The Lessons of Learning
We did it! We did the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel wallpaper!! I have heard so much about this wallpaper. There are stories up and down about the challenges of this specific wallpaper; how the pattern doesn’t line up, it requires the edges to be hand trimmed by installer, and the material expands from the initial moisture of the glue.
Photo of the finished installation. Photo by Sara Wyatt
When the client initially reached out to me, he sent me a message with this wallpaper selection AND a link to a blog summarizing the issues another wallpaper installer ran into. Managing client expectations are a huge part of this work, so it was amazing to see that the client had already done some research and understand what could happen with this particular pattern.
It took three trips in total - one to prime the walls, another to line the walls, and then on the third day - the magic began!
Michael and I have really developed a routine this year when it comes to table trimming. I can confidently say we know what we are doing! Practice makes perfect, right?! Side note: we spent three days table trimming wallpaper with a lot of leeway and it really honed these skills! I still pray before every trim that the hands of the wallpaper Gods guide me.
Michael is setting up the straight edge to prepare for trimming the wallpaper to size. This is a big step!
So there we were with this wallpaper. We only had enough panels for the one wall we were doing. Every trim counted. Our rhythm is that Michael sets up the straight edge and I come in and do the actual cut. We quickly discovered that the trim lines, which are lines that some manufacturers put on the wallpaper to help the installer understand where the pattern will line up, looked uneven.
And that is when the intuition kicked in. We knew that we were lining up the straight edge straight. So we leaned on that. Yea, it looked like what we were cutting off wasn’t straight if you looked at the pattern, but the amount of paper was even and our new edge was straight.
Then came the pasting of the paper. I have already logged in plenty of meltdowns when hanging clay coated wallpaper, so I was armed and ready. I had a spray bottle of water, some wet rags, and a trash bag. This type of clay coated wallpaper expands dramatically, so it is a must to give it time to relax. Pamper it, one might even say. The more time you give it to chill out, but not dry out, the better experience it will be all around.
We misted the back of the wallpaper, wiped it with a wet rag, applied paste, booked the paper, misted the front of the wallpaper, wiped it again, and wrapped it in a trash bag like a little cocoon! We set a timer for 7 minutes and then took it out and went straight to the wall.
The finished installation!
Et voila! Each panel unfolded beautifully, with very few bubbles to chase out. And the pattern! Oh the pattern - it lined up so well! I wondered if we were hanging the same paper as what others had done.
With so much new technology and wallpaper patterns coming up everyday (I myself am designing new ones as well), it was a surprising joy to hang wallpaper that has been around for 75 years (!!) and with so much success.
I feel this is also a huge testament to staying with the wallpaper installation journey through so many ups and downs. It has taught me so much about living in the moment, being present and trusting. In the beginning, I absolutely lived in fear of what the wallpaper could do. It can be an out of control crazy bitch if you don’t hold the line with it! I have had to learn to be in charge of the wallpaper and the wallpapering experience. I have had to embrace the imperfections and flaws inherent in the art of the papers and the installations, which really means embracing my own imperfections.
None of this would be possible without partnering with my mentors, my man, the other women in my life to help me listen to my man, and my trusting clients.
Victory!! We did it!