TayRose Design interior design DIY Archives - Page 3 of 7

How to wallpaper a bi-fold door to use as a headboard or screen

I’m writing a trilogy of sorts-a series of projects using wallpaper as an accent with the remnants from wallpaper rolls after papering a wall. I will be sharing 3 projects; a chair, a lampshade and the project in this post is a bi-fold door. I was invited to participate in a program to try a product and then share how it works and hopefully inspire others. Since I never really used wallpaper before besides lining drawers, I jumped to the challenge. We were given some choices of papers from Walls Republic, found here, http://www.wallsrepublic.com/ and I’m telling you, they have so many beautiful papers to drool over, plus, if you have trouble deciding, they will ship up to 5 samples free so you can touch and feel the actual paper before purchasing a roll….such a great option! My paper choice was Adeline in Duck Egg which is a soft pretty blue color on a creamy white background. The paper is nice and thick and had a pretty sheen when the light hit it. We haven’t had any sign of Spring here in Upstate NY in March, so this wallpaper design was my way of bringing in a little Spring-

Wallpaper label from Walls Republic

One of the projects I decided to apply wallpaper to, was half of a bi-fold door set. My husband is a photographer and uses different items as back drops, and I thought this would be a great way to try wallpaper on a surface before applying it to a whole wall, since I was such a newbie with wallpaper. I laid down my drop cloth on top of a piece of masonite board on the floor in the photo studio and brought my sawhorses in….it was freezing out in the garage…March and snow….you know, Upstate NY…brrrr.

I decided to paint the raised panel side of the door and add wallpaper to the inside of the raised panels, and then on the other flat side I would lay a full sheet of the wallpaper. I found a lovely shade of blue paint color from Sherwin Williams, called Quietude #SW6212…isn’t that a great name? For the cream color in the background I chose a paint color from the Country Chic mineral chalk based line, Cheesecake, which matched the wallpaper nicely too.

Cheesecake mineral chalk based paint

After painting the edges, I traced out on paper the inner panel sizes and cut out the shapes on the wallpaper. The other great thing about this wallpaper is they have a newer technology where you don’t have to paste the back of the wallpaper, but apply the paste to the item you are papering. You can still apply the paste to the back of the paper if you want to, but with these newer papers you don’t have to do that step. The adhesive paste that Walls Republic recommended is Romans and you can find it at Lowe’s but any good wallpaper adhesive should work, and if you have any questions, Walls Republic has great customer service.

Also, included with the wallpaper roll, are instructions, complete with drawings, which is so helpful for me who has to have a visual to see how something is done.

Once I had all my wallpaper patterns cut out, I brushed the adhesive paste to the raised panels and lined up my paper to the edge of the panel and slowly laid down the paper, smoothing gently as I laid it down, pushing the air bubbles to the sides until smooth. I used a wallpaper brush to gently go over the top of the paper again, wiping away with a damp cloth any excess paste from the edges, trying not to get the paste on to the surface of the paper. If I did get glue on the paper, I quickly wiped it with a lightly damp cloth- And the best feature of this wallpaper? It’s dry strippable, which means you peel back a corner and pull it off in one sheet- Isn’t that awesome!! This feature alone, makes using wallpaper as a decorative wall option much more inviting!!

After the paper had dried, my husband trimmed off the wallpaper at the edges with a sharp razor blade. My husband is very precise which was so helpful with this project! I noticed after the paper had dried that some of the glue residue on the paint after wiped was still shiny. So I just touched up the paint on those areas and it all blended away.

I flipped the doors over and wallpapered the flat side so it looked more like a wall. I unrolled the paper so that it went beyond the ends about 3 inches and cut it. With a large brush, I generously brushed on the wallpaper paste then with the trusty aid of my husband, we held the paper at both ends and gently lined up the paper along the straight end and slowly laid it down while gently smoothing out the bubbles underneath with the wallpaper brush. Once dry, wallpaper was trimmed along the edges.

For the 2nd door, I laid it next to the other door, then unrolled another wallpaper panel lining it up against the other paper on the door so the pattern matched the other door as close as possible. Luckily, this pattern repeat is close, so there wasn’t much waste.

The final step was painting the hinges and I painted them with the blue color using a q-tip to dab the color onto the screws once installed.

