Yesterday Amber talked about the house getting drywall and subsequently texture. Today I’m talking about the few spots that we didn’t want them to put any texture on and why.
One design strategy that we had going into this build was that we wanted to find places where we could use wallpaper that would be high impact without having to do a ton of it. In case you haven’t priced any recently, wallpaper is expensive before you even start to figure in costs of having it installed.
So one place we decided to wallpaper was in the living room above. Looking this direction, you see our entrance to the Master on the left and the fireplace and both sets of double doors to the patio are on the right.
The bottom part of the nook will be a built-in cabinet all the way across, just lowers (no upper cabinets), and above the built-in we’re going to wall paper. Our TV will sit on the wallpaper and we’re hoping the pattern makes the big TV less of an eyesore.
Similar to the living room, in my office I have a nook for a built-in. Also similar to the living room, we decided that we wanted to wallpaper behind that built in.
Since it’s my office, we’ll have to find a wallpaper that skews masculine (no I’m not feeling the fuschia florals), but there’s a ton of really cool manly wallpapers out there that would work for what we’re going for.
The last place we decided to skip the texture on was in the hallway from the garage. This spot we’re not wallpapering. We decided to do the full wall in chalkboard paint, similar to our last house.
In the picture, to the right, next to the door will be a locker set up and mud room set up. We thought it’d be a good place to have a wall for lists, reminders etc.
We marked the walls where we wanted to skip out on the texture. When the morning of texturing came, we threw on clothes and sprinted out the door to double check (a necessary step when building). Luckily we got there in plenty of time to see that they covered the areas like the picture above.
Here are some wallpaper choices we’re looking at so you get a feel for what we’re going for.
**Amber Edit: There are seriously lots of wallpapers that we are considering, so feel free to chime in with opinions and suggestions. We didn’t want to overwhelm you with all the options we have looked at.
Well you know me, I was going to use that Hygge and West bird wallpaper in my nursery so I automatically love that one!
Ha. That wallpaper probably needs more room to breathe than we can give it (like a whole wall or room), so I’m not sure it will work for what we’re doing. But yea it’s amazing
Oh! I’m always a fan of that birch tree paper, but #3 is really winning me over too
xo Kristin
That tree wallpaper is amazing, the only downfall is that it’s used so much. I’m not sure I could ever pull the trigger on it because of that honestly.
I’m a big ‘ol fan of wallpaper, to the point that I make highly irrational spending decisions when it comes to it. If your happiness quotient rises because of beautiful, luxe wall coverings, then it will be absolutely worth it. That birchwood is awesome, and I believe I’ve seen #3 (or something similar) on http://www.manhattan-nest.com.
So, in short… go for it! No regrets!
I wouldn’t be surprised if MN used #3, I’m pretty sure they’re buddies with Lisa Cogdon (the designer). Wallpaper is pretty expensive up front, but man does it make a statement.
wallpaper can be so gorgeous, especially the ones you are looking at. I dont think I could ever talk my husband into wallpaper anywhere in our home though. he cringed when i mentioned i wanted to stencil our bedroom wall! darn him.
Keep working on him. There’s a big difference between “I don’t like it because it’s unfamiliar” and “I don’t like it because it’s not good”… like the first time you try sushi, you have to get used to the texture of it. The thought of wallpaper being stylish is cringe-worthy to most after we basically spent all of the 90s removing the wallpaper from the 80s.
i like my walls like i like my butts…. smooth and texture free.
Haha nice. We do too but couldn’t afford smooth walls all over the place. I guess springing for wallpaper isn’t really budget friendly either. Meh oh well it’s a design splurge right?
I am always a fan of wallpaper used in small amounts. Out of these choices, I like number 3 the best. I would love to see some more of your favorites though! ps. I am super excited you guys have WALLS now! YAY!
Yay indeed Court
I really want to do some wallpaper somewhere here….can’t wait to see what you decide. I agree on the birches….LOVE it, but I’ve seen it so many places. It’s why I don’t have a baby named William 😉
I don’t think we’ll use any of these because of that same reason, though the birch one is most overused. I just wanted to give everyone a feel for the style since wallpaper is still a 4 letter word to a lot of people.
I have been thinking of putting wallpaper in my boys’ room. I like some of the wallpapers by Ferm Living, Fine Little Day and Marimekko. They’re all a little Scandinavian, but that’s not a surprise.
Thanks for the recommendations. I will definitely have to check them out! With our white walls, the house is leaning Scandinavian anyway so they’d fit right in!
Nick, I’m shocked that you don’t want floral print in your office. I was like, 100% sure that was the direction you were going with. I guess it’s just going to have to be something tribal now…
But seriously, great call on not texturing those walls. It will make life so much easier when it comes time to install. May the wallpaper odds be ever in the Wills’ favor.
I believe in my heart-of-hearts that manly wallpaper exists that’s not grasscloth. I do like grasscloth, it’s just not what we’re going for in this house.
Excellent Hunger Games reference
Love all of those wallpaper choices! I was just looking at some wallpaper on spoonflower the other day…could get lost in that! I am loving them modern toiles right now. But, honestly, I think I’m too lazy and will just paint instead
Nick has been eyeing a modern toile for his office. I looked at spoonflower today! I wish they had an easier way to find the really good pieces. If only I could talk someone into custom making one for me…
I love your wall paper / accent wall plans and the wall papers you have picked out. Also, did you see the wallpaper that Emily Henderson put up in the Fig house – I think she showed it yesterday. I think you would like it. I think you are going to have the hottest TV wall around
I did see that. It’s gorgeous. She is doing the most incredible things in design right now. If only I could pay her to come do the house!
I can’t believe you having wallpaper choices already 😉 love them all. I’m totally drawn to choice 4
Well we haven’t settled on anything yet. It’s something that changes almost daily. We wake up telling ourselves that today is the day we will order our wallpaper. Then we don’t. All we know is that there will be wallpaper as soon as we focus up and pull the trigger!