Happy Summer! If there's one flower that symbolizes summer, it's Hydrangeas. We were thrilled when a very special client asked us earlier this year to design a custom wallpaper for her powder room -- one that was inspired by the beautiful hydrangeas blooming in her Maryland garden.
Hydrangea blooms in our client's Maryland garden, in full bloom on install day.
The goal? To have it designed, printed and installed in time for Hydrangea season! And so we did. Here's a bit about the artistic process, as well as pictures of the refreshed space. We are thrilled to also now offer a new Hydrangea wallpaper design in our collection, inspired by this project and our client's floral fave.
Here's how it began: first, we studied hydrangeas; everything from their blooms, to the shapes of their petals and leaves. We took pictures, printed out photos, and began sketching and painting.
Custom wallpaper design in progress: early Hydrangea sketches and paintings.
Next, we started experimenting with how the bouquets might look on fabric -- and different background colors. We played around with both cool and warm greys, and different concentrations of green in the leaves:
Early strike offs of the first few Hydrangea designs
After the first few rounds of designs, we realized the blooms needed to be more concentrated. We went back to the studio and painted a few more. That's when we hit on this bouquet that served as the basis for the new design:
The next decision was scale -- how large, or how small, should each bunch of hydrangea flowers be? Was this going to be a small pattern, or large-scale repeat design? We asked the client, our friends and followers on Instagram, and the answer was clear: as one said, "Go big, or go home!". So we did.
Getting it right: The first few test wallpaper rolls and variations in scale.
The last step? Finding just the right, light grey for the ground color:
(Above) A few more test prints to find just the right background grey color.
Fast forward, and here are a few pics of the install day and finished product. Each floral bouquet is about 12" around (12" Horizontal x 11.24" Vertical, to be exact). While it's hard to see in the photo, the ground color is just the slightest touch of grey. (p.s. Did you know? If you are looking for a design to match a specific paint color, send us a paint chip or let us know the Benjamin Moore paint color name and # and we can match to it).
(Above) Wallpaper install day: progress shot!
Another view of the room. Note: The wallpaper was installed by a professional ... check out the detail around that outlet! Perfection.
(Above) Newly refreshed powder room on wallpaper install day ... complete with fresh Hydrangeas from our client's garden.
The best part of the whole project? When the client says, "I Love it!" Time to celebrate. Cheers!
Photo above courtesy of Sonya Flanagan at instagram.com/sonya.flanagan.vintage ... she is one to follow! Love her fab vintage finds and great eye for color and decor.
p.s. If you have a design you'd love to see custom painted for your home, call or email us! We offer custom textile and wallpaper design services, and also custom color many of our set designs. If you can't find that perfect fabric or wallpaper, and wish someone could just paint it for you, we can help.