With the bi-fold door, depending on where it is used, I was going to add some knobs or hooks to hold scarves or jewelry; in a large bath to hang a robe near the tub, or it can it can be a headboard for a twin, or queen sized bed if you do the double doors. Lots of uses for these mobile wallpaper units as I like to call them!

You can view my other posts showing steps for Walls Republic wallpaper accents on a chair and lampshade on my other posts found here: http://tayrose.com/2015/04/16/taking-a-vintage-pendant-and-adding-wallpaper-for-a-fresh-look/ http://tayrose.com/2015/04/16/how-to-wallpaper-a-bi-fold-door-to-use-as-a-headboard-or-screen/

http://www.eregalstudio.com/ credits for finished wallpaper project pictured in this post

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Taking a vintage pendant lamp and adding wallpaper for a fresh look

I was given the opportunity to try a new wallpaper product from Walls Republic www.wallsrepublic.com. These particular wallpapers use a newer technology of pasting the object surface rather than pasting the paper first, cool, right? I have never really used wallpaper before besides lining drawers, so I was willing to challenge myself, and pick items that could be papered using the leftovers rather than tackle a”wall” to paper. Walls Republic have mega choices for paper in every style and color you can think of, so when you go to the site have fun! Plus they ship out up to 5 samples free, so you can see the paper in person before ordering…a nice perk!

Supplies I used for this project:

Wallpaper roll from Walls Republic pattern Adeline color Duck Egg #97411

Wallpaper adhesive paste brand Romans from Lowes (brand recommended from Walls Republic)

Wide brush or roller for pasting the adhesive

Wallpaper brush to smooth out air bubbles

scissors

ribbon and hot glue gun to attach

paint for painting inside of shade *optional, my shade just needed some freshening up

I had this vintage pendant light in my stash for years and once the wallpaper arrived, I knew this shade would be one of the perfect candidates for this project. You see, I had 3 items in mind…

lamp before wallpapering

Oh boy, this lamp was not the prettiest flower in the pot, but I could see the potential. I disassembled the lamp so I could paint the parts later, and concentrated on the shade since that was what I was going to wallpaper. I first removed the old fabric trim and since there were some age discolorations on the inside of the shade, I painted the inside. At first, I used a spray primer paint, but didn’t like how the paint was dripping, so I smoothed out the drips while still wet and let it dry before painting over with the same color paint I was going to use on the metal parts, which is from Country Chic https://www.countrychicpaint.com/paints in the Cheesecake color that matched the wallpaper background really well.

spray paint inside lampshade

Painting the inside with the mineral chalk based paint worked much better than the spray paint…just want to spare you the mis-step of using spray paint for this project. I always live and learn many times it seems, and usually from this, a much better way to do something presents itself…thank goodness! HA! While my paint brush was still wet, I went ahead and painted all the metal parts their first of several coats.

Cheesecake mineral chalkbased paint

I laid the shade on the backside of the wallpaper that I unrolled a bit, and began to roll the shade holding on to the paper end so I could determine how much paper I would need to cover the shade. I was sure to leave about an inch overlap at the end. Walls Republic suggests that ends meet rather than overlap on walls, and that makes sense, but since I was doing a lampshade, I wanted a bit of an overlay. I cut off the piece and lined up the straight edge of the paper to the edge of the lampshade. On the other side of the shade will be the extra width of the paper that will be trimmed off after I pasted down the paper. I got my large paint brush and started brushing the paste onto the shade…remember, you don’t need to apply paste to the paper but right to the surface of the object. Try to avoid getting the paste on the surface of the paper, if I did, I used a damp soft cloth to remove….

laying lampshade on wallpaper to cut to fit

I continued to paste and slowly roll the shade onto the wallpaper, smoothing gently as it rolled until the whole shade was pasted and the wallpaper was in place. Then I went back over the paper with one hand inside the shade following my other hand on the surface using the wallpaper brush to smooth out the air bubbles to the sides until the surface was smooth. Having my hand inside ensured that I didn’t press too hard on the shade and dent it. I let the shade dry before I trimmed off the excess paper on the end. Walls Republic have a nice hanging instructional that is included with the wallpaper complete with drawings which always helps us visual people!!

