About 10 years ago, I was working as a designer/art director for a small company that published interior design trade magazines. One of our magazines was dedicated to wall finishes, including wallpaper. It was a dying industry in which only high-end products in both commercial and residential applications were making any profit. Paint and faux finishes had replaced the art of applying materials to walls.
Today both the supply and demand for wall decor seem to have skyrocketed. Wall finishes are being used to create accent walls rather than to cover entire rooms.
Popular wall applications range from the dynamic composite wall panels by companies such as Modulararts to the more traditional but equally cool graphic-patterned wallpapers found at the Nama Rococo Wallpaper Studio.
After spending more than a year researching wall applications for our first-floor bathroom, Stacy suggested creating our own application using material left from other projects. We decided to construct a relatively easy-to-make linear sliding plane pattern that mimics the design of our house.
We cut scrap pieces of medium-density fiberboard in linear strips of varying lengths. To add dimension, we staggered the pieces and used the wall to create a third plane. After the wall was covered, we filled the cracks and nail holes with paintable caulk and painted the wall bright white.
The project was inexpensive but gives our first-floor bathroom a sophisticated, midcentury modern-meets-contemporary feel. Our only expense was about $6 for paint brushes that could reach the little spaces between fiberboard pieces.
To learn more about Jason Hammond's new house and to see photos and previous blog posts, go to www.startribune.com/newhouse. Or e-mail him at hammond@mojosolo.com.
