Starting with the basics:

- set up your work space

- strip the old wallpaper (if there is such)

- prep the wall

- hang the new wallpaper up

Setting up your work space

When preparing to hang a new wallpaper in your home or office it’s important to set up a work space. Empty the room of any furniture, paintings, power outlet covers and cover the floor with drop cloth. Don’t forget to turn the electricity in the sockets off!

Once you’ve cleared the room set up a work top where you can spread the wallpaper. This could be just a plywood board atop of sawhorses. Cover the plywood with newspapers if wider than the individual drops so you can spread the wallpaper paste liberally all over the edges.

Once you’re set up make sure your wall is ready for the wallpaper.

Prepping the wall

The first thing to do, of course, would be to take the old wallpaper down should there be one. One way we’ve found that works is by getting the old wallpaper damp and then peeling it off. A bit of a tedious job but one that needs doing nonetheless.

When you’ve completely removed the paper check the wall for any irregularities, blemishes or indentations. One way to go about it is with a flashlight aimed under an angle. Should there be any bumps or old paint spatters you’ll be able to spot them and then even them out with a sandpaper. While smoothing the wall out you’ll also feel any indentations or depressions on the wall that were previously missed.

Repeat the sanding and filling process two or three times for best results. Smoothing the wall out is crucial for wallpaper hanging as any irregularities that have been missed will only be accentuated once the wallpaper is up.

After sanding and filling the wall a lot of people assume they are done and ready for the new drops to be put up. Most installers will tell you that if you want a wallpaper to stay in place without the edges peeling off it’s imperative that you seal it.

We’ve had quite a few queries actually from customers asking if they should or shouldn’t seal their walls. We’ve also had queries as to why their wallpaper is coming off round the edges. Applying a sealer to the wall guarantees that the above won’t happen to you as well!

Unsealed walls and freshly plastered walls tend to absorb the moisture from the paste causing the peeling off of the material. You can buy a prime sealer from a DYI store but a relatively good alternative is using PVA glue or diluted wallpaper paste and wait for it to  dry.

Hanging the new wallpaper

Once your wall has dried out you’re ready to hang the new wallpaper or mural up. Custom wallpapers are already cut to fit your walls making the whole process much easier. When applying the wallpaper paste be generous and make sure you don’t miss any of the edges or corners. Once you start overlapping the drops remove the excess material with a dry cloth. When all drops are up cut the overlaps and the excess material at the top and bottom of the wall. Now you’re all done!

To sum up!

For best results stick to these simple  steps:

sand – fill – sand – fill – sand – seal – leave to dry – hang the new wallpaper up – treat yourselves for a job well done!

If you have any questions left unanswered leave a comment and we’ll try and get back to you as soon as we can.

We’ll soon be uploading a blog with tips and step-by-step guidelines for installing a JW Walls mural.

We also have a big surprise coming up soon that will be a game changer and will see us growing stronger and stronger. We’re all really excited and promise you’ll be the first to know when it’s all been finalised!

Until then we’d like to share what we’ve seen and learnt over the past few months. We started small with just a few carefully selected collections to add a few more as we went along. What makes us unique is the variety and quality if designs on the website and the personal touch our artists leave on the site. Our newest additions to our collaborators list are Yoni Alter, Karen Perry, Damian Smith and Sky Nash.

Colossal by Damian Smith

Little Monkeys Playhouse by Karen Perry

Colossal NYC by Yoni Alter

Pizza by Sky Nash

We’re eager to continue expanding our contributors list so if you are an artist or you know someone artistic don’t hesitate to showcase your talent by sending us your designs and details on the following e-mail and we’ll be in touch: support@jwwalls.com

This is not all though. We’ve printed so many murals but there are some that just stick out and we’ve taken the liberty (as well as asked for permission) to spread them out and inspire others as well.

The lovely Philippa Bennett commemorated the Paralympic Games with a stunning shot of the arena that she took herself. She then decorated her son’s room with the special mural and shared the experience with us. We’re thrilled to see how creative our customers are and how they use our products as artistic displays rather than just an easy-come-easy-go wallpaper that tears quickly and fades in just a few days.

2012 Paralympic Games courtesy from Philippa Bennett

We’ve also had the pleasure of printing murals for FEAST Magazine and for the lovely Jen Standbrook who wrote a really flattering review accompanied by an installation tutorial video. If you didn’t believe us before how easy it was to install our products and how stunning they are then Jen will surely convince you.

For all those that missed Jen’s article just follow the link here: http://lovechicliving.co.uk/wallpaper-wednesday-how-to-install-a-jwwalls-wall-mural/

Kate Bush for FEAST Magazine

Coloured Circles for LoveChicLiving

And just when you think you’ve seen it all here is a stunning 3D design we were sent by Mark Harrison as well as a creative LED light show with our Rusty Autumn design. Now, now who wouldn’t want one of these?

