Not every project starts with a demolition, and sometimes we must find creative ways to make an existing space feel new. In this New York City townhouse project, we were tasked with just that. While some of the house was fully renovated, other rooms simply required a freshen-up.
Our clients host dinner parties often, but their dining room décor wasn’t quite matching the warm and welcoming elegance of its hosts. Tasked with maintaining much of the dining room’s existing furniture and lighting, we aimed to transform the space by enveloping it in a beautiful wallpaper. And where do we turn when we need a wallpaper that will make a graceful statement? Gracie, of course.
Gracie Studio is over a century old and is known for hand painted scenic wallpapers. One design more beautiful than the next, it’s easy to get swept up in their collection. For this room, we were drawn to their Winter Garden design, specifically.
Rather than paper the walls in their entirety, we decided to treat the wallpaper for what it truly is: a work of art. By adding a gilded applied molding to the existing walls, we created permanent art frames that would outline the hand painted scenery within each panel. We installed a pair of narrow panels flanking the existing fireplace and one larger panel on its opposite wall.
From there, the talented team at Gracie Studio tailored their artwork to fit our proposed panel sizes. They even worked with us to locate each bird in a specific location, to ensure no Tweety was interrupted by our planned lighting placement.
In addition to the new wallpaper art, we also papered the surrounding walls in a textured and shimmering wallcovering from Elitis.
We relocated the existing sconces to seem more purposefully placed within the framed art and added an antique hand-carved French mirror (sourced from 1stdibs) above the fireplace. We reupholstered the existing dining chairs with a metallic faux leather from The Romo Group and created new custom Roman shades for the room’s large window. All of which played an important yet supporting role to the star of the show: the Gracie wallpaper panels.
Millwork and Vinyl Wallpaper Labor by Hanjo
Gracie Wallpaper Installation by Jim Francis with John Nalewaja, Inc.
Millwork Gilding by Toby Nuttall
Upholstery and Window Treatments by Milo Workroom