Colin and Justin Recommend Mural Direct!

As you all know I am an avid supporter of Mural Direct and now I have two big names that agree :) For those of you that have fallen off the face of the earth, Colin  and Justin are two of the greatest designer guys out there in the industry right now. Their eye for design is impeccable and some may argue the best there is. I would agree, seeing as they offered up a recommendation for online store Mural Direct.

Turns out Mural Direct's regal pattern design  tickled their fancy so much so, they now have it gracing their condo walls in Toronto. Word has it that Mural Direct was more than happy to form this relationship with Colin and Justin and are open to the idea of working with them more in the future, but for now go check out what Colin and Justin are all about at colinandjustin.tv. And even better check out what they have to say about Mural Direct here.

Make it Black and White! No Charge

 
Wow! When it comes to a company that listens to its customers, Mural Direct is definitely one of them. There have been countless times when customers shopping for a wallpaper mural love the look and scenery of a design but are afraid the colour won't match the furniture, or sometimes just down right prefer the beauty of simple black and white photography, but find that the option to change the design to black and white simply doesn't exist...until now.

Mural Direct has recently accommodated their manufacturing/buying procedure to allow customers to opt for a black and white version of any mural design on their site for NO EXTRA CHARGE. So basically its like you are getting a custom job for nothing.

When asked why? JC Moore simply states:

We want to offer our customers the flexibility to buy exactly what they are looking for and even though this requires more work on our part we are happy to do it. Having there be no charge is a way to say "we care" not only about quality but about design. We love to help and listen to our customers as best we can after all their suggestions and comments help us out in our continued on going search to find out what is fresh and new in design.

To find out more about this option and how to leave your suggestions and comments simply visit muraldirect.com

My Little Eye Murals

Mural Direct has recently introduced  a line of murals called My little eye Murals. As far as I know no one else in the market place is doing this type of stuff...yet!

These murals are beautifully and carefully designed to be more then just eye candy. Inspired by the universally popular kids game "I spy, with my little eye" These murals are functional as well. Spend some time every day with your child and play.

For right now Mural Direct is offering 8 different themes from animals to toys. Not only can you play "I spy" but also "seek and count" games, like how many eggs can you find in the animal mural. Its never a dull moment with these murals, customize to the size you want. I'm sure kids will be entertained by the shear enormous size of everyday objects.

Not only can these wonderful works of art be great for your home, but schools and hospitals are finding a place for them as well. In their libraries, homerooms,  and day cares, there is no telling where you'll be able to play. Mural Direct is glad to add that twinkle in a child's eye!

Sweep Panorama, Sweet for Murals

Technology makes Mural making easier and better. Sony has recently come up with a new feature in most of their cameras newer models called "sweep panorama". This feature allows the average person to create stunning panoramic images simply by sweeping across the subject. Have a closer look on how this all works.

So you have this feature so what? You cant really do much with these pictures except display them on facebook.

Wrong!

This advancement in technology now allows for amateur photographers to use these files to make custom breath taking full wall murals. Most use the Sony Cybershot DscH55 because of its high 14mpx resolution.

High resolution is key to creating such large murals and usually involves high end equipment.  Custom mural makers, like Mural Direct love the new Sony technology as it takes away the pain staking task of taking several shots and combing them in photoshop to form a panoramic image. Those days are over. With technology like this Mural Direct is one step closer in reaching their goal to have at least one mural in every home.

Window Murals

If you haven't had a chance to look into Mural Direct's window mural collection, I urge you to do so. Window murals are a great way to add a sense of depth to a cramped space. The French call this style “Trompe l’oeil” when translated means “to fool the eye”.

Mural Direct constantly gets customers wanting to add this inexpensive feature to accent a wall in their home. This illusion is made even greater by having a unique scene designed within the window. With window accent murals, even if you’re in a dark dingy room in the basement, you can have an stunning view of just about anything you can imagine. You can even custom make you window by choosing your favorite park or perhaps the actual view of your neighbors house or your own garden!

The prepasted  backing makes it easy to reposition and hang. The standard size of these window murals are 3ft x 4ft so they are simple 2 panel sheets.

An even better tip would be to grab window frame moulding from your local hardware store which are readily cheap depending on how intricate you want the frame to be. Make a few 45 degree cuts to size and you have an even more realistic look. Total time 30 minutes.