wallpaper on lampshade

I knew I was going to add ribbon trim to the ends of the shade, so if my cut line wasn’t exactly straight that was ok because it was going to be covered by the ribbon. I was so lucky to find only 2 ribbons that came close to matching the colors in the wallpaper and I grabbed them…plus, at Hobby Lobby, they were on sale for 50% off…can I hear an Amen!! I used the hot glue gun to attach both ribbons, first the larger ribbon in blue, then the thinner cream ribbon.

hot glue ribbon to lampshade

I reassembled all the lamp parts, after I used Windex to clean off the glass prisms, then added the shade. One last step I did was to take the creamy color paint and dry brushed the chain. I didn’t want to completely cover the whole chain with the paint, for I like to see the metal coming through. You could also make a chain cover in a color matching the fabric would be pretty too.

All finished and ready to hang..I love how it seems to breathe a fresh breath- like putting on a new floral dress after wearing long underwear for months…HA! Can you tell I live in Upstate NY?

Check out my other posts showing how I used the same wallpaper to accent a chair and and bi-fold door so they would all coordinate together.

Seeing vintage in fresh new ways is always inspiring and keeps perfectly good treasures out of the dumps!

To view the other wallpaper inspired items using Walls Republic wallpaper you can find them here: http://tayrose.com/2015/04/16/how-to-wallpaper-a-bi-fold-door-to-use-as-a-headboard-or-screen/ http://tayrose.com/2015/04/16/wallpaper-challenge-at-least-for-me/

http://www.eregalstudio.com/ credit for finished group photos on my wallpaper project with the chair, bi-fold and pendant light.

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Room chosen for Good Housekeeping article

Taylor

17 Mar 2015

Custom Design, DIY, Interior Design Room, Kids Room, Theme Room

Home Decor, Home Design, Home Interior Designs, jungle, TayRose Design, theme room

Do you know how when you receive a nice compliment, or when you hear some good news that your heart does a little happy dance? Well, while scrolling through the numerous daily emails one day, one caught my eye. It was from a Rebecca, and the title was,

From Rebecca Re: Feature on GoodHousekeeping.com – Kids’ Bedrooms

I thought to myself, this looks interesting and opened it.

Hi Taylor!

I hope you’re doing well! I am a writer for GoodHousekeeping.com and I am putting together a round-up of the coolest kids’ bedroom ideas. I love your jungle bedroom , and I was wondering if I could use an image of it in my round-up. Please let me know ASAP if this would be alright.

Thanks so much!

Rebecca

All right??? Happy Dance! What a feeling of appreciation that my design work is to be recognized in this way. Of course I emailed her right back and included my blog page about working on the room. http://tayrose.com/2015/02/08/its-a-jungle-in-here/ .

It’s a Jungle in here! Parade of Homes Pigliavento Builder, TayRose Designs

A week later, Rebecca emailed me with the link to her article. There were 10 kids rooms she featured and you can find the Jungle room as #7 as you scroll through the pictures here: http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/love-your-space/themed-kids-rooms#slide-1

It’s a start…baby steps, and each step a rewarding leap!!

Thank you Rebecca!

Sea Shells far from the Sea Shore…..A mirrored view

One can’t say enough about shells….their shapes; colors; and sizes from a tiny spiral to a large conch- shells have been a part of decorating through out history. Shells add beauty whether displayed in a dish, or on a shelf or, in my case, adhered to an old mirror.

I have 2 examples of mirrors and a memento box that I have made that changed their entire look just by adding shells. On one mirror, I painted the shells, and the other, I left the shells in their original colors. Both I feel have done shells proud…

The first mirror I had a large oval gold-painted mirror that had some rose bas relief along the rim but only in a few places so I wanted to fill in the whole rim to make the mirror more sculptural looking.

Whenever I see shells at garage sales, or thrift stores, I try to scoop them up for I know they will be used one day, in one way or another. Or I just admire them in a bowl or jar- reminded of the waves from whence they came.

I used a putty type product called Laticrete to apply the shells to the rim, working in small sections so the adhesive wouldn’t dry out too fast.

It’s waterproof and used to set tiles. It has a creamy consistency and I used a putty knife to apply then set the shells into the soft putty.

After the putty was dry, I decided to paint the mirror plus the shells in white, with several coats, using up some white paint I had leftover in my basement.

