I love the challenge of working with so many different and unusual types of wallcoverings and architectural spaces. What is so amazing about my profession is that it takes me to such diverse locations. One day I can be restoring the wallcoverings in a grand historic home in San Francisco, the next I can be installing wallcoverings on a motion picture studio set in Los Angeles.

It is so fulfilling for me to be able to repair antique and historic wallpaper, or hand-paint the colors back into an aged mural. Over the years, I have researched and learned special techniques in which I can make these repairs quite successful with little to no visible trace. One client called me after the 1994 earthquake here in Los Angeles and said that an area of wall above an arch in her turn of the century home had slightly buckled under her beautiful wallpaper. Without opening up the wallpaper and underliner paper, I used a few tools on the surface, careful not to damage or bruise the wallpaper. I was able to flatten the crack back down to it's original position. For further information on my restoration work, please go to Historic Restorations

I always enjoy working with these wallpapers. It's a bit like going back in time. The time-honored process of screen-printing by hand gives historic reproduction wallpapers their unique and beautiful look. I enjoy researching the time periods in which these wallpapers appear. In almost all cases, these papers, borders, and frieze's come untrimmed with selvage edges. I install these wallpapers by overlapping the selvage edges on the wall, making sure the pattern is matched perfectly, then double cutting through the two layers. This gives me the flawless invisible seam I want in order to achieve a hand-painted look. One very important wallpaper company to call attention to in this field is Bradbury & Bradbury Art Wallpapers, located in Benicia, California. Their attention to detail and quality is unsurpassed.

Fabrics are some of the most beautiful and delicate of wallcoverings. They have adorned the walls of European palaces and villas for hundreds of years. They are as delicate to the eye as they are to the touch. The installation of these wallcoverings requires the utmost skill and attention. For proper installation, fabrics should be laminated with a paper backing. This will eliminate the fabric from losing its body and strecthing out, as well as prevent the adhesive from bleeding through and staining the material. If the fabric has a selvage edge, my procedure for installation is the same as it is for hand-made screen prints, but more labor intensive since there is no margin for error in the handling of fabric. Adhesives and an unfocused touch of the hand can stain them easily. This being said, the end result is truly a regal and old world look.

The visual effects of a landscape mural can be indefinable. Also of historic significance, murals can be commissioned by an artist on canvas as well as printed on fine paper. The larger the mural, the more panels to be joined together. If the mural is hand painted by an artist, care must be taken as to not disrupt the pigments painted on the surface of the canvas or backing material. Proper adhesive is not only important for tack and application, but can also make it easier to remove the mural at a later date without harm.

Sometimes I can change or add to the patterns of wallpapers. I especially like to use the technique of applique. I can also hand-paint effects into the wallpaper. These techniques can also camouflage conflicts between wallpaper patterns and architectural spaces.

Installing wallcoverings on film sets can be some of the hardest work an installer will experience. Yet it can also be the most fun. You have all the different tradesmen and women working together in sequence to create the final masterpiece... the set. Whether it's the interior of a space ship, or the inside of an exquisite Venetian Palazzo. It's all a bit of fantasyland.

Working with talented designers is always a delight. With my expertise in the field of wallcoverings, I can offer visual images of the feeling a particular paper may elicit, and whether or not the material will warm up the room or add life to it's surroundings. As with interior designers, an architect can also appreciate the importance of texture and light. Wallcoverings can transform a room that paint may have difficulty doing.