I'm so excited that you chose to decorate with one of my murals. Thank you. This one is very special. The animal theme is what initially sparked the idea for this product line. I chose this theme for my son's room and was painting the mural directly on the wall in 1997 when I realized there was a better way to do it. Before being printed, your mural was painted in oils in my studio thus the color, detail and quality is better than I could possibly do on a wall. This design is the first one that I painted for the Imaginative Murals line. I also added the inscription "May you come to love and respect diversity in life", which is the same saying on my son's mural.
So many decorating possibilities exist for this theme. We actually mixed influences from all over the world. African masks provide great texture and interest. Sculpted animals and stuffed animals are great additions. Throw blankets and rugs with animal prints or ethnic multi-colored woven fabrics. For the bed, draping it with mosquito netting hung from the ceiling would be a great look. An abundance of decorative pillows are on the market to match this theme. Baskets and furniture made of stained wicker will give the room an exotic flair. Choose silk or non-toxic plants to add the finishing touch to the room.
The murals can be adhered to wallpaper and many related patterns and border trims already exist. Also, from the colors in the mural, solids and simple patterns can easily be found to match. The murals also work great on a smooth, painted wall. Faux treatments are so popular now and would be a lot of fun to incorporate into the theme. You can make the walls look as though they have a rough texture by using sponging or rag rolling techniques. You might refer to the many How-To books that are available at retail or the library. If you choose to make the wall look like rough stucco, bricks or stone could be painted being exposed with pieces missing and cracks in the wall. Details like a small tendril from a vine creeping through and a lizard or bug on the wall adds humor (Fig. 1).
 If your walls are textured, consider adhering the mural pieces to matte board or thick paper and cutting it out. Ask your local wall treatment specialist for the best way to attach it to your particular type of wall. Your options may include nails, brackets, velcro or adhesive tabs. You can create your own borders using stencils and stamps. If you don't find what you want, make your own. An easy one would be to interweave animal tracks (Fig. 2) in a path around the room. The footprints can be created by carving a potato or shaping sponges and dipping them in paint. Also, you can make your own stencils using heavy paper. So many tools exist on the market to help create whatever look you want. Another fun idea would be to draw your own petroglyphics, cave drawings of animals, or hyroglyphics, little character drawings, around the room in a border. You could assign each a meaning and tell a story like the Egyptians did!
Before putting adhesive on the individual animals, try positioning them in various locations around the rooms. The mandrill would look great resting on top of a chest of drawers. The lemur is designed to perch on the corner of a door, window, mirror or picture. Spread them out to add little surprises around the room. You could even add some of your own like birds flying across the ceiling, butterflies and bugs. The possibilities are endless. Well, I'm sure you'll come up with a lot of your own decorating ideas. If you get a chance, write or email us with your ideas and results. We'd love to hear from you.
Sincerely,
Trish Selgrath |
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