All you wallpaper enthusiasts out there may already be familiar with Rebel Wall’s Bellewood forest mural. I remember being captivated the first time I saw it used in a design blog many years ago. When we moved to this house I considered putting it in my son’s nurse’s room that is attached to his bedroom. I showed it to my contractor and saw his eyes get wide and the blood drain from his face. He was right. It would be a nightmare to install. It’s custom printed in Sweden to the scale of your wall. You’ve got one chance to get it right. No do-overs. And it’s not cheap. It’s also so widely used in the design world I thought, "I should do something more original, shouldn't I?"
So, I talked myself out of it and opted for a peel-and-stick mural that would be more feasible to install. My son was born with multiple disabilities, and we were told soon after he was born that he would never walk or talk. Sometime during those early days, his dad had a dream that my son grabbed him by the hand and led him up a steep mountain. When they got to the top he looked out and saw so many things he had never seen before – and it was beautiful.
I always loved that dream and, well, it’s true. This mural brought me back to that dream. We installed it pretty easily, but with time the wallpaper began to slouch and bubble. Then eventually years later a whole panel peeled off. It was time to say goodbye.
Plan A.
I circled back to the forest mural. If I were to make a bar chart that showed the amount of time spent in each room in my house, this room would have the longest bar. Between all three sons watching TV, my oldest son doing his stretches on the futon and his caregivers charting notes at the desk, it gets a lot of use. Which merits something spectacular, right? Plus, my oldest son loves trees. As a baby until now we always try to take the wooded back roads. Watching the sun flicker through the leaves makes his whole face light up with his smile.
Then the question remained: Who could possibly execute this precision wallpaper install? The answer? My dad. From the rose wallpaper in my bedroom when I was 10 to the black and white damask wallpaper going up the stairs in my rowhouse to the bird wallpaper in my current powder room, the results are always flawless. He mercifully agreed to take on the challenge. It took almost a week and was a labor of love. See how the doors are covered as well? That was not easy. He has since proclaimed that this would be the last time he would hang wallpaper.
Sharp X-ACTO knife required.
Last hurrah.
Nurses station.
It looks as good up close...
...as it does from far away.
Isn’t it gorgeous? Now this room feels integrated into his bedroom suite. It feels great being in here and appeals to everyone – parents, caregivers and kids alike. That wallpaper, my friends, is what we classify as not easy to do, but worth it in the end.
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