Wallpapered

I did it. Well I didn't do it, but my husband did. We have wallpapered our powder room. And I love it!

Finding a decent wallpaper print was like finding a needle in a hay stack. Yes, wallpaper is available at Walmart and HomeDeopt, but find me one that isn't granny-ish or over done. I ordered from General Paint and found a series of contemporary wallpapers by Blue Mountain that I liked. Because I ordered there, I expected to be able to purchase supplies there too. WRONG! Apparently the "lack of popularity" has made wallpaper troughs and squeegees nearly extinct. I tried three different paint supply stores before I found the must-have supplies at RONA.

Then I stayed up all night watching online tutorials on how to hang wallpaper.

When I began papering, I was awful at hanging it, but didn't realize immediately because I was just so good at everything else involved like:

- preparing the walls,
- measuring,
- matching the pattern,
- cutting the paper with a 2" seam allowance at the top and bottom,
- pre-soaking,
- "booking" the paper,
- and trimming the top and bottom.

So I gave up after a few too many strips, and my husband hung the rest. I think he should do it professionally, there is a real call for wallpaperers right now, but unfortunately he would rather be a doctor.

Designing for Myself, Argh!

I bought a house in one weekend! A spec home, of about 1500 sqft. Thankfully the house was not completed so we are able to select all the finishes.

Timeline:
Agreed to buy the house on Sunday, was told to complete the finish selections by Monday evening, wrote up the deal on Monday night from 8-10:30pm! Realized that I hadn’t selected a kitchen counter, oops, Tuesday shopped again to make finish selections and add an addendum to the sale. I had 24 hours to select all the finishes in my house, and hopefully find options that were in my price range.

STRESS!

Designing for a client is easy, I get a feel for who they are, what they like, and what their style is. Designing for myself is tricky. First of all I think I am pretty self aware, I know that I like the new flashy unique stuff that often looks uber dated in about 5 minutes. But I am also “practical,” or you could call it, “cheap,” so in the past I have bought neutral pieces and I have avoided the trendy decor. So should I make an exception to my rule and decorate my house in over the top trends because it is what I like right now? I want to be in my new house for the next 7 years. What will I like for 7 years? I guess I need to look at what I have always liked, which would be mid century modern, with BOLD accents, and daring primary colours sprinkled here and there. But unfortunately trends over the past 5 years have brought that look to the main stream making me look ever so 5 minutes ago! One look I really enjoy is the “art gallery”: off white walls with intense oversized art. So that is my inspiration for my new home.

What will you like for the next seven years?

RUSH JOB

It started with a frantic phone call.

Client: “Our builder called and wants to know what colour eavestroughs, TODAY! What colour do we want?”
Me: “I am not sure as we haven’t selected the exterior colours yet. Can your contractor wait a day for the answer?”
Client: “It didn’t sound like it. I don’t think so.”
Me: “Umm ah... Let me see if we can set an appointment this afternoon for the exterior colour story.”

I lacked direction, all I knew was that the house had cedar beams and shingles and varied brown asphalt roof shingles and white windows. Two hours later I was frantically searching the paint store for the corresponding paint chips which I had 20 minutes previous selected from my paint fan in my office. Generally I only give two or three options to my clients, otherwise making a decision can be overwhelming for them. But I made an exception this time because we hadn’t discussed what type of exterior look they wanted. In an hour and half, I had thrown together FIVE possible colour stories. I was going in blind, hence the five options:

1. Dark Blue and Warm off-white
2. Kahki and Cream
3. Medium Brown and Cream
4. Medium Grey and Black
5. Neutral Green and Cream

My personal favourite is the blue and off-white.

Main House: Dark Shadows CL 227N*
Trim: So Stunning CL 1216W*
Cedar: Natural Stain
Eavestrough: Off White

It is bold, contemporary and will make that cedar pop! But I fear it is too bold for my clients, the safety of the kahki is inviting to them.

What would you pick?


* All colour selections from General Paint

Vinyl Quotes - Official Time of Death circa 2008

Dear DIY Decorators,

Enough is enough! Vinyl lettering does not belong on your walls, it belongs in the commercial world IE - signage. It is one thing in a public place where a person needs directions, it is another thing entirely to put it up on your home's walls to state the obvious, meaningless or cliche.

Examples: “Live Laugh Cry,” (ugh) or the obvious “Families are Forever" (blah).

It’s like a song on the radio that got too much airtime, it’s just played out. I would like to pronounce inspirational quotes, sayings, and all other types of vinyl lettering adhered to your residence DEAD.

Sincerely,
MS. Lyle-Mason

PS - If you have-to-have-to have a quote on your wall. At least be unique and custom design it by finding an obscure quote that embodies you, and then I won’t mind so much.