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4. You used WHAT instead of wallpaper?

Writer's picture: Deb BodineDeb Bodine


There is a whole world of decorating out there that you probably didn't even know existed. I'm sure certified interior decorators and landscape designers would be aghast at this innovative, but rather unconventional, technique, but there is a whole international following that swear by this approach, to create an ambiance in both indoor and outdoor environments. They turn eyesore fences into foreign vistas - like an ivy-covered brick wall, or a row of ancient stone arches overlooking the Aegean Sea. They can transform a dilapidated backyard shed into a Provencal cottage, a rose-covered trellis or even a barn door with a fine-looking horse sniffing the fresh air.


Indoors, the magic continues. A claustrophobic, windowless room can be transformed by adding a window looking out onto a serene lake, a lush jungle or a sandy beach with sparkling turquoise water. A naked wall can become a staircase leading to a mysterious attic, an arched bridge leading to a Japanese pagoda or a Tuscan countryside or a medieval castle wall. If you can imagine it, you can create it.



Creating scenes on walls is really nothing new. People have been doing it since 40,000 BC, with pictoglyphs on prehistoric cave walls. The ancient Egyptians, the Greeks, and Romans, and many more civilizations, created elaborate scenes illustrating their culture and history, some which can still be viewed today. As the centuries progressed, art became much more detailed and complex, using perspective and realism to fool the eye. Trompe l'oeil, French for "deceive the eye", is the term adopted since 1800 for the art form that creates a 3D illusion on a 2D surface. Granted, for many people, a realistic, one-of-a-kind mural simply was not possible. You had to have either incredible artistic talent to do it yourself from scratch, or the money to hire a master painter to do it for you.


Fast forward to more contemporary times, and we have wallpaper and photographic wall murals. You can create just about any scene you desire nowadays with the cut and paste method. Have a favourite photo from that once-in-a-lifetime vacation that brings back wonderful memories? You can send that image away and have a unique wall mural created just for you.


But in my search for the perfect image for my modest fairy forest wall, I found even the ready-made wall murals ordered from discount websites cost more than I wanted to spend. First of all, we do not live close to any of our grandkids, so our visits are very precious, but few. And of course, each time we see them, we are all a little bit older. Who knows how long the fascination with grandma's fairy forest will even last?


But the method I have discovered fits the bill perfectly. It is inexpensive and, down the road, if the grandkids become captivated with some different world, I can very simply change the ‎‎mise en scène to something completely different: outer space, the jungle, the depths of the ocean, Santa's workshop, a haunted house... the options are limitless.


So, exactly haw am I going to transform a blah grey wall into the gateway to a wondrous fairy forest? Believe it or not, a shower curtain.

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