Au contraire: What a journey of discovery — what a joy — to discover new rabbit holes of beauty, like, every single day.

Yesterday, the rabbit hole was discovered when I posted Suzanne’s satanic vintage wallpaper. Crikey.

Within 40 minutes of my posting, reader Josh had discovered that the wallpaper was “Devil Paper” still in production from Waterhouse Wallhangings.

Within an hour or so, I was on the phone with the company’s director of product development, Daniel Recoder, and gathering the whole larger story.

And my, is there ever a story. In fact, there are several stories… but let’s start with Inez Croom. I went through 15 pages of Google search and found almost nothing about this amazing-sounding woman. Here’s a story about a talk she gave about wallpaper in Tuscaloosa in 1965. Here she is in a photo in Life magazine, sitting with a who’s who of famous midcentury designers; I need to read the story. There is an Inez Croom scholarship at the New York School of Interior Design. Here is her obituary in the New York Times (subscription required); she died in 1980 at age 87. I have some additional, cryptic links to check out; maybe I can find more. Daniel says that Inez Croom’s designs were acquired by Waterhouse a while back.

But, Daniel was able to tell me that she was a very prominent interior designer in New York City in the 1960s. In addition, she designed (?) wallpapers — maybe she commissioned the designs, I have to check this — and ran a wallpaper manufacturing business.

It’s taking me a long time to get to the “lead” of this story, but you got it in the headline: Daniel’s company, Waterhouse Wallhangings, still reproduces these wallpapers today. All of the papers I am showing in this story — and all those on the WW website — have been in continuous production for years.

Now, I am a highly visual person…. and I love to get the real-deal, original designs from the real-deal, original designers… and I love wallpaper… and I love 1960s wallpaper… so my EYEBALLS are popping out of my head at this one.

Now, don’t get mad at me, readers. This stuff is not cheap; I never said this website was only about cheap and cheerful products; I also will feature expensive products, too. This paper is expensive because it is hand-printed on the kind of paper that you have to trim the edges and use special wallpaper paste. It is a specialized business, and folks gotta make a living.

The wallpaper is available only “to the trade” — meaning you must get it from a decorator or shop that has or can set up an account with Waterhouse Wallhangings. This means the price will depend on what your decorator charges you. Here is the list of showroom locations; but again, you could get it from anywhere via a professional.

This paper is so expensive, you are going to want to have a professional install it, as well. No cutting corners. It’s couture wallpaper. Note: Devil Paper is not part of the Inez Croom collection. It is part of another collection also by Waterhouse Wallhangings — it was copied from and 1860s house in New England.

Back to Inez Croom: There are even designs printed onto mylar… and designs using metallic ink.

Daniel of Waterhouse Wallhangings also says that they can work with designer / decorator / clients to customize the colors used in the wallpaper.

Barbara Streisand… Diane Keaton… You are both interior design lovers. Do you want me to help work with you to get some of these gorgeous document wallpapers into one of your houses. I will! I will! We will be BFFs forever, I bet!

I count 47 different designs of Inez Croom wallpaper, available in 92 different colorways on the Inez Croom / Waterhouse Wallhangings website. Daniel says he has more document wallpaper available for reproduction, too — stacks that are seven feet high. Yikes. LUV to infinity and beyond.

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Suzanne writes:

My husband & I bought a wonderful 1973 Deck House. Lots of 70′s goodness - spiral staircase, scroll iron railings, Malm fireplace… we love it. The entire house was originally painted kind of an adobe color except for the downstairs bathroom.

We have the strangest wallpaper that I would love someone to shed some light on. It’s black silhouettes on a cream background & it’s kind of a toile/folk/asian/demonic combo. Beheading, devils, chicken men… Yikes! Creepy or not, when we redo the bathroom, I’m keeping it!

Thank you so much for taking a look at these. I would love to know if anyone has seen this before or knows the history.

I also added some random shots of the interior of the house.

I’d love for you to look at it. Thank you & thank you for this website, I LOVE it!!!!!

