I’m a bit vanilla.  When it comes to how I dress and how I decorate my home, plain is best.  I’m creative in my work, but I tire out when it comes to personal decisions.  Thankfully I have stylish friends.  And thankfully they help me make personal decisions.

Two of my good friends have wallpaper in their homes.  The exact same pattern, in fact!  So, the wheels started turning about a year ago.  I wanted to wallpaper a wall in my dining room, but oh the choices!  I waffled this way and that for a whole year.  I pinned different patterns.  I was sure about this one, until I saw that one.  Finally ready to pull the trigger, I ran two options by my friends.  Laura told me to go to Walnut Wallpaper by where she worked at The Grove.  She met me there and we looked through all the books until we narrowed it down to this:  Summer Palace Fret in Mineral by F Schumacher.  Heather gave the stamp of approval and we were off!

I’m so happy with how it turned out!  The mineral color nicely compliments the soft gold color on the walls.  We also got these mercury pendants from West Elm a few months ago and these chairs from Crate and Barrel were what started the whole change.  I used to have matching wood chairs to the table.  Matching.  How boring.  Laura recommended a galvanized steel chair and I love how it has a vintage feel, while still being modern.  And of course I love my DIY terrariums.

We also decided to wallpaper around the corner, so you could see a peek of it when you walk through the front door.  Danny, our contractor, installed the wallpaper and it looks perfect.  Brent agreed to wallpaper if it was professionally installed.  I would have happily tried to do it myself, but weird seams and crooked patterns weren’t what Brent had in mind.  If you’re in the SoCal area and looking to wallpaper, I will gladly give you Danny’s info.  He’s the best!

And just so you can see the difference.  Here’s a before picture.  VANILLA!