A Concrete Idea

The client has an older home that he is re-decorating in an industrial/commercial look. A few years ago, we papered all these walls in red mortared brick, very realistic and looking like an old warehouse. Now the idea was to make it look like a concrete tilt-up building. This upstairs bedroom wall required two 16' wall murals, side by side. The first panel goes in the middle of the wall, very carefully levelled and plumbed.

The reason he is having the walls re-papered is because he had a flood and when the restoration crew pulled the baseboards to put down new floors, they used a crow bar and ruined the brick wallpaper. Unforgiveable! With three panels up, I now begin working to the right until I reach the corner.

Now, working to the left. I join the second mural to the first. The pattern does not line up exactly, but the concrete seams in the graphic are not supposed to be perfect anyway. The panels are 3' x 3' and come un-pasted. They can stretch easily and the challenge here was to wrap the window and deal with the beam and the sloped ceiling.

Done! I was very pleased with the way it turned out. After 8 panels, a mural is likely to go squirrely, but after 16, we were right on the line to the very end. This is not a one man job and I am grateful to my son, who has taken over the painting end of our business, for his two day assistance on this project.  

Then we moved to the lower floor and began the 3 mural long wall, from living area to dining area. I started about 1/3 of the way in and hoped for the best.

Going around a window, the pattern and seams rarely meet after going under and over the opening. I got into some small trouble on the far right corner, but only I know about it. Concrete is very forgiving.

Working to my left, I had another window to go around and was afraid the same thing would happen. I took great pains to plumb and level all pieces, all while wrapping the window returns to give the wall a solid concrete look.

Thankfully, this time it worked better. I cruised to the far corner without trouble.

The overall industrial/commercial look was nicely achieved with these 5 murals and it really does look like concrete.

Two Leaves

My walk today was extra long. My heart was burdened and I thought the workout would clear my head and change my perspective.

I have been plagued with a lot of pain recently and my ability to work has been diminished. I should not find this troubling at my age, but it is. I walked 7 Km. and as I walked, I counted and recalled the homes, along the route that I took, that I had worked in over the years. There were seven, on this little route (mostly through a park) and I began to wonder if what I did, really made a difference in the grand scheme of things.

I know that at the time, my clients were very happy to have the work done and happy to have me do it. Did it make a difference? I suppose temporarily it did.

I eventually needed to sit a while and do some stretches so I could make it back to my home. I was sitting on a high curb, trying to shut out the drone of the heavy traffic while thinking about my life and what I had accomplished and what I could do with the rest of it.

My mind was a muddle as a sudden small gust of wind whipped a leaf from the tree above me, right to my feet. It was unremarkable and then another small gust turned it right side up, and I was struck by the incredible beauty of the gold tinged with brilliant red, the veins and stem, blood red yet outlined in yellow, and the perfect Maple leaf shape.  

Ah, yes. The autumn of life. And as I stared at the leaf, I realised that it had a purpose from the day it sprouted as a bud in the warm spring breezes. It worked hard photosynthesizing sunlight so the tree could be nourished, so it could thrive and grow. Without the leaf, the tree would eventually shrivel, dry up, and die. It hung on tenaciously as it was tossed by storms, pummeled by rain, clawed at by squirrels and birds, and yet it did its job to the end.

And now, it was no longer needed, its value was gone....but wait, it had one more purpose. Its creator, almighty God, in one of his strokes of creative genius, decided that a dying leaf should be brilliant and beautiful, a delight to the eye, singly or by the millions. It was a last chance to show God's glory before returning to the soil to nourish the next living plant.

But I am not brilliant like that leaf! There are those who are, who let their light and beauty shine and everyone can see it and appreciate it. It was uplifting and discouraging at the same time. I felt right then and there that I had no brilliance, nothing left. And as I mulled this thought about in my mind, what did I see but another leaf that was right in front of me the whole time. It was an Oak leaf, with no beauty, no brilliance, only a drab shade of brown, lying on the sidewalk, wet and crushed.

But did that leaf not also have the same purpose and value in its lifetime? Did it not also feed and nourish its own tree, the Oak?  Had I not persevered and worked hard to provide for my family? Had I not done some good for those around me and for mankind on a broader scale. I realised that I had and that my work was just as valuable, if finish with brilliance, or with a bit of pain and dysfunction. I was mistaken to think that only the brilliantly coloured  leaves give glory to God in their dying moments. Every shape, size and colour are a testament to a life of purpose and endurance.

