Well, guys, the next two posts will be a departure from the norm for me. I was approached by Anna Fell of Murals Wallpaper, well, because I love crystals and she has crystal wallpaper. I took a look at all the different styles she had to offer and I fell in love with the one they call "Rose Crystal Wallpaper".

Anna sent me the wallpaper to try out and here I am letting you know what I think! This isn't a technical "how-to" blog post but more like a "hey check this out" update. There is plenty of the technical "how to" on Anna's website, USA, website here and UK, website here. After reading this, you may find you would like a crystal mural of your very own!

The mural came safely packaged, rolled in a long cardboard tube (pictured right, partially unrolled). Each of the panels is 4 feet wide, and each panel is numbered in the order in which they hang on the wall (my wall is 8 feet x 8 feet).

The texture of the paper is flexible but very thick, it almost feels like fabric. I assume it is vinyl or something (what do they make wallpaper out of, anyway)!? It has a luxurious look and feel.

The thought of hanging the mural was a little daunting, because I have never hung wallpaper, so I was a little nervous about the whole process initially. Also, our house is old, with many layers of paint and holes from nails and tacks from hanging pictures over the years, so there was quite a bit of prep work to get the wall ready to receive the crystal mural. Start to finish, it really wasn't all that bad! Here are a few pictures of the process:

Filling holes, removing trim and baseboards and sanding, oh my!

Putty anyone? How about paint?

Next is a view of the wall, prepped and ready, with Elizabeth supervising, of course! (Ugh! Even after all that work, it still looks kind of terrible!)

The next step was to unroll the entire mural since each panel is printed on one continuous roll. The panels are marked and you simply cut them apart. They are also numbered so you know which piece goes up first.

The paper cut easily with a pair of scissors.

The panels are laid out on the floor to be sure they match (and of course, they do). Next you flip them over and wet the backs with a sponge. While bending over to do this, I discovered the floor is a LOT further away than it was when I was younger. Let the grunting, grumbling and complaining begin!

Patti is coating the newly prepped walls with wallpaper paste as I grunt and complain while I damp the backs of the panels. I didn't take pictures of the wrangling process because it took both of us to get it up there properly. It wasn't as hard as I thought it might be, but it was a bit tricky. If you have all the tools recommended on the website, you shouldn't have a problem.

It took some work to get the panels up evenly without bubbles. However, all in all, it was a fairly easy process, and completely worth the work it took to get it done. My gauge on whether something is too much trouble is whether I would do it again, given the choice. With this wallpaper, I absolutely would. If you would like a beautiful crystal mural in your home but you are a little fearful about wallpaper, I would definitely recommend it. Check out MuralsWallpaper.co.uk or MuralsWallpaper.com and tell Anna that Genn sent you. It was a smooth and enjoyable transaction, start to finish!

Miss fancy-pants, Elizabeth T the Pomeranian, said if it didn't come out looking great that she would say she had nothing what-so-ever to do with it! As you will see in the following photo, she is very proud and claims the work as her own.

There are many other murals offered at Murals Wallpaper, not just crystal murals. In part two of this post I talk a bit about the wallpaper pattern I chose and Venus (my Crystal Guide) wants to weigh in on the benefits of pictures of crystals. So, I'll see you in the next post!

And, without further ado, here is a look at the completed mural (and one proud Elizabeth)!

TAH-DAH !!!