I love a fun and eye catching wall treatment. I’ve used wood treatments in two of the rooms – which is permanent in my mind and really takes some commitment. In my office, I used paint to create a herringbone pattern which took some time but I know the minute I’m bored with it I can paint over it. And now I have my decal wall.
I love the idea of wall decals. You can transform your space using a trendy shape or pattern and the next year when it’s out – you can buy new decals and be trendy again. I thought decals would be the perfect addition to the loft area. Then I priced out decals and I changed my mind. They were crazy expensive for a vinyl sticker and I decided it wasn’t worth it. But my mind was still stuck on the decals so I came up with DIY solution: use Silhouette matte vinyl and cut the shapes yourself. Now I know some shapes would be ridiculous to cut yourself and it wouldn’t be worth it. But what about some fun diamonds or triangles. Or a + sign. This was so easy and it cost me $20 for two rolls of vinyl.
I mapped out my wall and decided how many decals I wanted and how large I wanted them. I then started cutting vinyl to size with a straight edge and rotary cutter. And used the small exacto knife for the cut in portions.
Here’s the wall I measured and prepped.
I used a laser level to make sure everything stayed level. I taped the decals on the wall and then when I knew I measured right, I peeled off the backing and carefully placed them on the wall.
It took me longer to set the level for every row than it did to place the decals in the right spot!
I have an orange peel textured wall and I was worried they wouldn’t stick – After two years, its safe to say they worked just fine. I peeled a corner of one a while back just to see how it will be when I remove them and there was no residue. I could pull them off all tomorrow and put hexagons on the wall!
This would be a great technique for anyone that is renting or has issues with wall commitments. The only downside I see is that the vinyl comes in limited colors. But if you’re in the market for a basic color, and you’re willing to spend time cutting out a shape – you could save buckets of money with DIY wall decals.
DIY USA Wall Art Tutorial can be found here
The darling 50 States books (with great illustrations can be found here and here, same author)