Robot by Mark Harrison

Rusty Autumn with LED Lights

If there is anything else you’d like to see on our website don’t hesitate to get in touch until then we’ll carry on doing what we do best – grow!

What you need to keep in mind is that you are happy with the design you choose. Getting stuck with a loud and overly crowded image on your walls for years to come may have seemed like a good idea to begin with but can end up having the opposite effect. Murals and wallpapers are a far greater commitment than just re-painting the walls when you get tired of them.

Don’t get us wrong, selecting the design that you like and that fits the atmosphere in the room is half the fun.  Yet, there are a lot of things to consider: from the height and shape of the walls to the furniture, the colour scheme in the room, the accessories and most importantly the message you want to convey. Playing with ideas and experimenting is always recommended but the bottom line is to make it look pleasing to the eye.

The three main things to consider are: size of the wall, number of walls you want to wallpaper, the overall effect that you want to create. As simple as 1, 2, 3!

Size

Depending on the effect you’d like to achieve with the mural it’s important to keep in mind what are the dimensions of the wall. Dark or bright multicolored designs can overpower small to medium sized rooms while stripes and pastel colours will broaden them. Dark designs, nonetheless, give off a striking and sophisticated finish to any interior when applied to one wall and coupled with lighter, more toned down colours on all the rest. The design we’ve featured here is called ‘Demure‘

If your walls are irregular we’d strongly recommend avoiding stripes and geometric shapes unless you’re going for the quirky look or would like to point out  what is lacking in the architecture of your interior. Another point to keep in mind is the condition of the wall. If it is old and bumpy re-palstering it or applying lining paper followed by a thick coating of paint should be in order.

The design featured is called ‘Spacetopia‘ from the Jelly collection

Number of walls to be covered

You’ve got the option of choosing between covering one feature wall, several or all walls and, surprisingly enough for some, covering your ceiling!

A design placed over a feature wall is there to accentuate the focal point in the room and needs to be well thought out. You can make it special and personal using an image of your own that speaks to you, like this one of ‘Lillie‘, and then placing it over the feature wall.

If you are going for the ‘all out’ option and decide to wallpaper all four walls, settle on a patterned design or a toned down design as far as it comes to colours. Incorporating wallpapers or murals on your walls is a long term commitment so make sure you are happy with them.

What do you think of the ‘Starring Grey‘ design exhibited bellow?

Putting a wallpaper on your ceiling is a great way to make large interiors look more cosy. For some reason, though, wallpapering the ceiling isn’t very popular but is definitely a great way of jazzing up any space.

‘The Wall’ Effect in short

With one swift change of the wallpaper you can complement the atmosphere in your home or change it altogether. You can make a bold statement with a bold design that will grab everyone’s attention. A dark pattern carefully placed on a feature wall will give you the desired dramatic look and feel. Soft pale colours, on the other hand, will bring a certain romantic vibe that coupled with the right interior accessories will leave you lingering for more. Bold shapes and textured finishes, like metallics, will give you that contemporary look and feel and add a modern twist to your boring empty walls.

Featured is the ‘Redheads‘ design from the Aurora collection

Whatever design you go for make sure it is the right one! When in doubt get a test print or a sample. Once you’ve installed you wallpaper or mural share it with everyone to see as great designs and ideas are worth bragging about!

We’d decided to makeover the Dining Room into more of a snug come playroom a few months ago, and when JWWalls offered us a Wall Mural to review as part of the process we were thrilled. I love dramatic decor. The interiors of our home say so much about us; they really are an extension of our personalities. I like to think that the home interiors I choose allow me to express parts of my personality I don’t always show. In my interiors I like bold and loud as well as dramatic, and I wasn’t disappointed when I looked through the designs on offer at JWWalls. The choice was so extensive that I spent hours browsing the website, imagining all kinds of finished designs in my own home.

The Wall Mural was to be the focal point of room; setting the tone for the rest of the decor so one of the ways I came to my decision was to use a Moodboard. I knew we wanted something abstract, colourful, fun, modern and dramatic and once I’d shortlisted a few designs in the Project area of my JWWalls online account, I put them into a Moodboard with a few other key pieces from the room.  This really gave me a feel for how the room would look and whether it could work altogether. After ‘living’ with the board for several days I knew I’d hit on the right design in ‘Coloured Circles’ and went ahead and made the order.

Installing the Mural wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. We’d decided to film the process and create a ‘How To’ video from a customer’s point of view. As a customer of many products I know I value honest opinions and reviews and this is what I’d tried to create through the film. We filmed each stage as we went through them, and once edited I think it really gives you a good sense of what it’s like to install one of the JWWalls.

