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Ostriches! Cute, Cute.

First! Thank you to everyone who shared their space for a room makeover with Lowe’s! We’re diving deep into each and every story and photo submission (we’re laughing, we’re crying; you guys are amazing), and we’ll be in touch with the chosen applicant next week. We cannot wait to work with one of you! (But also wishing it could be all of you, for real.)

Remember when Scott and I tiled our bathroom for something like, oh, ten weeks? (Okay, maybe only 8 days, but who’s counting?) As much as we love to DIY – for the cost savings, the satisfaction, the pure, stubborn determination! – it’s nice to treat ourselves, too. Tiling took a lot out of us, and so, we hired someone to wallpaper our laundry room!

laundry-room-01

We worked with Connel, the same guy who helped us out in a pinch at the One Tail Adoption Center, and while we painted the bathroom, he papered. (Three cheers for tag teaming!) But are you ready for the crazy part? He finished that whole room before we could finish our paint job. What. (If you’re in the Chicago area, we would be more than happy to pass his information along! Send us a note.)

laundry-room-02

Because this room is small, we knew it could handle a higher contrast pattern. We chose this ostrich paper from Beware the Moon, a paper that we’d both been crushing on for years. Years! About an hour into papering, we couldn’t help but put down the rollers and sneak a peek at his progress – which, by the way, was near completion. I screamed, Scott came running, but I couldn’t help myself! It was so sweet and so ridiculous at the same time. It was perfect.

laundry-room-03laundry-room-05

Now that the floor has been laid and the paper is up, it’s looking like a promising little room! I’ve been keeping the pocket door half open, needing to catch glimpses of those ostriches anytime I’m passing through the bedroom. The paper is a super soft cream, and each cutie ostrich has their own cutie mound of gold-colored dirt.

laundry-room-06

There are still baseboards to put up, a windowsill to install and cabinets to plan, but at the very least, the washer and dryer are hooked up, and it’s functional. And cute! (Wait, have I mentioned how cute it is yet?) Each room is coming along, with the bathroom being thisclose and the bedroom resembling – well, a bedroom for the first time in years.

Wallpaper, we love you! Do you wallpaper? We know it can be a pain point for some, but every time we uncover old, old wallpaper in this house (hidden behind layers of drywall and crumbling plaster), it makes me strangely happy. I wonder, what did the rest of the room look like? Please tell me it was all floral and gold, too. Heart. Burst.

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  • Kim2.11.16 - 9:00 AM

    Love love love it! Can’t wait to see the final, but it’s already looking phenomenal! You’re making me wish I had a laundry room, instead of a creepy serial killer basement to wash clothes. Speaking of: since your laundry room is upstairs on hardwood floors, is it very loud? We’ve considered converting a closet into a laundry room but I always worry about how loud it would be, and also about any leaks damaging the floors.ReplyCancel

    • Kim2.11.16 - 9:14 AM

      Hi Kim! Thank you! We don’t have super top of the line machines currently, and the sound doesn’t bother us at all. I hear questions like that all the time, but it’s not something I think to mention because it really isn’t an issue! Yes, it makes noise, but it’s not obnoxious – not even a little. When we lived in our last home, it was a 650 sq ft condo, and we had stacked machines behind a closet door, and that worked great!

      As for any leaking that could happen on the floors, we’ll be taking that into consideration once we really hunker down and choose cabinets, upgraded machines, etc.ReplyCancel

  • Julia [Chris Loves Julia]2.11.16 - 9:03 AM

    It’s ridiculously cute. Like, wallpaper that cute!? It’s beyond.ReplyCancel

  • Shavonda@SGStyle2.11.16 - 9:12 AM

    Looks fantastic!!! Such a great choice. I always hire out 2 things….wallpaper and drywall:)ReplyCancel

    • Kim2.11.16 - 9:15 AM

      I think that’s a good rule of thumb!ReplyCancel

  • Jacki2.11.16 - 9:35 AM

    I’ve also got that serial killer basement laundry thing going on, so I am super jealous of the light, airy, and convenient space you have now. And I love the touch of personality that you’ve placed even in this functional room (that only blog readers will see).ReplyCancel

    • Kim2.11.16 - 9:55 AM

      Are you kidding?! We’re already planning for our friends to come over and pop champagne in this room with us once we’re done, ha!ReplyCancel

      • michelle2.11.16 - 2:31 PM

        I think it’s a regional thing. My dad has a vacation home in Arizona and could not find anyone who knows how to do smooth drywall. It’s all textured walls in that area of the country.ReplyCancel

  • Steph M.2.11.16 - 9:41 AM

    Love it! I’ve marked something somewhat similar for our future half bath. I’m thinking black wainscoting below with a graphic print above.ReplyCancel

  • Sarah S2.11.16 - 9:47 AM

    I love that y’all tackled tiling, no problem, but hired out for wallpaper!! Love that paper, I’ve been trying to convince my husband to let us use some but he is very anti paper!ReplyCancel

    • Kim2.11.16 - 9:55 AM

      So funny, but the tiling almost killed us! Our marriage survived, but we didn’t want to test it any more than we had to… haha.ReplyCancel

  • misie2.11.16 - 10:08 AM

    Love.it. There’s a weird drywall trend out here [and by out here I mean a super awesome place you guys should come visit even if they have weird taste]. They don’t do smooth drywall – they just take the mud with and slap it up and only gently smooth it out – leaving divets and chunks and random textured patterns. I assume in some decade it was trendy, but now, not so much. I dream in wallpaper sometimes – bathroom, pantry, hallways but alas, it would require re-doing all our drywall. [They also don’t put window trim up as a rule, its an extra…don’t even get Mick started…]ReplyCancel

