Many of you know that I shoot the photos for Finder Not Keeper in my home. As a result, the walls are painted a rainbow of colors. I also use wall decals. They help me achieve a different look out of the same color of paint. (Yes, yes, I know my husband deserves an award. My mother points it out regularly.)
Recently, I needed a headshot. So I selected a strategic wall for a fun decal treatment. You'll see below that it took two of us to affix the decals with some degree of accuracy. That's my go-to pal Kris Fish in these photos. She helps me out part-time with public relations but her real skill shows up on set. Together, we quickly figured out a system for these decals. It took us about an hour to get the wall finished.
The decals arrive on a sheet. Because we did a random pattern, Kris cut out each teepee individually. If we had wanted a symmetrical pattern, we would have affixed a sheet at a time.
Working with a laser level that threw out horizontal lines, we eyeballed the base of the teepee based on the laser line. Not perfectly accurate but good enough.
We used a credit card to rub the decal from the bottom up, gradually pulling off the backing. We started out doing this very slowly. Then we got speedy. It was easy. Not a single decal proved problematic.
We worked from bottom to top, and from left to right. We filled the first third of the wall without too much deliberate planning except to avoid any obvious pattern.
Once we reached the middle section of the wall, we placed the teepees more deliberately to ensure that spacing worked. We gently stuck several decals at a time to the wall. Then before rubbing them on, we adjusted placement, moving decals as needed. We took care to match the distance between the window and the decals on the left side of the wall to approximately the same distance between the window and the decals on the right side of the wall.
When we finished shooting, we moved the furniture back in place, and I was unexpectedly charmed with the overall effect. Despite a basement full of great stuff, I haven't found the right piece for this wall. (I'm such a slow decorator!) So until I find the elusive perfect artwork, the teepees make a whimsical stand-in.
One of my sons walked into the room and objected. He felt that I was appropriating a symbol of Native American culture in a stereotypical manner. I think that having spent many a night camping in tents with him and his smelly brothers, I've earned my golden teepees and he can take a hike.
If you want to consider removable wallpaper or decals, below are some sources to get you started. Really, try to channel your inner teenager and experiment. What's the worst that can happen? A cultural criticism from a kid who wouldn't be here if not for you carrying him nine months and then pushing his nearly ten pound mass out of your vagina?
Oops. Did I just type that out loud? I didn't think any of you would still be reading. Sorry.
Anyway, here are the exact teepee decals I used. Next month, I'm going to use this darling bow as part of a graphic black and white wall collage. And speaking of black and white, this one is a stunner.
Photos by Renn Kuhnen.
If you are interested in photography and wall colors, read about some of the mistakes I've made here.
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