Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

Wallpapering Not Again

Wallpapering Not Again

Wallpapering Not Again

This is what I was doing before I fell off the top of a ladder:

Wallpapering the upstairs hallway.

Wallpapering is an activity that I have great pleasure in doing. Ever since my niece Juliette, showed me how. I could wallpaper every inch of our home, and yours and Mars too.

Unfortunately, I cannot complete the hallway project (& you know why), for a while to come.

The wallpaper I used, I made by laser-copying several various designs from some French antique, mauve Toile de Jouy that I had. I also laser-copied an array of nineteenth-century engravings, layering them to the Toile de Jouy.

Far from complete. And frustrating to sit and look at it without trying to complete it. Though, since my fingers cannot hold a feather, let alone move, there isn't a risk that I'll attempt to finish it anytime soon.

(Better photos to follow one day….)

Do you have a project on the back burner?

Comments

28 responses to “Wallpapering Not Again”

  1. everton terrace

    Oh my goodness. I have just come home from vacation and I see I have missed much. I am SO sorry to hear about your accident. Oh that must have hurt. I’m glad you are home, on the mend and are being cared for. I am not so great with the wallpapering but I have done it before. I hate taking it down so much that I hesitate to put it up anymore.
    Projects on the back burner???? Too many to count 🙂
    Sending healing thoughts.

    Reply
  2. Bebe

    Corey, Corey, Corey, the walls look spectacular. You are a genius! What a great look. What a great IDEA! I wish so much that I could come and help you finish, just to be in the presence of genius. Maybe some of your flare would rub off on me.

    Reply
  3. Kathie B

    “Do you have a project on the back burner?”
    Oh my goodness, Corey, there are already so many incomplete first-draft manuscripts of translations sitting on my computer hard-drive that I could spend the rest of my life and still probably not finish them all.
    But I won’t let that dissuade me from starting new translating projects…

    Reply
  4. Tracy

    Once upon a time I had major foot surgery and was in a cast up to my knee. For weeks I rolled around in a wheel chair or hopped on crutches. It drove me batty!! All I could do was sit and look at how badly the living area needed painted. I finally decided to paint what I could reach, and bribed my two sons to help me with the rest of it high on ladders, low on trim. I would tell them they missed a spot and they would roll me into the bedroom and shut the door! hee-hee
    But I definately feel your pain, so to speak!

    Reply
  5. Amy Kortuem

    The wall looks beautiful, even unfinished. What a great idea, full of texture and style.
    I started knitting a summer sweater with a beautiful pima cotton yarn in April. It’s still about 8″ long. Maybe it’ll get done to wear next summer…(good thing no ladders are involved when knitting).

    Reply
  6. Veronique Savoye

    Your own home-made Toile de Jouy wallpaper. Tres, tres, cool, Corey. Don’t worry, you will be back on that ladder in no time. While you heal, you can sit in front of the wall and “plot” where the next vintage prints will go. Veronique (French Girl in Seattle)

    Reply
  7. Ulla

    Oh sweets! I’ve been away for a while, and here I come back to find you wrapped in plaster but still smiling…
    May you heal quickly and yes, I think wallpapering your cast would be a wonderful idea! Wearable art in its purest form…
    Love,
    Ulla

    Reply
  8. Sharon Penney-Morrison

    I have many projects to finish. Some I have bought from you. I just need to have them framed and that is my goal for this year.
    I like what you are doing with your wall paper. Maybe while you are recovering you will come up with some more pattern’s you can incorporate to finish the walls.
    Looks good from this angle! happy healing..

    Reply
  9. kim

    Oh man… I’m actually afraid of wallpaper. I can’t measure very well and I’m just scared. Maybe I should think about this and overcome my fear because it certainly looks beautiful. I’m intrigued that you printed this wallpaper yourself. How cool.
    No big projects on the horizon for me yet. But thanks for the inspiration.

    Reply
  10. Tamara Komuniecki

    Oh my goodness – SO many projects on the back burner. Mostly sewing and stitching/embroidery, but then as I glance around my house I can reasonably count the ENTIRE house as one of those many projects. Reno hell surrounds me, and will for years to come as budget and time constraints are ever-present.
    My reason is usually Delish, that I have an issue to get out or then some marketing and outreach, then a conference, then a blog post. I write when Finn naps during the day and sleeps at night, so I can give him everything he needs in his awake hours. So then something else slips through the cracks. Luckily it’s not cooking or baking, as he does that with me. It’s tough to do it all, so that to-do list grows.
    This weekend I am canning! About 50lbs each of tomatoes, peaches, apples and then a bit less pears, plums and apricots. Jam, butters, sauces, you name it. I suppose that’s one giant thing on the to-do list (stock pantry for winter), that’s getting done!!
    Wishing you a speedy recovery, Corey!