    • Kim2.11.16 - 10:48 AM

      Oh, interesting! I thought they did textures on walls in earthquake zones, since walls can be more prone to hairline cracks. Maybe that’s why? Or who knows!ReplyCancel

      • misie2.11.16 - 9:20 PM

        hmmm…that seems logical – I didn’t think of that…smart thinking.ReplyCancel

  • Sheila2.11.16 - 10:26 AM

    I love your ostriches!
    I hired someone for wallpaper, too, and was happy I did. Mine were full wall murals from https://www.surfaceview.co.uk I absolutely adore them and they came with excellent installation instructions but they were expensive enough that I’d have been miserable if I screwed up.
    Did you have to install any extra ventilation for the laundry area? My house had the laundry in a hall closet but it was moved out to the garage by a previous owner due to heat and humidity that the existing HVAC system couldn’t deal with.ReplyCancel

    • Kim2.11.16 - 10:30 AM

      That sounds really cool!

      We did install ventilation. Our washer and dryer used to be on the opposite wall, and it vented to the side of our home, but when we swapped everything around, our contractors has to change the venting system to the back of the house. It makes more sense this way!ReplyCancel

  • allison h.2.11.16 - 1:16 PM

    Oh MM GEE! i can’t even… it’s so cute! i love the quirkiness of the wall paper! its perfect for that space! and i’m glad you guys FINALLY get to use it!! Cheers to knocking that off the to-do list!ReplyCancel

  • Hannah@Eriesistibull2.11.16 - 3:22 PM

    Love! I decided a while back that I want to add some subtle-but-quirky wallpaper under the chair rail in our living room, but haven’t found anything yet!ReplyCancel

  • Julia@Cukoo4Design2.11.16 - 3:56 PM

    It’s totally perfect! I’ve wanted it for so long tooReplyCancel

  • Liz2.11.16 - 4:32 PM

    I gotta say, the ostrich wallpaper is insanely delightful with a fun touch of whimsy.

    I am nervous about putting up wallpaper because I still have evil flashbacks from removing layers upon layers of it from rooms in my childhood home when helping my mother decorate. Does modern wallpaper adhesion processes mean that it won’t destroy the walls should you want to take it down later?

    And who knew a small room could take a bold pattern. I think that because the background is a soft cream, it probably helps keep it from overwhelming the space. Plus you have the added benefit of the ostrich metaphor- who hasn’t wanted to pretend the laundry basket wasn’t calling their name… :)

    Great job guys!ReplyCancel

    • Kim2.11.16 - 5:21 PM

      Right?! The ostrich metaphor is true, but with wallpaper this cute, laundry can’t be so bad!

      Connel used a primer first (different than drywall or paint primer) that he said makes taking down wallpaper SO much easier. So if we ever change our minds, we won’t be kicking ourselves. He said we could skip it (and save $50), but it was worth it JUST IN CASE. I guess you never know!ReplyCancel

      • Liz2.16.16 - 1:51 PM

        Thank you for sharing that awesome tip to make taking wallpaper down easier! That is a gem for the records :)ReplyCancel

  • Stacy G.2.12.16 - 6:05 AM

    It looks great! I have a love/hate relationship with wallpaper. We are currently removing it here in our house. It is time-consuming, miserable work. When the wallpaper is good, it’s good, but when it is worn out and dirty, it is awful. We have three more rooms left to do, and I cannot wait to be done with wallpaper removal.

    That said, we have a large hall that we are considering wallpapering. We haven’t been able to pull the trigger on that project though because we keep wondering if it will be a terrible mistake. There is no paper on it right now. We keep saying, “We spent all that time removing wallpaper only to put some up on a bare wall?” :DReplyCancel

    • Kim2.12.16 - 9:14 AM

      You’re right – when it’s good, it’s good. When it’s bad, it’s bad. But couldn’t the same be said for paint?! I think you should go for it in your hall! Maybe do trim or board and batten on the bottom and only paper the top for a little oomph?ReplyCancel

      • Stacy G.2.12.16 - 1:06 PM

        Maybe so! We have considered replicating our main stairwell and hall woodwork and then painting the top. The hallway has very little woodwork since that wing of the house was for “the help.” In our world, it is for two of our kids. :)ReplyCancel

        • Stacy G.2.12.16 - 1:13 PM

          Edited to add: I didn’t mean paint the top. I meant papering the top.ReplyCancel

  • emily @ go haus go2.12.16 - 8:40 AM

    Looks stunning! Makes me miss my ostrich paper so much! Love the paper with the stain on the pocket door. You guys are getting so close!!!!ReplyCancel

  • Julie2.12.16 - 9:30 AM

    Love how fun this is! Now I’m brainstorming what small space I could add some cute wallpaper to.ReplyCancel

  • Rachel2.13.16 - 1:29 PM

    This post inspires me to think about wallpapering our hallway ceiling. I’d love to do something a little playful too…any ideas?ReplyCancel

    • Kim2.13.16 - 3:22 PM

      So fun! Definitely check out Hygge & West or Cole & Sons. Wallpaper Direct sells a lot of well known names (Cole & Sons or Farrow & Ball!) that can help you avoid overseas shipping charges.ReplyCancel

  • Karine10.21.20 - 7:43 AM

    Hello, 
    I’m wondering, what would be the equivalent color of your white walls in BM colors? Beautiful, great inspiration!ReplyCancel

    • Scott10.21.20 - 9:14 AM

      We can’t speak specifically to BM colors, but you can always google search or have a color matched at most paint stores.ReplyCancel

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We’re Kim + Scott, Chicago based content creators behind the Home + Lifestyle brand Yellow Brick Home.

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