martan
06-07-2008, 05:29 PM
One of the coolest new ideas in decorating kids rooms is the use of removable wall decorations. Excellent for their changeability, ease of installation and lack of wall damage, these are becoming a new craze.
With the invention of Fatheads®, the removable, lifesize wall displays of celebrities and sports figures, an entire new genre of wall decorating is coming into existence: Giant, lifesized wall displays of your own kids.
Having a great interest in all new decorating ideas, I have experimented and found that there are a few very important things to know about these new decorations before spending your money on them (which you should, because they're cool).
First, you must be sure you DON'T choose one on "removable vinyl" because what I have found is that this material fails on most normal walls. They actually start coming up off of the wall. I found this out the hard way, and had to start over. I was pretty mad too, because these things are not cheap!
After an extensive search, I found that one company out there--one of the big guys--is also one of the only ones using material that will actually stay on the wall. Jumbo Sticky Pics (I've put a link to their site on this post for you) uses some other type of material that is not vinyl. It is a cloth of some sort that goes up and down so easily it is incredible. I have moved it around so many times now and it goes up as easily as it did the first time. I have had it up for months, and it does not peel up or "unstick" at all.
My advise is use Jumbo Sticky Pics or another that uses this cloth material. If they advertise "removable vinyl" avoid them, even though they'll tell you it can be moved around and will stick! The removable vinyl costs slightly less, but the other material is really worth the extra few bucks. Trust me, I made the mistake.
As for pictures you can use, I also made this mistake! Make sure you use a decent camera, and take a good photo. The first one I did was not a good photo, and it came out a little fuzzy. They warned me, but I ignored them...not so bright, I guess.
What you have to do is make sure your camera is set to the highest resolution it can go, and take the picture with your kid taking up most of the frame (but don't cut off his arms or feet).
I took mine vertically so he could be as big as possible. The background doesn't matter because they remove that anyway.
Also, remember to get down to the kid's eye level. The first photo I used was taken from my eye-level (I'm a lot taller than my kid) and it made him look really goofy on the Jumbo Sticky Pic...his head was too big for his feet. They actually emailed me about it and I sent them a new photo (talk about customer service!) from his eye level and the proportions looked much better.
When decorating the room, its not enough to just have his Jumbo Sticky Pic on the wall. Accessorize around it with coordinating items. Mine is a hockey player, so I have done the bedding with NHL items, I have a Fathead of Crosby on the wall (right next to the Jumbo Sticky Pic of my son!), as well as some of the stock items that they sell at Jumbo Sticky Pics' website. They have stuff that goes with every sport so you can accessorize the walls.
One of the cooler items (although a little pricey) is a customized scoreboard that shows your kid's team and any team you pick at the end of the game. Your kid's team wins of course!
So, if you're working on concepts for a kid's room, remember this new concept -- customize the walls with the kid themselves! It's not really expensive either. The Jumbo Sticky Pic I got only cost around $89 or so. That's pretty cheap when you start looking at what wallpaper costs!
Let me know if you've tried this idea, and what your experiences are!
With the invention of Fatheads®, the removable, lifesize wall displays of celebrities and sports figures, an entire new genre of wall decorating is coming into existence: Giant, lifesized wall displays of your own kids.
Having a great interest in all new decorating ideas, I have experimented and found that there are a few very important things to know about these new decorations before spending your money on them (which you should, because they're cool).
First, you must be sure you DON'T choose one on "removable vinyl" because what I have found is that this material fails on most normal walls. They actually start coming up off of the wall. I found this out the hard way, and had to start over. I was pretty mad too, because these things are not cheap!
After an extensive search, I found that one company out there--one of the big guys--is also one of the only ones using material that will actually stay on the wall. Jumbo Sticky Pics (I've put a link to their site on this post for you) uses some other type of material that is not vinyl. It is a cloth of some sort that goes up and down so easily it is incredible. I have moved it around so many times now and it goes up as easily as it did the first time. I have had it up for months, and it does not peel up or "unstick" at all.
My advise is use Jumbo Sticky Pics or another that uses this cloth material. If they advertise "removable vinyl" avoid them, even though they'll tell you it can be moved around and will stick! The removable vinyl costs slightly less, but the other material is really worth the extra few bucks. Trust me, I made the mistake.
As for pictures you can use, I also made this mistake! Make sure you use a decent camera, and take a good photo. The first one I did was not a good photo, and it came out a little fuzzy. They warned me, but I ignored them...not so bright, I guess.
What you have to do is make sure your camera is set to the highest resolution it can go, and take the picture with your kid taking up most of the frame (but don't cut off his arms or feet).
I took mine vertically so he could be as big as possible. The background doesn't matter because they remove that anyway.
Also, remember to get down to the kid's eye level. The first photo I used was taken from my eye-level (I'm a lot taller than my kid) and it made him look really goofy on the Jumbo Sticky Pic...his head was too big for his feet. They actually emailed me about it and I sent them a new photo (talk about customer service!) from his eye level and the proportions looked much better.
When decorating the room, its not enough to just have his Jumbo Sticky Pic on the wall. Accessorize around it with coordinating items. Mine is a hockey player, so I have done the bedding with NHL items, I have a Fathead of Crosby on the wall (right next to the Jumbo Sticky Pic of my son!), as well as some of the stock items that they sell at Jumbo Sticky Pics' website. They have stuff that goes with every sport so you can accessorize the walls.
One of the cooler items (although a little pricey) is a customized scoreboard that shows your kid's team and any team you pick at the end of the game. Your kid's team wins of course!
So, if you're working on concepts for a kid's room, remember this new concept -- customize the walls with the kid themselves! It's not really expensive either. The Jumbo Sticky Pic I got only cost around $89 or so. That's pretty cheap when you start looking at what wallpaper costs!
Let me know if you've tried this idea, and what your experiences are!