An Ancient Art Form for the Digital Age

I mentioned last week that I've been working on redoing Soren's bedroom--painting the walls, fixing things up a bit.

I decided to go with a global theme, as it is something that is appropriate for a person of any age. Plus I have a lot of items from around the globe that I've collected over the years.  And I must admit that I'm a big fan of maps.  I love looking at them and imagining places that I might visit some day and what life is like for the people who live there.

I hope that having a map in his room encourages my son to have the same kinds of daydreams.  And the huge wallpaper mural from Brewster Home Fashions that I installed next to his bed is quite an invitation to daydream.

This mural is the focal point of my son's bedroom.  Like the murals and wall decorations from ancient times and around the world, a mural makes a statement about its culture, place, and time.  These wall murals can reflect any aesthetic and are applicable to our current culture in their photorealistic and contemporary designs, as well as their ease of installation.

Yep, those stones are faux.

I enjoy cuddling with my son in bed, enjoying looking at the wall mural and talking about the countries on the map, at least the ones I know a little about. Most recently, we talked about Madagascar after having seen a hissing cockroach and lemurs from the island at our local zoo.  I'm sure this mural will support his learning through his school years too.

The wallpaper was easy to install, taking me about an hour to do.  First I cleaned the wall, made sure any bumps were sanded down, and removed the outlet covers.  Then I mixed up the paste, which was included with the 8' 10"x 6' 2" mural.

The wall mural comes in 4 pieces, so you don't have to struggle with one gigantic piece of wallpaper.  On my wall, I marked the center lines of the mural, both the horizontal and vertical ones and used a level to make sure they were straight.

Next I painted the back of each piece, starting with the lower left hand one.

I followed my guide lines to place the section of wallpaper, then smoothed it out with a plastic squeegee-type tool I had from a previous wallpaper project.  It was easy to place on the wall, and I followed suit with the other 3 panels.

It was a little tricky getting the last panel to line up, but that was probably user error.  I may have gotten the paper too wet and stretched it a little too much.  It is off just a bit for my perfectionist eyes, but it still looks great.

I love the colors in this map, especially that they diverge from the typical blues and greens you often see in map wall murals.

There are so many other gorgeous designs at Brewster Home Fashions, including traditional wallpapers and peel-and-stick versions, called Wall Pops.

The photo murals are particularly sophisticated and eye-catching.  Check out this faux barnwood one.

These wallpapers are an easy, elegant way to bring the ancient art of the mural into your own home.
Disclosure: I received a sample product from Brewster Home Furnishings for review purposes.  All opinions are my own.