patterns

Tuesday, December 28, 2010


wallpaper samples from Osborne & Little

We have a tiny little half bath, powder room on the main floor of this old brick house. A small sink, a small toilet and a gigantic window that looks out onto the wild petite forest that is our backyard. It's a very small but very tall room and I think perfect for wallpaper. I said this to the handsome Prince the other night as we were discussing the remaining living room/dining room projects. One of which is to move the door of this bathroom so that instead of having to wind your way back through the kitchen, then through the laundry room/mud room/pantry to get to the powder room - the bathroom door will be on the living room side in a good sized vestibule area (read wasted space) between the kitchen and dining room. I feel a floor plan coming on ...

While discussing the revamping of this small bathroom I said I'd love for this room to be a Jolt, a Smack ! of Oh My !! (in the best way) when you open that door, a shock, a delightful surprise, an oasis of crazed colour & pattern in our otherwise we do love our neutrals off-white to chocolate and everything in between home. & Oh how I do love red, especially that hot vivid orangey red and I do so love these vintage, big, brash, traditional & wacky (don't exist in the real world) floral wallpaper patterns (mod leaf the exception & expected ho hum motif & colour way). The photo at left is of a bathroom decoupaged with pages from the beautiful Taschen book The Cabinet of Natural Curiosities - bought the book ages ago, have the gallon of mod podge - lets dec o' page !! ;-)

Thinking about beauty, pattern, colour, motif & les natural curiosities this tres snowy, wild + windy early morning. It seems Madam winter has arrived in our little seaside village with a fury.

8 comments:

  1. good morning... hope the storm isn't too bad up there! While the Eastern edge of NY got a LOT of snow, I am just enough west that we only have 4-5 inches... and it's very pretty!

    I think a tiny, tall bathroom is the perfect place for such incredible graphics... but what about using some of your very own amazing stuff?... you could fill the walls with framed pieces, top to bottom!

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  2. Hi Kathie,

    ya know I did consider painting my own wallpaper, or a combo of painting & making a few stencils and certainly our budget would much prefer this solution.

    I fear that age ol' creative's worst fear - the long stare at the blank wall unable to decide what to do.

    I could decoupage pages of a historic from the beautiful book
    A Cabinet of Natural Curiosities purchased way back when exactly for this purpose (added to post with link).

    shhhh ... don't tell MLou

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  3. i love that cabinet of natural curiosities bath. and i have that book. I might do this to MY boring bath. I like the wallpaper too.

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  4. Wonderful wallpapers!
    And happy Christmas week to you all.
    Furry and non.

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  5. I like the idea of a colorful "punch" in the tiny powder room. Wallpaper is perfect for providing that. And since it's a tiny room, it shouldn't be too hard on the budget. (Easy for me to say... I always seem to like the most expensive designs.)

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  6. Just do something - NOW! If you just get started, ideas will come, changes can be made, but the staring-at-blank-wall curse will have been averted!

    BTW, the Osborne of O. and Little has spawned a son who is now our Chancellor of the Exchequer, one of a number of multi-millionaires in our Government. It would be laughable if his "good housekeeping" cuts weren't such bad news for the poor.....

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  7. Hey Rachel ... I must wait, I'm afraid, until the Prince has done his handy work and provided me us the newly rearranged fixtures & new blank walls. Then yet another big ta da !!

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  8. Oh hello! Happy holidays :)
    Coincidence; Just two hours ago I got a couple of books out of the library on wallpaper patterns. just for browsing, im not doing any DIY. The collage idea is great - i saw in a magazine once a wall collaged in old maps. Perfect for you I think.

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