Also Mural Direct has been toying around with the idea of making door murals of similar fashion to be  added to their collection in the coming months. I can't wait to see what more wonderfully creative ideas are in store.

Fast, Cheap and Good Wallpaper Murals? How?

There is that old saying, that you can pick two out of the three choices (fast, cheap and good), but not all three. This holds true to most products and services, but not for Mural Direct.  How do they do it?


Fast

They make everything they sell
No painful waiting for your items to get into stock and ship from three different places. They make it all in-house and control every facet of your product creation.

No back orders, ever.
Since they have the equipment and a large warehouse, either they have it in stock or they’ll make it for you next day at the latest. No back and forth with suppliers and middlemen and anybody else, it’s just them and you.

Cheap

No Middleman
With no middlemen markups, they pass the savings directly to you. Please look elsewhere, you won’t find better value for your space. With average price savings of 25% to 50%, you’ll now have some spare money to buy that Blue Ray movie. :)
 

Good

Quality material
Their products are printed in 18.25" (1.5 feet wide) strips using organically pigmented toner based ink. Their non-woven prepasted mural paper contains no VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) and comes prepasted in numbered panels so you can install with just one person in as little as 30 minutes. Each panel overlaps 1/4" for a seamless look. Simply dip in water and smooth it into place with a soft sponge or clean soft rag. You don’t need to buy a bunch of tools you’ll only use once...

When you’re ready to transform your space again, rest assured, their non-woven paper comes clean off the wall in one full sheet with NO MESS, NO TOOLS, NO QUESTION.

Cool designs
That’s up to you to decide after having a peek around ;)

Click here for MURAL DIRECT's online store

It’s really that simple!

 

Muralize your photographs

Yes, you can muralize your photographs!

Muralize is a phrase I coined when it came to making a mural from a photograph I took. I said things like..

wow, I love that landscape shot. I may want to muralize it later.

or

I may want to muralize that wall.

I'm hopeful it will make its way to Webster's dictionary some time soon, but in the mean time lets get to endless possibilities of muralizing your photos.

Technology today has become so advanced that we no longer need negatives to blow up a photo. We can do it digitally. Not only that, wallpaper manufacturers have taken notice and now offer their products printed digitally. This has paved the way for enormous saving for the average home decorator and for the manufacturer, cause now buying in bulk isn't an issue anymore. Traditional times called for company's to design a wallpaper pattern and limit the amount of colours and size in order to run it gravure, which is basically a solid drum that prints the pattern over and over again. This gravure drum is what drove inventory and prices sky high, and continues to do so for some company's today. Running on gravure means, high minimum orders which means designs were limited to appease the taste/style of a select few customers.

Digital printing is what paved the way for the freedom to create what ever style you want at what ever size and amount of colours your mind can think off. Not only that but every day people can become designers as well. How often have you wished to find a particular design to complement your room, but just couldn't find it so you settled for something mediocre. This happens way to often especially with wallpaper art.

Well look no further cause the times have answered the call. Digitally printed wallpaper has paved the way for custom murals. Mural Direct has dominated the market place for this particular product.

We give our customers what they are looking for at an affordable price for a one off print. Most companies and manufactures wont even touch a one off wallpaper print. Their presses just cant handle custom orders. - JC Moore

In addition Mural Direct has been servicing the wall decor industry for over 15 years, so you know you are getting a quality product. Average everyday consumers aren't the only ones taking advantage of this opportunity, pro photographers are as well. Their high end equipment and expertise make way for brilliant high resolution photo murals, suited for offices, businesses, homes, restaurants, you name it. That, and partnering up with Mural Direct as their manufacturer is an awesome gateway into selling their own photo murals retail.

The possibilities are endless for design. After all walls are like great big canvases. Check out Mural Direct custom page to find out more or contact them.

"Say HELLO to my Big Mural"

Straight from film culture to your home. Mural companies are now looking for inspiration for their designs from inside the movies.

Why Not?

Well mural designers have taken notice and have answered back to appease movie theme lovers. Take for instance Mural Direct, whom have upped the antee when it comes to risque unique designs pulled from popular movie themes.

Even actual murals never available to the public before are making there way into homes by savvy designers willing to offer their inspired versions. Take for instance the popularity of the Office scene in 1983's Scarface written by Oliver Stone and Direct by Brian de palma. How can anyone forget the beautiful orange beach sunset mural surrounding Tony Montana as he talks to Frank in his office. Mural Direct has come out with there version of this popular mural in hopes that it will make its way into the office of any scarface fan.