    Reply
  11. Kit

    It looks stunning, Corey even unfinished. But I feel for your frustration! Isn’t there an able bodies lieutenant who could place the last pieces under your direction?

    Reply
  12. Beachy

    alas… my entire home sometimes feels like a project on the backburner! lol (your hallway is looking lovely, Corey — it will wait for you — take care!!!) xo

    Reply
  13. Kiki

    my whole life is an unfinished project! I would need about another 12 lives to do everything I have bubbling away on the backburner…. but it doesn’t matter. Nowadays I can say: Whatever I can’t finish (or do or even start) today, won’t go away – it’s like dirty laundry or bone dry ironing …. it’s still there, waiting for you to come back to it – usually not too many helpers are waiting to get into action!
    Good luck to you Corey.

    Reply
  14. Marilyn

    How clever to lazer print old prints to use. I love it. Good luck with the healing. Now you ask, projects undone! Don’t we all have those? I can’t even begin to list them here, but first I must clean my house and get rid of a few things so I have room for those projects. I am afraid to even face it.

    Reply
  15. Sara

    I cannot wait to see your “wallpapered” cast! Get well soon, Corey, you poor dear!

    Reply
  16. jend’isère

    Oh my….so much. First on rentrée list is to express my empathay for your painful mishap. Now to catch up and strive to march forward!

    Reply
  17. Victoria Ramos

    Love the wallpapering — maybe you need to employ your ‘darling daughter’ to finish the project for her poor little mom :-). Oh, if I were free and rich, I would fly on over and finish the project for you!!!!

    Reply
  18. Jackie

    A project?? How about several projects? I will help you wallpaper the room when I visit in early November…

    Reply
  19. cynthia Wolff

    my whole life is a project on the backburner.

    Reply
  20. ellen cassilly

    I like the idea of wallpapering your cast. Maybe with stamps that should take a while. I hope that you feel better soon.Love, E

    Reply
  21. Jane Ann Abraham

    I love your creativity! The wall is off to a great start. Too bad we can’t all help you. I do have several projects waiting to be completed. Some are hidden away, but they are still hanging over my head. The one I really need to finish is a photo albumthat was supposed to be finished 4 years ago. My how time flies!

    Reply
  22. joanne nixon

    hey…mine too !!

    Reply
  23. Joan Thodas

    Oh I remember standing in that hallway, discussing how the wallpaper might look. Little did we know!

    Reply
  24. Karen C

    What do you mean it’s not finished?
    Looks like another creative Corey innovation to me.
    Don’t tell anyone and no-one will know.
    BTW – you weren’t UP a ladder on a landing with no hand rail . . . . were you?!?!!?
    Ooooh, I’m getting that sick, spinning feeling that says you were.

    Reply
  25. Paula

    I always have something on the back burner, always something needing to be done in my house. Bit like the Forth Road Bridge (always being painted). I need to paint some furniture, hang curtains and curtain rail, fit a carpet,and so the list goes on. Looking at what you were doing Corey, I dread to think how and where you fell.

    Reply
  26. Maura

    OH goodness Corey…I have MANY projects on the back burner. A lot of them are waiting on hubby to fix something first and I’m sure you know how that goes. Oh well I’m in no hurry to do any of them so they’ll get done when they get done. I LOVE your wallpaper…what a creative idea! I’m looking forward to seeing more photo’s when you’re up to it. I hope you hand is starting to feel better and is healing well. Enjoy your day!
    Maura 🙂

    Reply
  27. Jennifer in SF

    Catching up on reading your blog and came across this posting. I hope that you will be on the mend soon. Cannot believe that you are still blogging through it all; what a gift you are in life! Sending love and healing vibes to you.

    Reply
  28. Brenda, Walker, LA, USA

    That is turning out so beautifully! Leave it alone, finish it after you have looked at it during you “speedy recovery”(I have prayed!)…
    There are always “Backburners” and always something on them….my life is one project after another. I schedule rests between them!
    Bien recuperer!

    Reply

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