Glazed Lincrusta in Master Bedroom

Glazed Lincrusta in Dining Room

Lincrusta Dado Glazed with Metallic Paints in Kitchen

Glazed Lincrusta Dado in Upper Hall

Lincrusta is a heavily embossed wallcovering, which was launched in England in 1877. It was invented by Frederick Walton, also the inventor of Linoleum. Since that time, Lincrusta has found its way into some of the finer homes all over the world. Today, it is often used in historical restoration projects, or to add a “period” charm to vintage homes. It is intended to be painted and can be glazed to further highlight Lincrusta’s beautiful designs.

Our house painting company was recently hired to install and decorate four different Lincrusta wallcoverings, as part of a much larger staining, painting and decorating project in Chicago. The owners were converting a one-hundred-year-old two-flat to a single family home. They had also built a substantial addition to the rear of the house and made sure all the materials used and the work done in their house was respectful of the “period” of their house. After noticing those concerns, when they were still at the stage of deciding on whom to hire for their house painting project, I thought of asking them if I could send them a link that I thought might be of interest to them – it was a link to the Lincrusta! After checking out the link, they fell in love with the Lincrusta designs. We not only got their entire painting and decorating project, but we were also commissioned to install and decorate four Lincrusta wallcoverings.

This two-flat was originally designed for the owner to occupy the second level of the house – it was therefore more upscale. After deciding to hire us and selecting those Lincrusta papers, they had me take a look at the front staircase leading to the second level of the house, which I had not been shown to me until then. There it was: a Lincrusta imitation from the late 1910’s below the chair rail! No wonder the clients bonded with the idea of having Lincrusta wallcoverings in other parts of their house!

Listening deeply for the needs and concerns of our clients and coming up with decorating ideas that meet those needs is what we are about as a house painting company.

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Burrows’ Honeybee Pattern in Powder Room – Detail 1

Burrows’ Honeybee Pattern in Powder Room – Detail 2

As painting and decorating contractors in the Chicago area, we recently did extensive plaster restoration in preparation for the redecorating of this century-old house in one of Chicago’s rejuvenating old neighborhoods. For the project, we used several historical colors and historical wall coverings. The client referred to her wallpaper selections as the “Jewels” of the house.

The wallpapers she chose for the house were all from the J.R. Burrows collection of American Arts and Crafts designs and patterns from the 1880s – 1920s. All the wallpapers are untrimmed and made to order. Before installing the wall coverings, we first hung liner paper to ensure a proper bond to old plaster walls.

During the past week, we installed he first wallpaper in the powder room adjacent to the kitchen, using the Honeybee pattern. We also cut out the edge pattern of the frieze version of this Honeybee pattern and used it to frame the arched opening for the pedestal sink and mirror.

We are looking forward to installing three more Burrows wall coverings in the next few weeks, as the papers are delivered to us. They will include: the Coleman Bower style in the Dining Room, the Pervis wallpaper and its companion frieze in the Vestibule and The Stag border in the Upper bath. You can expect to see more pictures soon. We enjoy helping clients give a “period” look to their vintage houses.

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Kitchen Lincrusta Installation

Kitchen Lincrusta Installation – Detail View #1

Kitchen Lincrusta Installation – Detail View #2

Kitchen Lincrusta Installation – Detail View #3

Since Lincrusta was invented in England, in 1877, it has been used to adorn the walls of the affluent homes of the day – it is still true today when an owner thinks of restoring their “period” house. Lincrusta is an embossed wall covering which is akin to Linoleum, where its name was derived. It is available as dados, friezes and wall coverings. We recently made a Lincrusta installation in a century-old Victorian house in a suburb of Chicago.

Because Lincrusta is rigid and becomes brittle when softened by warm water and glue, its installation presents several challenges. To successfully deal with those challenges, we create templates and use them to cut the paper to mirror the molding profiles. We also take extreme care in handling the paper once wet, as it becomes very brittle. Because of the textured nature of the paper, the cutting process causes small irregularities, which we caulk to ensure tight-looking seams.

