WallpaperNews

One of the highlights of the annual National Guild of Professional Paperhangers National Paperhanger’s Convention & Tradeshow is the Winning Walls With Wallcovering luncheon, when the winners of the industry’s most prestigious wallcovering installation contest are announced. (Follow latter link to view images.)

The Zinsser Company has sponsored this contest for the past eight years, to recognize outstanding work done by professional wallcovering installers, highlight the many uses of wallcovering and promote the wallcovering industry.

This year there were nearly 60 entries in three categories; residential, commercial and specialty. The entrants are judged anonymously by three designers and three installers hosted by the Paint & Decorating Retailers Association in St. Louis.

First place in the residential category went to Scott Mulhern of Scott Mulhern Custom Paperhanging, Hopewell, NJ for doing a creative and very detailed baby’s nursery, which happened to be for his own grandchild. Second place in the residential category went to Michelle Corl, Wall2Wall, Troutville, VA for the installation of hand printed and hand trimmed Mauny Wallcoverings in a 1920’s Tudor. Honorable mention in this category was awarded to Dennis Picard, C.P., Denis Picard Wallcovering in Kensington, CT who took a wrinkled and blemished silk and turned 153 pieces into a magnificent random striped sequence.

In the commercial category first place was awarded to Keith Long, Quality Interiors, Corona, CA. who took 27 foot ceilings, acrylic painted to look like metal, fiberglass made to look like curtains and lots more to made Prada’s new flagship store come alive on Rodeo Drive.

Second place went to Frank and Eunice Bokstrom, Design Wallcovering Professional Installation, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, who carefully hung, while working in tight spaces, a complicated project consisting of one pattern in three color ways resembling graph paper with a horizontal and vertical match and one random match vinyl wallcovering. Honorable mention was awarded as a shared project. Winners were Steven Kaye, C.P., Paper Craft Interiors, Algonquin, IL and Phil & Jennifer Curtis, C.P., Curtis Enterprises, Dolton, IL. This installation was completed at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and consisted of 28 panels of digital murals flawlessly installed over once highly textured walls with over 35 coats of paint.

The last category is the Specialty Category. First place in this category was shared by Glen Olsen, Jr, C.P. V&G Services, Woodbridge, IL and John Damme, C.P., Exquisite Interiors, Hickory Hills, IL, who spent nearly 170 man-hours installing a Stark Tour du Monde scenic mural. Second place in the Specialty category went to William White III, Robert J. White Company, Cincinnati, OH who constructed lightweight portable panels and then installed a Gracie mural on the custom panels so the client could take the special mural with her when she moved. Honorable mention recognition went to Phil and Jennifer Curtis, C.P., Curtis Enterprises, Dolton, IL. This project consisted of Installing 17 hand painted murals at a new hospital in the Chicago suburbs. There were many challenges working around multimillion dollar medical equipment, temperature fluctuations and shipping large murals to prevent damage.

Our thanks go to the many entrants who shared their projects and the Zinsser Company who sponsored this contest to show the public the marvelous projects and creations made from wallcovering.

The National Guild of Professional Paperhangers is the only non-profit trade organization dedicated to professionals whose main objective is to promote the wallcovering industry. Our organization is made up of the professional craftspeople that install and remove wallcovering and the industry leaders who manufacture the products and provide the services which the installers use in their trade.

For more information about wallcovering installation or the National Guild of Professional Paperhangers, contact the NGPP office at 136 South Keowee Street, Dayton, OH 45402; telephone: (800) 254-NGPP; fax: (937) 222-5794; email: ngpp@ngpp.org; or visit us on the web at www.ngpp.org.