Thank you, Suzanne.

Update: Reader Josh identified this wallpaper within one hour of posting, he said:

It’s ‘Devil Paper’ from Waterhouse Wallcoverings.

Seems like this is a reproduction of a very old design — pre-1890. I’ve emailed for more information, including price. Thank you, Josh, BIG GOLD STAR!

Thank YOU, Suzanne. Great house, lucky you.

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For her bathroom remodeling project, Trixi cut her own stencils to mimic the atomic pattern on her vintage bathroom light. She explains:

The template for the stencil was made out of solid plastic stencil sheets from Michaels Crafts. We just mimicked the pattern from our atomic bar light that’s in the bath, and used a finer tip artist knife to cut it out. I used gold acrylic fabric paint, which was very easy to clean-up if I had to step away for any length of time. If it dried onto the stencil tools, I just peeled it right off and kept going. It took the better part of a day to do the stenciling – but even that was fun!

In 2010, I also featured Karen’s $708 pink bathroom renovation — and she, too, created an affordable wall treatment with home-made stencils. Her starbursts are more diamond shaped and, I’d say, add height to the bathroom. Karen explained:

To make the starbursts all you have to have is an exacto knife, a stencil sheet, and a preferably metal ruler. Make a cross the size you want the height and width of the finished star. The vertical line should be somewhat longer (about 1?-2?) than the horizontal line. Then take your ruler touching the top point, move it out about a 1/2 inch or so (I just eyeballed it as to how thick to make the stars) on the intersecting line. Do the same on all the points using the same mearsurement. Then make an X between the cross. Make these lines the same length all the way around. Then repeat this step except move your ruler out a little less: Take your ruler touching the top point, move it out about a 1/4 inch or so. Do the same on all the points. The vertical/horizontal cross should be the same thickness and the X should be the same thickness. Then just use the exacto to cut the lines. That’s about it. It’s really super easy. If you are unsure just practice on a plain piece of paper until you get it right. This design is so simple because it is all straight lines, no curves, which are more difficult. I hope this is easy to visualize. -Karen

She adds:

I just did 3 on a page and rotated the page upside down on every other one I would do.

In the comments on that story, my friend Denise — who also is an active commenter — and moreover, is a decorative painter, provided tips for doing your own stencilling:;

Getting a crisp edge definitely is about not over loading your tool and not working with a heavy hand. The point is to not drag your tool from the open space over the edge, if the edge is lifted even the slightest bit it will catch the paint, lay back down, and create a rough edge. Practice on a painted board to get the feel of the right amount of paint on your tool and how light or heavy handed you should go.

These are tools often used for painting a stencil:

First you want to spray the back of your stencil with stencil adhesive, I use a spray glue but be careful if you do as it can be too sticky and leave a glue residue.

Stencil brush — dab into a little paint or glaze, swirl a lot of it off onto toweling, apply by swirling onto stencil with a medium hand, working from the stencil edge into the cut space.

Cosmetic sponge — dab into paint, dab off on toweling, dab onto cut out area working your way to the edges.

Roller Sponge — roll into paint, roll off on toweling, roll without much pressure over cut space of stencil, rolling in different directions. Do not press hard, it will squeeze out of roller and go under stencil.

I also like to use a worn out smallish brush especially if you have a tight or narrow stencil. Apply some paint, swirl off onto toweling a bit and then brush from the stencil edge into the cut open space, this gives a little bit of a cross hatch when looked at up close rather than a mottled look that the swirling in the stencil cut will give you.

You can also stipple into the cut out space with a flat bottom stencil brush but this is more time consuming.

Hope this helps!!

Karen said that she bought the stencil paper and paint at Hobby Lobby.

Finally: Reader Nancy even made a pattern of Karen’s stencil, which she has shared out into our retro universe. She says:

Hi – I made a starburst template, following Karen’s great instructions! Feel free to use it. One image is a higher resolution that the other. Go to my photobucket and scroll down:
http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f13/starletstyle3/

Happy stencilling!

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