Behind the Scenes at This Old House, Pt 2

Here's a peek at the day we filmed for This Old House and the installation process for the stenciled canvas. It was pretty interesting to see how a tv show is shot, and I'm still amazed that the crew is able to get it all done in the middle of a very busy and very loud construction zone.

We had all of our demo materials set up and ready to go, so Tony and TOH host Kevin O'Connor had a quick rehearsal of what they'd say on camera about the project and the making of the wallcoverings:

The demo segment was shot in three takes, then lighting and tables were set up in another room of the house so we could apply wallpaper paste to the back of the canvas:

Since it was still a crazy construction zone and space was limited, the producer let me watch the camera feed on a small monitor in the kitchen while Tony and Kevin shot scenes:

Thankfully wallpaper paste stays wet for awhile and allows you to peel off the canvas and readjust it, because we had to stop and redo parts of the installation to make sure the director had the shots and audio he wanted. Once the filming was done, we put up the remaining three canvases with the guidance of Mark (in blue), our expert paper hanger. Guys, he's amazing. I peppered him with questions all day about the various materials he's worked with--silk, beaded paper, mural panels--you name it, he's hung it. He truly raises wallpaper hanging to an art form and we really couldn't have done it without him. Thanks, Mark!

Here's Mark cutting out holes for the electricians so they could wire in the sconces:

 

The first sheet of canvas that goes up on the wall has to be centered top to bottom and left to right; subsequent sheets are aligned with the first sheet in order to continue the pattern seamlessly around the room:

 

Then the excess canvas is trimmed at the corners with a razor:

Once the canvas was hung and trimmed, we did our little touch ups by hand where necessary:

All told, after the filming, it took about two hours to finish the installation, sponge off the excess paste from the walls, and touch up the paint:

We should be seeing the completed room in the final episode of the season which airs next week. Click here to find out when it's airing on your PBS station. Thanks to the crew at This Old House, the homeowners Becky and Joe Titlow, and the design firm Terrat Elms for bringing us onto this project!