I thought white was an appropriate color, where I could envision the mirror in a beach house at the Cape, or in a contemporary loft in the City, or cozied up Shabby Chic style in a vintage cottage. I love the mirror in white, it’s so sculptural with the shells, and you really have to walk up and look closely to verify they are shells, which makes it all the more interesting.

For the 2nd mirror, I decided to keep the shells in their original forms, and I again used putty to attach the shells, but I added some black acrylic paint to the putty to darken it to a gray color so the shells would stand out more. I also painted the inside rim in black so the shell color would pop, and give a nice contrast rim around the mirror.

I worked with the putty in small sections at a time, fitting shells and adding tiny shells into small openings, filling as many gaps as I could find with more shells. This mirror was in pretty bad shape, so by covering it with the shells, the life was saved with a little hint of it’s history at the top. The mirror too is timeless, and really fits into any style of decor be it eclectic to contemporary. It has found a spot in my bathroom, and if I tire of it there, it will find another wall in the house to be appreciated.

(And yes, the mirror is hanging on some bead board that I painted the wall color and then hand painted the seams of the bead board slats in gray….call me crazy, but for this accent wall in the bath, it works really well and didn’t take all that long to do.)

The last piece I did with shells, but certainly not the last piece I will use shells on, was a memento box I had covered in shells as a card box for my wedding. This box now holds trinkets and memories and the shells encircled a favorite photo of ours on the lid.

Shells will always be a part of my home decor, and though I may not live by the seashore, the sea is remembered by the tiny treasures found on beaches and in thrift stores that share their natural beauty… off shore.

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“Rev” Up your Home Decor with Car Parts!

Taylor

21 Feb 2015

Art, Custom Design, DIY, Interior Design Room, Repurposed

I have been known to find “art” in the most unexpected places. I was designing a showcase home, to show how furniture and wall art can be made by using everyday items; thrown out items; stuff that was found at the curb; or in thrift stores. I didn’t have far to go for this design plan….

Have you ever been to a Pick & Pull? Oh boy, first be sure you wear your grungy clothes and shoes, bring gloves and I didn’t know this, but be aware that prices are not cheap for many items. That was my biggest surprise.

I wandered up and down aisles of discarded cars, smashed up cars, and parts laying on the ground. It was eery walking around all of those car shells…. what stories they would tell-not good ones in most cases.

As I turned a corner, I saw this awesome sculptural piece of metal just sitting in the middle of the aisle like it was saying, “hey, here I am, just what you were looking for!” I had no idea what part of the car it was, it was heavy, but I could still carry it, (oh, btw, you have to carry everything out yourself!) The piece had beautiful rusty patina, and I thought it would serve perfectly as a side table base. Now, if I could just carry it to the check out counter!

I also found I think it was called an air cleaner that was metal, and I thought I could turn that piece into a wall art design. So, I dragged my pieces to the checkout counter, had a bit of a sticker shock (I was very naive to costs, I thought being a junkyard it would be pennies to the pound or something similar…..oh no, more like $’s to the pound) Anyway, I was happy with my purchases and now to get to work on creating my vision.

I started with the air cleaner. I don’t have pictures of the process, but I can briefly tell you about it. The air cleaner was black already, but I cleaned it up and spray painted it black again just to keep any rust at bay. I found a round piece of mirror at the Dollar Store and glued it under the opening that was in the middle, then positioned it on the wall with the “arm” facing up so I could put some dried floral, then hung a tassel to complete the look. This piece was for my client’s entry where we hung metal siding on one indented wall, then had a bench with custom pillows. He was thrilled- he loved the whole industrial look especially since being a race car driver, having car related “art” was what he had hoped for.

I also used some large coiled springs from his garage to place on both sides of the fireplace. I inserted large glass vases to hold floral sprigs.

For the side table, I found out that I had picked up a crankshaft from a car, and by turning it on end vertically, I was able to put a round glass top and bolt it on to a wooden round disk, found at Home Depot that I stained a dark brown. I had cleaned up the crankshaft removing the grease, then sprayed it with a satin clear coat spray. Super simple, and so interesting looking. Being a small table, this table fits just about anywhere. I love how something so industrial works inside a home. This table would be perfect for a Man Cave, or set as I have it, in a corner next to a chair.

Pick and pull parts from lots of sources to create unique items, and “Rev” up your decor!
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