Overall the installation process isn’t as daunting as you think it might be. In many senses it’s even easier than putting up wallpaper, particularly given the fact that marker lines guide how the next piece will line up. Having said that I think you probably need a little wallpaper hanging experience before you embark on a Wall Mural installation.

Half way through and it already looks great!

What has struck me most since installing our Wall Mural is the beautiful quality of both the image, and the product itself. We’d opted for the JW Standard and its thick, tough and appears to be very durable. The quality of the printed image is like nothing I’ve seen before. The detail, the colours, the impact; it takes my breath away every time I enter the room to be honest and I sit looking at the wall for long periods!

If you’re in doubt about whether a JW Wall is for you, about whether you can invest in one, or whether you are able to install it, I’d say just go for it. You really won’t be disappointed!

By Jen @ LoveChicLiving

Our newest collaboration with the extremely talented Karen Perry has brought some creative designs that will reinvent your interior space! The perfect way to  recreate the Madagascar experience in your kids rooms and add character to your walls.

Our personal favourite is the Little Lions Den that reminds us so much of Alex.

View Karen Perry’s collection and bring the jungle in your homes!

Drawing inspiration from day-to-day activities, Sky creates designs that are unique to themselves. She would, herself, categorise them in two groups –  colorful and fun designs that will grab you straight away and  dark and odd patterns like the one bellow.

This creative design is called ‘Unusual Bottles‘ and would look great on a feature wall.

The design here is called ‘Rocket Men‘ and is ideal for children’s bedroom

 View the full collection of wall design from Sky Nash

Geometric patterns are all over the catwalks this year and interior design is taking up the trend too. To add interest to your room, choose soft furnishings with geometric designs and rugs that make a statement with abstract shapes in bright hues.

Geometric wallpaper used as a feature wall brings this trend to life in your living space whether matched with minimal styling or contrasting patterns it will get people talking!

This pattern, Lemonade Geo is a beautiful, bright and colourful way to bring the trend into your home.

More muted tones of Lido Mix are used in this bedroom to great effect

Botticelli’s Birth of Venus is one of the most treasured artworks of the Renaissance. In it the goddess Venus (known as Aphrodite in Greek mythology) emerges from the sea on a shell depicting the myth of her birth. Her shell is pushed to the shore  by winds from the lovingly entwined gods Zephyrus and Aura and pink flowers float down around her. As Venus is about to step onto the shore, a nymph reaches out to cover her with a cloak.

Venus is illustrated as a beautiful and chaste goddess and symbol of the coming spring. Her depiction as a nude is significant in itself, given that during this time in Renaissance history almost all artwork was of a Christian theme, and nude women were hardly ever portrayed.

Many aspects of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus are in motion. For example, the leaves of the trees in the background, ringlets of hair being blown by the Zephyrs, the roses floating behind her, the white tipped waves, and the cloaks of the figures blown by the breeze.

The pose of Botticelli’s Venus is reminiscent of the Venus de Medici, a marble sculpture and gem inscription from Classical antiquity in the Medici collection which Botticelli had opportunity to study.

The original painting by Sandro Boticelli (1445-1510) is held in Uffizi Gallery in Florence.  The Birth of Venus wall mural features in our Scala Archives Collection of fine art images.

View more from Scala or create a Boticelli  masterpiece in your own home.

The idea of feature walls is to stand out but  you still need to consider how it ties with the theme of the home or space.  Ensure the design works with elements of colour or decorating motifs in soft furnishings for a co-ordinated look.

The opportunities for feature walls are endless from textures to complement the architecture of your building and replicate brick, metal or wooden textures like this room using Metal Plate  If you think wooden, metallic or brickwork textures may suit your space, view our Textures collection for inspiration.

Make your wall a canvas with a work of Art like this room which features The Siege and Release of Gibraltar by John Singleton Copley from our TATE collection of wall designs.  If you want to feature famous artwork whether classic or modern view our collection from TATE for inspiration.

It is important not to overwhelm the space with your choice of feature wall, ensure the rest of the decoration in the space complements rather than competes with the design.  A really great example of a high impact yet perfectly co-ordinated feature wall is this example using Redheads.

For more feature wall ideas view our portfolio or why not join the conversation by following @johnwalliswalls on twitter!

Firstly, Charles Sims’ masterpiece ‘I am the Abyss and I am Light’ created in 1928.

This painting is one of his mystical paintings, painted in the latter years of his life and a departure from his usual works which were predominantly society portraits.

The group of six semi-abstract paintings with figures was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1928, shortly after Sims’s death by suicide, and was called by his son his ‘spiritual’ series.

The meaning of this work suggests the absolute power of God over all creation and over the destiny of the universe and may be taken from the biblical verse ‘I am Alpha and Omega’ from Revelations 1:8.

Harold Speed, a painter and close friend of Sims described the painting: ‘There upon canvas was his poor tortured spirit laid bare.’