Wallpaper Saga.

After 4 days of sun and warm, warm weather, it started to rain, AGAIN, last night! Now we're in for 4 days of rainy weather. At least Mother Nature is generous and gives equal amounts of both the good and the bad! I'd prefer more good.

The "wallpaper saga" that begin almost 2 years ago is almost done. And it looks like it will turn out in our favor, thankfully. Here is our story: after years of having just painted walls, we decided that we wanted to wallpaper one room in our new home and we chose the 1/2 bath on the main floor. Small room with super tall ceilings, and it seemed too echoey and not warm and welcoming ~ if a bathroom can be considered welcoming! We spent quite a bit of time finding THE PERFECT pattern, then headed to the store with our measurements in hand. Dh had for a time in our early years worked for said shop, so he knew how to measure for wallpaper and even gave a generous amount of space for the matching process. We were told at the local store to head in to the Big City as they were "not comfortable" ordering themselves and wanted the "wallpaper expert" at the one location to take this on. Fair enough. Feeling confident all would be well with the "wallpaper expert" we headed in to town. He worked on the measurements, gave us the results and I asked for more just to be sure. That was my gut speaking. However, he insisted he knew exactly how much we needed with the match and we'd still have some left over. After a bit discussion, we agreed. I was still hesitant but hey, he's the "wallpaper expert." We headed home to wait for our order.

Two weeks later and the call came. We picked up our order on the way home from an event and the next day, I happily started to wallpaper. All was well until we realized as we were half way done the 3rd wall that we were going to be short. I knew it! Always, always trust your gut!! So we phoned the "wallpaper expert" and he was not as friendly the 2nd time around. We drove in to the Big City to meet him and he was gruff and blamed us for providing him with inaccurate measurements. In fact, we had inflated the measurements so we'd end up with more than enough and also had asked to order another double roll and he refused, so now we're short! And the wallpaper sale (50% off) was over. I expected to be able to order at the sale price, without the additional shipping cost, as it was his error, not ours. But he argued and argued and argued, so we left. The next day, I called the main office, who called him and then we had to go in to order what we needed. They arranged a time to meet with him and we were promised not only the 50% sale but also no additional shipping and the same lot number so the paper matches. We arrived at designated time, only to find out the the "wallpaper expert" had "stepped away" for the afternoon. Hmmm. Thankfully he had left very detailed instructions for his staff and in a short time, we were done and on our way home. End of the dilemma, right? Nope!

Two weeks later, said paper comes in. I start to finish up the last bits as I had now joined a "6 week room makeover" and was running out of time! A short time later, I called out to my dh to come and see what I thought I was seeing. The pattern was correct, matching was going really well BUT the paper was darker than the original. He suggested it was too wet to make a call just yet and to give it a few days to dry. We did but days later, it was still too dark. Called back the store and got the "wallpaper expert" who claimed he did order the same lot number and blamed me for my hanging skills. I hung up! The next day, I called the head office and they asked me to send in my concerns via email. I received a note that a "ticket" had been opened and my dilemma would soon be solved. For months, there was a note here and there but nothing. It seemed to have gotten passed from individual to individual, department to department. I sent in photos as requested, invited them to our home, did everything we could think of. Last week, I had had enough of apologizing to guests for the unfinished bathroom. And wrote a strong letter, with a sentence at the end stating that my only recourse at this point was to share our wallpaper sage on Social Media. That was the trick. The next morning, I had a flurry of emails from the company and then a very lovely call from the new store manager, who was not there when this all occurred the first time. She was horrified that this had gone on for this long. She shared with me in her second call that the "wallpaper expert" had been let go for his lack of "expertise" and that the lot number he promised was the same was in fact a different number. I was so worried that the paper we took so long to find would no longer be available but she found it in the States and promptly ordered what we needed plus an extra double row for good measure. And she assured me the lot number was identical for all the rolls. No charge to use, with an estimated arrival of about 2 weeks. I am beyond relieved we will finally have the paper we wanted, with more than we needed for matching, all the same lot  number, with no additional charges. Soon our wallpaper saga will be done and we can finally enjoy this tiny room in the little house in the big woods. I'm glad we didn't have to use Social Media as I really never want to be "that guy" but glad in the end it worked to get this saga done and over with. I'll post pics once the room is completed ~ before and after. 

