Come See The Gracie Panels For Real – Parts 1 & 2

Hi Everyone,

This is part 1 and 2 of the Gracie Panel installation that did actually happen last week.

I’m sorry I couldn’t do another post on Thursday night. I don’t know how, but I hurt my back, and it is quite angry with me. It may have begun after I was moving furniture on Tuesday. But by Thursday evening (after moving furniture back), I was in bad shape.

I’ve been alternating between ice and heat, and I had a massage yesterday with CBD ointment. Additionally, I’m taking some Tylenol, which has been helpful.

 

Ironically, I’ve been getting more sleep. Maybe that’s why! I don’t know.

 

If you missed part 1, please begin from the top. Or, if you’re in a hurry or have read part 1 already, please click the link below to skip to part 2.

 

Part 2 Begins Here

 

(part 1 below)

Hi Everyone,

Okay, some of you will hate me, or at least be a bit miffed.

And you have every right to be.

 

It’s because the living room Gracie panels haven’t been installed yet.

 

They were supposed to be installed– TODAY, the 28th of May, which is why I planned for the post to come out tonight. However, last night at 8:51 PM, I received a text from the installer apologizing that she had forgotten about a doctor’s appointment scheduled for today, and she wanted to ensure there was enough time for the Gracie panels to be installed.

After all, there is zero margin for error when installing hand-painted Gracie wallpaper panels.

However, she is coming tomorrow (Thursday, May 29th) to install the panels.

 

Truthfully, it’s for the best it worked out this way.

 

Even though I was asleep by 2:00 AM, I still slept until 10:15 this morning . I know.

And, please, no judging.

I am trying very hard to change this hideous habit, and I realize I’ve been playing this record for the last several years.

However, the reality is that most nights, my lights are not out until at LEAST 4:00 AM.

 

Yes, yes, yes, I know. Believe me, I am fully aware how absolutely pathological that sounds.

 

And especially, since that’s closer to when the majority of folks wake up. I joke around that in caveman times, I’d be the one guarding the cave from a wild boar attack during wee hours.

Okay, please spare me the:

 

“Well, Laurel, just go to bed earlier.”

 

Guys, there is no “just.” And, please show me someone who doesn’t have something about themselves they have struggled to change, but find it very difficult.

 

As a possible solution, I’ve considered hiring a hitman to show up at 1:00 AM with a loaded pistol.

 

“Get  your sorry ass in bed, Laurel, or else I’ll blow your brains out.”

 

That might work.

I’m not sure. ;]

However, there are people who do work night shifts, and their bedtime might be 8:00 AM.  That’s rough. Imagine telling people, “I can’t schedule anything before 3:00 PM.”

 

Still, in my case, my dysfunctional schedule means that I can’t:

 

Go on 8:30 AM walks with a group of my friends
Go to monthly coffees at 9:00 AM
Can’t take a ballet class at 10:00 AM.

 

However, ballet is off-limits right now, because I totally effed up my already chronically bad ankle.

 

Never mind how, because it was an idiotic move on my part, but it could’ve been muuuuuch worse. Suffice it to say, while nothing is broken, the ankle is a bit wobbly with a chronically angry peroneal tendon and a newly pissed-off anterior talofibular ligament. (ATL)

Scheduled before the ligament mishap was an appointment with a horribly hunched-over (hmmmm) bone doc yesterday. He gave me this hideously ugly and uncomfortable plastic splint thing to wear. And then I walked home from Brookline!

 

Indeed, I was pooped.

 

Anyway, I’ve had the lights out before 2:00 AM three nights in a row. However, except for Tuesday, I’m still waking up late. In fact, on Sunday, I slept for over ten hours. I guess I needed it. I am aiming to have the lights out by 1:00 AM. Then, I can be up early enough to enjoy morning activities.

Please, dear God.

 

So, Laurel, did you provide the click bait, just to tell me about your effed up sleeping schedule and ankle you hurt doing something you had no business doing?

 

Yes. That is correct.

Now, before half of you reach for the unsubscribe link, please know that I’m only half serious.

 

While the panels are not yet up, the job *has* commenced.

 

So, let’s take a look at what’s been done so far and who I finally found to do the work for me.

