Happy Monday, friends! Well, we’ve made it through the last week, and while I’m not at liberty to divulge details about what happened last week and why I stayed away from the blog (because it’s not my story to tell), I’d just like to say that last week was one of the most emotionally and mentally trying weeks I’ve ever been through. Maybe one day I can share details. I hope so, because I think it’s a story that needs to be told as a cautionary tale far and wide.
But at the end of last week, I had no mental or physical energy to complete any house projects. On Friday I was completely worthless and on Saturday I felt just a little better. But yesterday I finally felt like I wanted to do it somethingBut it had to be fun and indoors because it was raining and I didn’t want to work in the mud. So I decided to turn my attention to our entry wall.
I really liked this version of our entry wall, but I was ready for a change.
I bought this wallpaper mural from Anthropologie at a sale a while back and kept it until I decided where to put it. The mural is really big – 20 feet wide and 12 feet tall. And after all my other options failed over the last year, I finally decided to use it on the entryway wall.
The biggest challenge was deciding which part to use. This particular wall is only 153 inches wide and the area between the trim and baseboards is just under 90 inches high. So I knew that by using it on this wall I would lose some of the design.
I finally decided to use this section from panel 4 onwards as this is where most of the brightest colors are. And I also chose the lower area so that the flowers hang as high as possible on the wall.
I forgot to take a photo before I put the first panel on the wall, but the wall required some prep work before I could begin. After removing the mirrors, pictures, and sconces, I had to sand the entire wall to make sure the areas where I painted the sconce mounting plates, picture mounting strips, and screw holes were smooth.
I also had some paint drips on the wall that I hadn’t even noticed before since I painted that wall a dark matte finish. But I wanted to get this all smoothed out before I put up the mural.
And then I started on the left and worked my way to the right. Each panel is 27 inches wide, so for the first panel I measured over 26 inches from the corner and then used my long level to mark a vertical line. I measured 26 inches instead of 27 inches because corners are never perfectly plumb and square. After hanging the first panel, I trimmed off the extra inch in the corner.
This mural is so easy to install. The paper is thick and the design is quite intricate, so it’s very forgiving. And the design from panel to panel fits together perfectly.
I knew I couldn’t do everything yesterday since I was a little late, but I was determined to keep going until I got a piece that had some pink on it.
So last night before bed I hung the first three panels, and today I have three more to do. But I absolutely love how it looks so far!
This design is so beautiful! And while it’s not the watercolor look that I love so much, the hand-painted look is pretty close. It looks like a giant acrylic painting.
Every detail is so pretty. I can imagine myself spending time sitting in the living room and just staring at this mural.
I’ve never been one to have a problem with covering murals and wallpaper with furniture and artwork. For me, murals and wallpaper are just one layer of a design and then I layer things on top. But I have to admit that I have a hard time covering up any of this beautiful mural.
So I’m not really sure what this wall will look like in the end. At this point I’m pretty sure I’ll still use the console table I built for the entryway, but I might want to paint it. And I’ve already cut the panel so that the wires for the sconce can go through, so I’m going to use the sconces. But other than that I’m not sure.
I had imagined hanging a mirror over the console table, but now I’m not so sure. This is a “making it up as I go along“A project of sorts. So later today, after I finish the rest of the mural and put the console table back in place, I’ll make those decisions. But I really don’t want to cover up too much of the mural. So I may end up with something completely different for this wall that doesn’t include a console table. The only thing I know for sure at this point is that the sconces are staying. Everything else is negotiable.