Have you ever had a saga like this?

How did you get it resolved?

~ Chy

Dollhouse Update.

I've been slowly working on the dollhouse.

Choosing, cutting and installing wallpaper.

Painted walls, freshly installed wallpaper

and the little carpet I found at the Fall

Dollhouse Show. Trim will be next but

I think I'll wait until I finish off painting

and wallpapering each room, and then

flooring, which I still need to figure out.

~ Chy

Wallpaper Woes.

Years ago, our first home had some wallpaper in the nursery and the main floor 1/2 bath. We loved both and kept them in place. And then wallpapered our kitchen from corner to corner, with a sweet little border at the top. It was a tiny kitchen but so warm and welcoming with our "homey" wallpaper. 

Our next few homes were just painted walls but then we decided to add wallpaper to our 4th house. We started in the kitchen, then added a border in the living room and the dining room. We wallpapered our master bedroom with a border at the top. And for our two kids bedrooms, we wallpapered half way up and added a wood chair rail. Loved those spaces. Our 5th house, we did just borders and it was fun to change them out as our kids grew. When we decided to lease out our house to a sweet little family, we took down the borders and repainted all 3 levels so they could move into a fresh and neutral home. They were very appreciative of the new paint.

A long ramble to get to my story I've called "Wallpaper Woes." 

Though we are going for a true English Cottage look in our new home, we have chosen not to put wallpaper anywhere, except for our main floor half bathroom. This room, like all the rooms on our main level, has 9 foot ceilings, so the room feels very tall but is small. To combat this, we decided we would put wallpaper on the upper half, and then we were going to install a chair rail and some wainscotting. It took forever but I finally found a pattern I love and off we went to the store to order it. I measured, remeasured and measured again. And then took those measurements into the store. I asked to order more once they did their calculations but they insisted that I would have more than enough with extra left over. I trusted but am quickly learning in this building/decorating process that my gut feeling will always win. So I let them order it. And guess what. Part way through the install process, I could see we would be short. Off to the store once again. They were happy to order me more but now the sale was over and so not only would I be charged more but now the shipping charges would be double. Hell no! Not on my watch ....

I had to wait a few days for the store manager as he was away but finally he got back to me and placed the order at the same sale price, without any additional shipping charges. And the best part was he also agreed his staff should have ordered extra. So now I was back in business. But a new problem emerged. As I hung the first strip of the new order. it looked darker. At first we thought "it's just the water" and hoped once it dried, it would be the same shade. But no, it dried and for days I kept checking to see if the tone would lighten but it didn't. It was super disappointing and frustrating.

Contacted the store manager who confirmed that they should have tried to match the lot number with the second order but no one thought of that ..... yes, I promise I won't order wallpaper from this large company again. But for now, I had to get this fixed. I contacted the store manager but he had no solution, so I contacted the area manager who was shocked that we had this experience. I have to send pictures tomorrow to show them what the wallpaper looks like and my hope is that they will reimburse me so we can start all over again. I haven't checked yet to see if the pattern we picked is still available but have chosen another one (picture above) just in case it's not. It's super close to the original but a smaller pattern. Fingers crossed that the area manager comes back with what I want and we can start fresh with enough wallpaper to cover the walls as we envisioned. Can't wait for this whole ordeal, our "Wallpaper Woes" to be be all over with. Soon, very soon ....

ORC Challenge.