First of all, I recently mentioned to you the struggle I had in finding someone qualified to hang the Gracie Panels.

 

However, if you’re just tuning in and have no idea what Gracie panels are.

 

 

They are the magnificent, hand-painted Chinoiserie panels from a family brand, Gracie, that has been around for well over one hundred years.

I knew two weeks ago that Melanie Harvey, master wallpaper installer, would be arriving at 7:30.

That’s AM, in case that’s not clear. haha

 

I could have asked her if it was possible to arrive later.

 

However, originally, she told me it wouldn’t be before June, and now she was giving me a May 27th and 28th time slot.

I woke up 15 minutes early, but only saw 20 minutes later that she had gotten caught in traffic and wouldn’t be arriving before 8:20. She arrived around 8:30 and unloaded the most pristine equipment I’ve ever seen.

I mean, it looked like she had stopped at Home Depot on her way. But, she didn’t. She actually cleans her stuff.

 

Let’s take a look at some photos of the Gracie panel prep work.

 

Above,  Melanie Harvey is schlepping everything in.

I had to turn the lights practically all the way up, which I never do. As you can see, the LEDs distort the colors, and the imperceptible strobe effect makes it difficult for the camera to focus; hence, the crappy images with the lights on. The Anglo-Indian sconces have incandescent bulbs, but everything else is LED. And that is only because of the difficulty in changing bulbs. However, one day, I might have someone come out and change everything to incandescent.

 

Melanie was still bringing the last of her materials inside. I love her portable table. There, you can see the roll of white lining paper.

 

Above is a close-up of a panel with the lining paper installed. You can barely make out the line running horizontally across the wall. I can’t believe how precise this is. That’s amazing. What surprised me is how much texture is still visible even with the paper up. However, there is more texture on the other side of the moulding.

 

While I’ve specked wallpaper for dozens of clients, I’m never there when the walls are being prepped.

 

In any case, most of the time, a liner wasn’t required.

The liner not only helps smooth out imperfections but also ensures optimal adhesion to the wall. With an expensive hand-painted paper like this, it’s always a good idea to use a lining paper.

 

Above you can see the right panel with its lining paper up.

 

Today, I was sitting in the den, with everything in disarray. However, I loved the way the light and colors looked. That chair fabric in the foreground is brighter than that. However, the camera captured it in a more muted tone.

 

And one last shot, below, of the entire fireplace wall before it gets its adornment– God willing, in about 12 hours.

 

Here, I am standing on the stairs (duh) and had to use a wide-angle lens to get everything in.

Remember this?

Well, in the interest of self-preservation, I simplified the design. However, the Gracie panels are larger than in the rendering. I can’t wait!

Okay, I’m so proud of myself for finishing this at a reasonable time!

 

I’ll be back soon!

xo,

 

*********************************************************

Part 2 Begins Here

 

June 1, 2025

 

Happy June!

So, let’s start at the beginning of the day, last Thursday.

There was parking available behind the building, but wouldn’t you know, our next-door neighbor’s roof was being redone, and a massive truck was blocking a small portion of the spot. Melanie arrived right at 8:00 AM. The guy couldn’t have been nicer and moved his truck forward so Melanie could pull in.

She brought a larger ladder this time. I have no idea how she carries it. Therefore, I need to stay on her good side because clearly, she could whoop my butt! Well, today, a toddler could whoop my butt.

 

The most difficult part of the job was rolling out the paper, which is rolled inside out.

 

I know they’re afraid the paper will get messed up, but it makes life more difficult.

 

Above, you can see the back of the paper and some of the paint, which proves that these are hand-painted.

However, below are a couple of close-up detail shots of the Gracie wallpaper panels.

 

Please notice the seams. That is where the wallpaper is pieced together. Some of you may recall that this is how it was done 150 years ago, as they didn’t have paper large enough to do in a 3-foot width.

 

 

See what I mean? The detail is breathtakingly beautiful and intricate.

Yet, now that it’s up close, it’s clear why the paper is so bloody expensive.

Melanie found some paint cans to use as weights.

 

Then we had to figure out which two panels went where..

We ended up doing panels 3/4 on the left and 1/2 on the right.