The fresh air invigorated me, the brisk walk eased the pain somewhat, but it was the leaves, fluttering down from the almost bare branches, that inspired me.

The Designer's Own

We have done much work for one of the leading architectural and interior designers of our area. It is always high end and always of the best quality. This time, we did his own home. This is not the first time, but this is the latest time.  

Cole and Son's is the only wallpaper company I have personally contacted and told how much I appreciated and enjoyed their excellent product.

The flamingos went up in the laundry area. Very unique and interesting.

And then there were the bamboo shoots in the powder room. I actually quite liked this too. So different from what we usually do and the product was excellent to work with.

We were just packing up to leave when the builder discovered that there was more for us to do. The owner was on vacation and had not told anyone about the mural in his daughter's room and it was discovered quite by accident.

It too was a wonderful product and took very little time even though we were told very late in the day that it was to be done. I love doing this kind of work!

Ugly

I do not ever display a bad job on this blog because we never, or at least very rarely, ever have one. But here is an example. We have had two of these this summer and in both cases I have pointed out the problems to the customer and given them the option of leaving the paper up or taking it down right then and there. With 40 years of experience, I know every trick in the book for getting the seams to lie down on wallpaper. There are rare cases where nothing works. This is one of them. The customer assured me he was OK with it. The customer is always right so I did not argue but had it been mine, I would have demanded my money back for a bad product and chosen something else. I asked him very nicely to never tell anyone who hung the paper. It reflects badly on me even though I could do nothing about it. The critical observer does not know that and would tend to only judge the workmanship which looks very bad on this paper. I am thrilled that new technology in the wallpaper industry is making this scenario a thing of the past. There are still a few hold-outs in the industry who insist on making these inferior products. When I do consultations, I always steer my customers to those brands and manufacturers who 'getting with the program'.

Exclusive Riverfront

We managed to get a really nice job out at Harrison Mills. It was a very long commute but the work was very enjoyable and rewarding and the people we wonderful to work for and get to know. Here we did no paper hanging, only painting. The colour scheme was predominantly grey with a few feature walls.

The weather was very warm but there was air-conditioning in the house and the property was on the banks of the Harrison River. This was an exclusive gated community, far from anything remotely resembling city life, and a delight to experience. These folks have three other personal residences so there may more work coming.

Bling

The South Asian (East Indian) community is known for building some of the largest houses in our city. If you have ever driven past one of them and wondered what it was like inside, here is a glimpse. We work in them quite often and they are mostly characterized by bling, the latest and greatest of ideas and materials, and having something just a bit better than what their neighbour has.

The powder room must have a chandelier, and the sink must be above counter and unusual. Of course, wallpaper will make it just that much more special.

The living room and family rooms are showcases of fancy features.

And more wallpaper.

Columns, candelabras, and chandeliers in the master bedrooms are a must. Most have more than one master suite. The recessed blue lighting behind the crown moulding is something that is becoming more popular. These LED strips are also put in the bathrooms under the counter tops and running under the vanities as night lights.

The kids rooms are getting some attention now too.

These folks are good to work for, not demanding, easy to please, and they mostly pay on time. When the word gets out that you do a good job for a fair price and are dependable, they pass your name around and soon the phone rings day and night. But if one thing goes wrong, it takes a long time to start over again with them.

Repeat

One week after I did a small job in a dining room for this customer, she called back and said she had some paper for her master bedroom.

This kind of repetition happens quite frequently. The homeowner discovers the impact of a small amount of wallpaper, and the relative economy of having it installed, and they choose to have more of it. I thoroughly enjoy watching the excitement it brings to the customer's face as a room is transformed. On the other hand, I showed this photo to someone and they said it looked like 'chicken wire'. Well, you can't please all the people all the time.

Room With a View

The Abby in Mission owns a lot of land, most of it used for some sort of agriculture or other. A new subdivision has been built on the edge of one their hayfields and the house we were working in today has this view. There are no neighbours in sight as long as you look straight east. When we arrived, there were two deer wandering through the small back yard.

It is a serene and beautiful view that will probably not change for many years to come.

Back on the other side of the Fraser River, there is this view that is nothing short of spectacular, looking east all the way to the Cheam range east of Chilliwack.

I would love to wake to this view every morning. The lighting is dramatic as the weather rolls back and forth across Matsqui prairie. I certainly enjoyed working here and had a difficult time keeping my eyes on my work.