A quick update on the progress of our "One Room Challenge" that we started last week. You may recall in my last post that we had decided to make our half bath on our main floor more cozy and not so "echoey" by adding in wallpaper. Well the paper arrived last Saturday and we started working on this very small space right away. First we took out the vanity, the measured out the height of the wallpaper section  we wanted ~ in our case, we're only doing wallpaper on the upper half of each wall, with wainscotting on the lower half. In a few short hours, we had papered the walls and we're so happy with our choice. I've been dreaming about this since before we moved in.

Our wallpaper choice:

The next steps to complete this room include painting the vanity cabinet (I started this today), painting the lower walls, buying then installing the wood trim and the crown moulding, ordering the light fixture, reinstalling the vanity, hanging the light, hanging the mirror, hanging the towel rack and then a clean and we'll be all set to do our reveal. No pictures until then! But it's going well, so no need to worry. I can't wait to show this new space off. Hope you'll like it too. I promise it will be worth the long wait.

A New Trend.

We bought our first house back in 1984 and one of the things that endeared us to buy the tiny home was the wallpaper in the nursery.

Over the years, we would decorate with wallpaper in different rooms. It was the trend then. Some rooms, we used a border and other rooms would have wallpaper on all walls. We used it sparingly for enhancing. Then wallpaper stopped being a "thing" and we ended up stripping off any remaining remnants and painting all the walls instead. It was fresh and light and we liked the new trend then. Until now ....

Now, 6 houses later and out in the country, and guess what is making a return? Wallpaper. We won't be putting it through the house as we tend now to ignore trends. But we have one space though that after a lot of thought, we've decided it does need some lovely paper to make it a warm and cozy room to be in. The room? Our main floor 1/2 bath, with 9 foot ceilings and a very loud echo noise. We came up with a plan,  searched and searched for months for the right design and today, we ordered our wallpaper. Best thing ever, as instead of having to order from the U.S., with extra duty, exchange rate and taxes, we were able to order from a local store and today, they had a 50% off sale! Bonus and so worth the wait. Here's what we chose: 

It should be here in 2 weeks and then we can start making this tiny, cold, loud room a warm and cozy spot. I'll be doing some before then after pictures and hope you enjoy the reveal once we're ready to show it off. So excited to add some additional classic touches to our new home. 

A Big Decision.

When we first became homeowners back in 1984, the trend was neutral, natural colors ~ off whites, creams, soft browns, sage greens. Wallpaper, if used, would complement these shades, with small patterns. In that house, we had a bit of wallpaper in the main floor half bath and in the kitchen. We also did one wall in the living room, a feature wall that looked great with our furniture at the time. We lived in our first house for 4 years, birthed 2 of our children while there (our daughter, then son) and then moved to a bigger home with a garage for the next 2 years. That home was wallpapered every where and all the walls were painted crazy bold colors in every room. We spent the first few months taking down the wallpaper and repainting everything, back to soft neutral colors. Then we moved out to our beloved rural hamlet and bought a sweet house there that had white, painted walls. We decided to stay there for 2 years and used some wallpaper in the kitchen, the boys bedroom (now we had another son), our daughters bedroom, our bedroom and then a border in the hall, the living room and the dining room. Truly one of our favorite homes but in time, the lack of a garage became an issue (no storage) and we really wanted to expand our little family, so off we went in search of our next home. We found one that was going to be our next "2 year fixer upper" and we ended up living there for 24 years! The pallet when we moved in was white walls and over time, we added color (light pastels) and wallpaper borders. Fast forward to this house, our new country home and the decision to choose colored walls was incredibly stressful but one that we now love ~ a soft lavender graces our walls, with white trim and beautiful wood floors. I thought the era of wallpaper had passed but I read a blog recently where the homeowner wallpapered just the main floor half bath and now I'm hooked! The blog writer used paper on the upper half of the walls and wainscoting trim on the lower half, painted white. I'm excited to consider this option to have some additional texture to our home. Just enough, not too much.

Here's our 1/2 bath at the moment:

Here's the wallpaper I am considering

for the upper half of the walls:

Just subtle enough and encompassing

our color scheme through the house.

What do you think of this new idea?

Would you put wallpaper in your home?