 

Above is the first panel waiting for the paste to set up to the right level of tackiness. Melanie said that when the panel goes up, she has a very brief window to make sure it’s in the correct place before it becomes impossible to move it.

 

She’s a brave woman.

 

Smoothing once she’s sure the paper is perfectly straight.  And yes, the LED bulbs are all the way up which is why they look especially awful. Compare that light to the soft incandescent in the Anglo-Indian sconces. True, some of that obnoxious yellow could be a reflection from the brass, but still. The other thing is that they don’t look that bad in real life.

 

Melanie leaves about an inch of excess and then trims once in place to ensure a perfect fit inside the panels.

 

Laurel, what color is the background of the wallpaper? It looks quite gray. 

 

It is a classic celadon blue-green-gray. The wallpaper color does change, and sometimes the background appears more blue-green, while at other times it looks more gray, but not a pure gray. Still, it was a very gray day, so that is part of the reason.

Melanie was all finished in four hours. I was sitting in the den, and the colors looked so beautiful.

 

The den color never looks brighter than on the left, as it is reflecting light from the window. However, what you see on the right is the same color as on the left, but in shadow. I left the furniture in the position Melanie put it back in. It looks nice both ways.

 

The left-side panel is a little more difficult to photograph because I had to turn on artificial lighting.

 

 

It’s like the leaves inside are having a convo with the leaves outside. ;]

 

I’m a little taken aback by how beautiful everything is.

 

Like, do I deserve to have so much finery?

Well, I need to get over that one. haha

Alas, like all of our cherished belongings, they are only ours to borrow.

Still, I feel as though I’m living in a dream; like this must be someone else’s home.

 

Nope. It’s mine. All mine. Oy! This is how things looked a year ago.

 

 

I was a little concerned that my lemon-yellow chairs wouldn’t look so great because they don’t match anything. But then I remembered from my years of experience that as long as one sticks to their palette family, all will look terrific together.

And this post shares a formula to avoid matchy furniture. I need to read that one, too!

 

Please pin the graphic below to Pinterest

 

 

I did post a short video Thursday night and also a link to a cute time-lapse video on Instagram.

 

However, I’ve moved them down here.

 

 

Here’s the link to the Insta reel, and please follow me on Instagram if you aren’t already.

Okay, next up are the windows. I must figure that one out, even though I’ve already spent hours on it.

Addendum

 

June 5, 2025

Oh man, this has been a very rough week! My back took a turn for the worse, and I’ve been in so much pain, I can’t even think straight.

This morning, I had a scheduled x-ray for my foot and ankle, but when I told the doctor about my back, he recommended that I try to get in to see my PCP ASAP.

Luckily, I was able to see my doctor this afternoon.

It was someone else in the group, and she thought, as I do, that it’s my sacroiliac joint that got inflamed. I’m not sure how that happened last week. However, I think it’s related to all of my ballet training, as I’ve had this before, but not this debilitating.

I have to double-up on Tylenol for a week, (Ibuprofen is off-limits) use a pain patch, alternate hot and cold, and try a muscle relaxant (tiny dose).

That’s why I couldn’t manage the mid-week post. Oh, I wrote it, but don’t have the mental capacity to edit it. I did take some new images.

 

Getting back to the new Gracie panels. Some of you wanted to see both panels at the same time.

 

While you can see them both peripherally, what you’re about to see is not how it looks. Everything appears farther away than it actually is.

Below is the best I could do, but the chandelier looks crooked (it’s not), and elements in the foreground look larger than they are.

 

The image above is similar to one higher up, but without the lights on and with brighter natural light. I also put this image on Instagram. I’m amazed by the kindness of the people in the comments. I even heard from someone at Gracie.

It was a hot one today, but there was a lovely breeze, and it wasn’t oppressively humid.

Oh, it’s coming. This is only early June. Speaking of— TODAY is the two-year renoversary! Yes, the demo began on June 5, 2023!

While I did take an Uber three times today, I also walked home through the Boston Public Garden once. The roses are not only gorgeous to look at, they’re intoxicating. Their perfume is unreal!

Okay, back to resting.

Edit: June 10, 2025 

Melanie’s portable work table can be found here. 

 

Below is the wallpaper paste Melanie uses.

 

 

xo,

 

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