While Ginger had a major influence on my passion for dressing well, her style and eye for details went well beyond clothing…when you entered our home you would swear that she had a decorator, but no, she never did…everything from curtains, furniture, carpets, and lamps were her own very particular choices…she favored traditional and English Country, loved vibrant colors/prints, and used wallpaper throughout the entire house – some rooms even on the ceilings! As for me, I love wallpaper too, the more dramatic, unique, and richer in color, the better…

One Ginger lesson on this topic is that over time you need to change your wallpaper, no different than updating your wardrobe…well, since it has been just over ten years since our home remodel, now is a good time for some updates…with the decision made to redo two bathrooms and our dining room, the hunt was on to find wallpaper and a professional wallpaper hanger…

Not so easy! Years ago there were paint and paper stores, you could conveniently browse through books, even take some home as you were making up your mind…after asking a friend who is ‘in the know’ with home upgrade services, I made the hike to a wallpaper store about 45 minutes from my home – it was: awful, awful, awful. Dumpy, in a sketchy neighborhood, and worst of all, had a very mediocre selection of brands…no way!

Where did I have luck? You guessed it – online! It can be time consuming and a strain on the eyes, but boy, there are some gorgeous papers out there!!! Today I will give you a sneak peek at one bathroom…

This is our guest bathroom before the redo…what you see here is Ralph Lauren art deco style paper…not bad, and it looks good with the tile color scheme, but time for a change, time for something more creative...how about MONKEYS?

Why not monkeys??? Hahaha! Animal prints are trendy and who says the animal has to be a leopard? While I am not an expert on wallpaper, it’s no big surprise that I am somehow drawn to papers of high quality…the pigment is rich and the weight is substantial…when the ‘monkey paper’ came in the mail I was further WOW’d by the packaging…

Super luxurious with great attention to detail…the brand is Mind the Gap, though I ordered it online from Burke Decor…the paper is produced in Germany and Finland, then printed in Transylvania – YES, Transylvania! Notice the gold foil bat logo! Very cool branding…Mind The Gap professes, “We are not just wallpaper makers, we are creators of moods, stories, and lifestyles.”

Can’t wait to see what moods and stories these monkeys elicit! 🙂

Stay tuned for the final pics, as well as before and after photos of the second bathroom and the dining room – using two additional wallpaper brands and no more wildlife! Heehee…

Stay well. Live well. Enjoy the NOW.