Well, the one room challenge did not go as planned and I thought I would FINALLY share my experiences. I really wanted to be a part of the one room challenge reveal, but when it came down to it there were just some delays out of my control that made it very clear that wasn't going to happen. It also came down to me wanting to use very specific products in our home and I wasn't willing to change to meet the deadline. I'm very into healthy eating and natural products, which also extends to anything used in our interiors. It was important to me to find the healthiest options for doing our powder room. Our wallpaper installer insisted that we first put up a wallpaper primer. Let me explain the reasoning behind first putting up a primer before wallpapering. First, if you have paint already on your walls most likely it is a latex paint. When latex paint is in contact with anything wet for an extended time (your wallpaper) it can soften the paint into a rubbery film and it will lose it's integrity. The primer provides a sound smooth surface to apply the paper to. A primer will also prevent penetration through the latex into the sheetrock, meaning that if you want to ever remove the wallpaper it won't leaves big holes in your sheetrock when you remove it. Ok, so now that I have explained the primer, let's get on with the one I chose. It was very important to me to find a product that had no VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds). Products that contain these release emissions when you use them. Some VOCs are dangerous to human health and some cause harm to the environment. There is a range of toxicity and different variables of course as to the effect of these on each individual. To me, the less you have in your house the better! Alright, get to the primer already! There were only low VOC wallpaper primers available locally, so after some research I found one with zero VOCs. Here is the product I chose...
This great primer not only has zero VOCs, but also no formaldehyde. I ordered it from Amazon and it was supposed to come a good 4 days before my installer was scheduled. I had scheduled my installer at the very beginning of the challenge because she is very in demand. She was one of the only ones I found that had previously installed Farrow and Ball and had experience with papers that weren't pre-pasted. Well, long story short the primer that I ordered from Amazon got delayed and then never showed. They did give us our money back, but I had to re-schedule with our installer, and that was the end right there. I couldn't get back on her schedule for another 3 weeks, too late for the challenge deadline. I finally ordered the primer from Home Depot and it came right on time. Here is a link for the primer, if you are interested!
I talked about Farrow and Ball wallpaper in my previous posts, but thought I would mention again that they also use their same minimal VOC wall paints to print their wallpaper and use FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) approved paper. Such a beautiful and eco friendly line! I also consulted with my wallpaper installer and she uses a paste that also has no VOCs, which was great for me.
I also had some hiccups with the lighting, but since the wallpaper wasn't going in until later, I could take my time and get it right. Here is the original light I had picked out...
When it arrived in person I still loved the style. The travertine back plate was a really nice touch and I loved the shades with the black trim. Here was my main problem...the metal finish. It was way more of a warm/copper brass than the gold brushed brass I was envisioning. I decided that it was more important to get a piece that was exactly what I wanted. So I returned this one and ordered this beauty...
We already have the two tiered Ventana chandelier in our family room, so I knew that I would like the finishes. It was also on sale at the time! I told my husband it really was a win/win because I was saving us money...Ha! I'm sure he appreciated that after how much I had already spent on the wallpaper!
Well, the wallpaper finally went up, and I'm totally in love. It totally transformed the space. We did have some issues with the new light once it arrived. Apparently it had a badly wired switch and wouldn't work when wired into the wall. I will say that I will continue to order from all modern.com in the future. I emailed them and let them know the problem and they got back to me the same day. They also let me know that I could donate or discard the one I had and immediately sent out a new one. Great customer service! The light is finally up, so I guess the third one is the charm! We are waiting for the final accessories (towel bar, TP holder etc.) to arrive. The mirror also has to be hung. I'm so anxious about making any holes in my beautiful paper, but it will have to happen sometime. At least there is a functioning powder room again, just no checking yourself out. I'll leave you with a sneak peek of the wallpaper and hope to have a final reveal soon!