Lincrusta is intended to be painted. Before doing so, we wipe off the oil residue from the paper fabrication process using an emulsifier. We then prime the paper and apply a coat of waterborne enamel. To further add to the richness of its finish, Lincrusta can additionally be glazed and vanished.

In the case of our most recent Lincrusta installation, we decided to complete the finishing process with a coat of China White semi-gloss paint, without glazing. The pictures show how nicely the wallpaper complements the open-shelving look of the kitchen. Our client is now ready for the final touch to her kitchen: installing the upper part of her hood!

Helping homeowners restore the luster of their “period” homes is part of what we love to do as painting and decorating contractors in the Chicago area.

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1927 Period Wallpaper Book

I recently purchased a wonderful 1927 book of wallpaper samples, borders and chair rail designs – in all over two hundred samples. The manufacturer was R. Fedderman & Sons, Inc. of Boston. Included in this post are a few samples of these period wallpapers. The first sample layered two different wallpapers. The first one showed scenes and the second one created framing for the scenes, making the room appear as if it were covered with artwork. How did the tradition of using wallpaper begin?

Starting in the Middle Ages, the nobility began to hang large tapestries to give more visual warmth and interest to their otherwise stern looking stone walls. However, the cost of tapestries was out of the reach of all but a few privileged people. Wars and other political issues also often interrupted the trade of such items. Not surprisingly, the first wallpapers that were made depicted scenes reminiscent of to those on the tapestries.

England and France were the early leaders in the manufacturing of wallpaper. In those days, wallpapers were hand printed using hand-carved blocks of paper, which was an ancient printing method. Today, Zuber at Cie. of France is the only known wallpaper manufacturer still producing wood-blocked wallpaper.

The Industrial Revolution transformed the wallpaper-making process. At the end of the eighteen century, a machine was inverted that made continuous lengths of wallpaper. Early in the nineteenth century, the first steam-powered printing presses were invented in England and made possible the mass production of inexpensive wallpapers, thereby making it available to the middle class. Those technologies were quickly brought over to the United States as well. By the time the twentieth century came along, wallpaper had become one of the most popular household-decorating items. It remained so for most of the century. In the late 1980’s, the emergence of Faux Finishing and the development of a myriad of new decorative finishing products and methods sent the wallpaper market into a major downspin, from which it has not recovered yet.

Period Wallpaper Circa 1927 - 1

Period Wallpaper Circa 1927 - 2

Period Wallpaper Circa 1927 - 3

Period Wallpaper Circa 1927 - 4

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The Lincrusta wallcovering is a British invention of Frederick Walton, also the inventor for the Linoleum floor coverings. It was launched in 1877 and was originally fabricated in Sunbary-on-Thames. Today, this wallpaper is produced in Morecambe, in Lancashire, England, using traditional methods and many of the original rollers.

Lincrusta wallpapers met with immediate success and are still used today in the decoration of interior spaces all over the world. Lincrusta is a deeply embossed wallcovering and its reliefs are designed to imitate embossed leather or metal, as well as carved wood and plaster. Part of the reason for its popularity is that it made possible to have the look of very expensive decoration at a reasonable cost. Because of it rigidity and weight, Lincrusta came in sheets and was installed below chair rails and sometimes on ceilings. It was also designed as borders, friezes and dados.

Sample of Lincrusta Wallcovering from 1920's

The popularity of Lincrusta spread far and wide. It was used in homes, public and government buildings, railroad cars, even steamships like 6 luxury cabins on the Titanic and famous buildings like the White House and the John D. Rockefeller’s house in New York City. The Victorian era absolutely fell in love with Lincrusta.

It could be painted and decorated with glazes, even gold leaf. The ingredients for Lincrusta were linseed oil, resins and wood flour. As it aged, Lincrusta would harden, which gave it exceptional durability. This is why well-preserved examples of Lincrusta can be found all over the world today, like this sample from the 1920’s taken from a Chicago building on Clark street before it was demolished in the 1990’s.

Lincrusta is one of the many specialty wallcoverings that the craftsmen from Painting in Partnership from the Chicago install and decorate for its clients.

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