{ the jaunty magpie }

I should call this post, What I Did Over the Holiday Break. You know how those home projects go, the ones that languish on your "to-do" list for a nuclear half-life -- I'm glad to say I got one major thing crossed off our list: Figuring Out What to do With a Blank Bedroom Wall. The solution? Wall decals.
Earlier in the year, we updated our bedroom and it basically left a large empty wallspace above our new bed. This space languished for almost a year, staring at me with its blank-ness. It was a great vertical space that a huge framed vintage poster would have been perfect for, or maybe some cool sculptural piece, but then I realized, we sleep right under this thing. I don't know about you, but I have a real fear of having my art/possessions crush me in my sleep. We live in the shadow of an active, albeit sleepy volcano (hello, Mt. Rainier anyone?), and are subject to the periodic seismic bumps. But more to the point, hanging mechanisms fail whilst gravity prevails, so the decoration conundrum was that I needed something large and bold, but light enough to where it wouldn't kill us if it fell.

Then it hit me: Wall Decals, duh. I was first introduced to these easily-applicable, equally easy-to-remove and relatively inexpensive wall solutions years ago when we moved into our house. I found a place that sold 80s retro Space Invaders shapes which was perfect for our home office. Silly, simple, and personalized. This was when the shapes were a lot simpler, so choices were limited, but I'm glad to see that when I came back 'round to the wall decal wonderland, shapes, styles and colors had improved exponentially. Bottom line: I wasn't relegated to floating leaves and wispy trees. 

I wound up going with a sweet retro camera decal, which I got two -- yellow and black -- so that I could offset and layer them on the wallspace above our bed. Simple, bold, and I was able to put them up in no time. I highly recommend measuring your space and not just assuming the decal will look okay. I was originally going to get the largest one, but realized the smaller size was better, and it expanded my budget to get two, so that I could customize it a little. Also, when you're applying the decal, tear off the backing paper in sections as you're pressing the decal onto the wall. This may not make sense if you've never done this before, but as you're applying, you'll see what I mean -- that backing paper doesn't need to come off in a single piece, there's no prize for doing it that way and you'll probably mess up the decal in the process. Slow and steady. 

As for the choosing of decals -- take your time. The selection of styles and designs have become so varied, browsing could take a month if you're as riddled with indecision as me. You can customize decals, too, but I knew I'd never make a decision if it were completely up to me. The best area to look is Etsy {1} -- I got my camera decal from Vinyl Lettering. Several shops do wall decals, this was just the one that had the design I liked best. Our Space Invaders from years back came from a company called Blik {2}, and since then they've expanded to more decal designs as well as great wall tiles, which are like wallpaper with a lot of potential for customization. If you want to get really bold, and make it seem like Banksy broke into your house and went crazy, Street Wallz {3} has some incredible urban, modern art designs and large-scale photo decals.

Jaunty Fine Print: Images from stores listed - Etsy, Street Wallz, Blik