it.

A Brit in Tennessee said...

I also like Laura Ashley and Waverley printed wallpaper, I saw a bathroom with old map pattern too and it looked great.
I'm sure you'll end up with a bathroom worthy of your talent and taste :)
Hugs,
~Jo

The Weaver of Grass said...

I actually rather like that powder room wallpaper Donna! We are all so different in our tastes aren't we?

donna baker said...

They are probably thinking, oh wallpaper, no sweat, thinking it will be an easy cosmetic job. Maybe it is to someone younger than me.

donna baker said...

Oh thank you sweet Jo. Can you come help me?

donna baker said...

Yes. Any color other than burgundy red and I could probably live with it.

Frances said...

Donna, I agree with you about saturated jewel tones.
When I was working at the Met, the former Vogue editor Diana Vreeland was hired to be in charge of the Met's Costume Institute. She wanted a Chinese lacquer red office, and made the museum facilities staff paint the room over and over and over until it had The Look she wanted. Mrs. Vreeland was a real character.
Somehow the red wallpaper in your powder room reminded me of that story.
xo

ellen abbott said...

that's the trouble with everything these days...too many choices.

donna baker said...

Frances, I swear you should write a book about your life in NYC. Such wonderful characters and stories. I like red and white gingham but couldn't live in a red room. I'd also take a Japanese or Chinese red lacquered secretary.

donna baker said...

I agree Ellen.

La Table De Nana said...

It's funny I can appreciate dark walls..and enjoy the mood they create..like wood walls dark wood kitchens..but I need to live in light now..
and every room is light..even the basement..except Jacques' office..I never look at wallpaper anymore..spent too many years tearing it off in other homes;)
And I must say that wallpaper works in your bathroom..


I used to love looking at the books..



elaine said...

My neighbour called round a couple of weeks ago to ask me to look at a few wallpaper samples with her as she couldn't make her mind up. I went through the half dozen she has chosen - one too boring, one too traditional, one too shiny etc. The more choice you have the harder the decision - in the end I chose my favourite and she agreed. If you make a mistake you have to live with it a long time. Good luck.

Amanda Summer said...

Maybe it's just me, but I sort of like that red wallpaper - but any you are choosing would be good. Bold patterns work well in small spaces, ending up making them seem bigger.

I'm not a big one for decorating, I'm too impatient, so I hear your sigh :))

donna baker said...

I'd live in a glass house if I could Monique. Just have to have light.

donna baker said...

Exactly my sentiments Elaine. Wallpaper has always been a hard choice for me. I like decorating from things I see in magazines, but the reality is spending hours and days visiting stores and online. I don't enjoy that.

donna baker said...

Me either Amanda. It must be in the genes. I don't like looking for new cars either. Maybe I am indecisive. At the farm there are few places to choose from and in the city, too many.

RachelD said...

AWww! Now, I find that powder room absolutely charming---the deep tone and the old-fashioned pattern from another day. Can't you just see that in a big old house a hundred years ago, when indoor plumbing was a great luxury, and the room was probably showed off to company more than the parlor?

The colour reminds me of my late dear friend Carol, whose tiny self with her blonde Hamill-bob and bright smile were absolutely mesmerizing. Her entire house was in dashing colours and patterns, with the Master Bedroom in a bright red plaid paper with accents of Scottie-dog silhouettes and gold.

The downstairs powder room, which was the one company saw most, of course, was in the same tartan, in a deep green, with gold everything, and mallards and duck heads for handles, like a high-class bordello, and I loved it. It was absolutely so HER in the brightness and the dash and shine.

And if RED really sets off your boiling point, you might LIKE a little retreat to harbor in, to take out some of the cares of the day with a good yell or flush-and-run-water all at once and CUSS if you've a need to. Mine's pale green tile, sorta underground, and the tornado-safe spot, as well as a yellin' place when you drop the pan of gravy on the clean slate floor.

just sayin'

r

donna baker said...

I know it's just a small room, but irks me as it is used often. I just don't like red rooms. Like I said, I could probably live with any other color and I'll probably just paint it. Don't want to spend a fortune on the powder room. I even though of book pages, maps, prints etc. but too much work also. It is a small problem and I hate to paint so I fear it will be that way for a long time.

La Table De Nana said...

ME too..so there is a pretty hummingbird paper in this months House Beautiful...

Sandra Cox said...

I like the poof idea:)

donna baker said...

If only Sandra.

donna baker said...

I'll have a look Monique. It comes to the farm so I'll have to wait till I go back there.

helen tilston said...

Hello Donna,

I am sure you will find the perfect wallpaper. Will you hang it yourself? I have wallpapered and it is a tedious job. Good luck
have a great weekend
Helenx

donna baker said...

Helen, I wouldn't know where to begin. Oh yes, picking out a pattern. The rest makes me shake. Nice to here from you and hope your weekend is a good one also.

jerilanders said...

Donna, and here is someone who LOVES picking out wallpaper! Laura Ashley papers are wonderful as are William Morris. I'm with you about RED, cannot abide it. Another option is stenciling, much faster and easier than hanging paper. Stencils have come a long way in the last 2oyears!

donna baker said...

Oh, I don't know why I'm like that. Just too much to look at. Love LA and Morris too. A lot of the patterns I find say to the trade and I don't know anyone who could get it. Maybe I'll wait till next year. I painted over the wall paper in the dining room at the old house and painted a landscape in black and white, but it was just like canvas. This wallpaper is shiny and slick.