Grasscloth Wallpaper: Add some texture to your Room

I recently spoke to 25 women at the Chattahoochee Plantation Women's Association and was answering design questions from the audience when someone asked what to do for her dining room that needed some texture and color if I didnt recomend window treatments for her.
She has plantation shutters, a wood table, chairs, and no room for art. Lots of wood can be boring in a room, so I always recommend  using some form of texture. Which can be found in fabrics, rugs, accessories, lighting, and wallpaper.
I told her to use grasscloth wallpaper and watched everyone nod in agreement.

I love using grasscloth wallpaper in my design projects and the most common materials are arrowroot, raw jute, sisal, cork, hemp burlap, and reed, and java/triangle grass.
If you plan on hanging grasscloth you need to remember these 5 things:

1. You cannot match wallpaper. It's a natural material and each roll may have a slight variation, but that is why I love it!
2. It's packaged differently. Some companies, like Phillip Jeffries sell it by the yard, not the standard double roll. It's wider and longer. You need to know how your selected wallpaper company sells their grasscloth.
   
3. This isn't a prepasted wallpaper and you will need a specialty glue to hang it. And don't forget to prepare your walls with sizing!!!
   
4. You should hire an experienced wallpaper hanger because mistakes are costly. It expands when it gets wet and if not installed properly, you may see air bubbles.  If you get glue on the front of it, you can't remove it without leaving  a mark.
5. If you don't have good ventilation or  you steam up your bathroom when taking a shower, don't use grasscloth. Also if you have little boys with poor aim or sloppy cleaning habits, I don't recommend grasscloth in their bathroom where it may get wet or stained. Just sayin'.

Phillip Jeffries

One of my favorite wallpaper companies is Phillip Jeffries known as a leader in handcrafted wallpapers. An example can be seen below in a room designed by my friend, Cathy Rhodes, for the 2015 Atlanta Symphony Decorator's Showhouse. The wallpaper she used was Arches - Chocolate Brown on Ivory Manila Hemp.

Photo by Mary Powell

I recently did 2 bathrooms using grasscloth wallpaper and what a difference adding grasscloth to the rooms. The wallpaper below is from Seabrook.

Photo by Christina Wedge

I want to share with you my current design project where I did a Botox Renovation on small powder room. I updated the bathroom with new tile, toilet, vanity, new beadboard wainscoting. And of course, navy grasscloth from Thibaut!!
​See the difference of a minor makeover in the before and after shots below.

​Are you thinking about adding grasscloth to a room?
​If you want to make an impression or add texture to your room, think about using grasscloth wallpaper.
As my York wallpaper rep, Millard said to me last week at my office, "Paint is one note, wallpaper is a melody!"

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