Filed under: Beautiful Home
Problem: Your walls are boring.
Solution: Add a wall art decal.
It's really that easy.
Decals come in many shapes and sizes. The popularity of wall decals has increased exponentially since they first came on the scene a few years ago. Here are a few decal-centric ideas to help pull your white walls out of the doldrums.
Decals are versatile, quick, mess-free and easy.
These days the selection is endless, ranging from words to retro graphics to custom silhouettes. Vinyl decals don't leave any glue residue behind and most are removable, which is great for apartment dwellers!
Sister site PopEater has a comprehensive set of detailed directions for successful decal application. Make sure to clean all surfaces, and make sure that it has been smoothed onto the wall bubble free.
If you don't like it, don't worry. Most vinyl decals are removable. You can use a hair dryer to get it off the wall -- without damaging the surface.
Say Something With Decals
Decals don't just have to be pictures, according to ShelterPop. They come in letter and word cuts.
Besides beautiful imagery, wall decals now come in the form of quotes and letters. A few companies even offer the option to create custom decals, so you can say whatever you want, however you want to say it!
Twitter, statement tees and Facebook walls have allowed us to easily express our moods and what's on our minds. Why not articulate on your actual walls?
Blik created the custom wall decal shown above, which looks more like wallpaper, and sites like Wall Candy Arts, Vinyl Silhouettes and Hu2 will do the same.
Starch Fabric Decals
Sister site DIY Life suggests using corn starch to paint a fabric onto your walls!
Jessica at How About Orange made homemade starch, sketched out her plan, cut out fabric, then applied the homemade starch to the fabric (pictured right). She then applied the fabric to her door, smoothing out any air bubbles she encountered along the way.Jessica used double-stick tape to see how the fabric would first look arranged on her door. She advises that when taking the fabric off the wall, all you have to do is peel off the pieces and wipe off any leftover starch with a damp cloth.
And On the Fancier Side ...
For some more elaborate store-bought schemes, check out this PopShelter article. Though the plans require precision and many pieces, you'll find it worth your while when a scene from Donkey Kong winds up on your wall.
Architect Scott Flora and food writer Jerinne Neils originally created the wall graphics for their home in Venice, California. Many of the colorful designs have a playful, cartoonish quality perfect for a child's bedroom. Think whimsical animals, storybook cityscapes, sci-fi robots and vintage video-game graphics.
But silhouettes of furniture, chandeliers and china, vibrant flora and fauna, virtual bookshelves and abstract motifs could crop up in any room in need of visual flair.