They also look a the popularity with films like Twilight, where the style is more along the macabre, Gothic side.

Twilight Themed

Or how about Fast and the Furious, depicting the popularity of street racing.

Fast and Furious Inspired

Kudos goes out to all those mural designers at Mural Direct willing to try something new and offer an alternative to the common tropical beach scenes. I'm sure Mural Direct will offer many more unique mural designs in the future, and I can't wait to re-visit the site again soon.

Should I buy a cheap Wallpaper Mural?

Good Question?

Here's the nitty gritty on this popular question. A lot has to do with stock and material. There are plenty of wallpaper companies out there and you can get a headache just sifting through them all, most offering the same products at different prices. Some have super low prices and others have super high prices. So how do you find the best design for your buck?

The simple answer  is no you DO NOT want to buy the cheapest wallpaper mural out there. Why NOT? Most wallpaper murals at super low prices are like that for several reasons, but here are a few to consider:

1. Too much in stock - Many wallpaper companies buy in bulk and end up buying a design that no one particularly likes so they try to get rid of them by pawning yesterdays designs at super low prices.

2. The murals are NOT pre-pasted - This means that many cut cost by using cheaper material by buying it in bulk without using pre-pasted backing and those that do may use only a little to cut costs. Which means you are essentially buying durable  poster paper that you have to apply adhesive to at a separate cost.

3. The murals use small pieces NOT panels - If the mural is made of cheap material, chances are they are paneled as square or small rectangle pieces, a few to form the Top portion of the mural and another few to form the bottom. This makes it particularly hard to line up pieces and essentially get a straight looking mural, not to mention the hassle of pasting the pieces first.

So there you go, you don't want to buy the cheapest mural out there, but that being said you don't want to empty out your pockets for one either. My advice would be to try and locate the manufacturer and get quality for your buck. Not only are they the source, but they also know more then anyone else about the product and can answer your questions more easily. Be cautious when it comes to materials like vinyl or strippable, most claim they come off easily, but they really don't. All in all you must look for trust and word of mouth when it comes to mural companies, email them and chat about the product. Those that can't answer your questions about their product or materials are generally re-sellers and the ones you have to give a second thought too. Upon much research I have found the mural direct store to carry all murals that fit the budget. Not only that, all their products are made on request in-house, so you know your getting todays designs, pre-pasted on non-woven mural paper, and paneled like traditional wallpaper. Thumbs up.

Happy mural hunting.

Messy Annoying Paste Myth

NO EXTRA TOOLS REQUIRED

Yes, we all have that story that wallpaper = Messy Paste and even more hell to get off the wall, but to tell you the truth that was way back in the 70's.

This is 2010 everyone, technology has paved the way to a beautiful material called pre-pasted non-woven mural paper. A hand full of people in the wall decor industry have switched to this type cause of its ease of use.

If I were to offer advise to anyone buying wallpaper murals, it would be to make sure your mural wallpaper or any wallpaper for that matter is PRE-PASTED. In this case you only have to add water and put up on the wall. NO EXTRA TOOLS or MESSY PASTE. The pre-pasted backing also acts as a barrier from the wall to the paper. This along with the strong non-woven material makes it great for maneuvering the panels into place.
As for removability, this isn't even any issue anymore. The online mural direct store uses this material exclusively in all their products and can vouch for its easy removability, and some companies even vouch that its re-usable. Depending on how carefully you pull it off, you may be able to move your mural to a different wall in the future. Wow that's like 2 murals in one!

Wallpaper Murals vs. Paint

Why wallpaper instead of paint?
Why not? Is the question.

I found that in recent years wallpaper has made or is making a huge comeback. Being a young father I have many young friends buying and decorating new homes. I have to say, 1 out of every 2 has either considered or has wallpaper in place of paint in their homes. Ha, move over Debbie Travis and Martha Stewart. Most actually used a combination of both. Which is what I did.

I for one have several wallpaper murals and borders around my home. I find they add a lot more flair with less headache then paint. I chose to accent my bedroom wall with an eiffel tower design, to remind my wife and I of our honeymoon. Accenting our wall with a mural made it easier to deal with less paint.

A few months ago I ended buying a can of paint to paint my entire newborn babies room. Man what a headache, both from the fumes and amount of time and effort it took. I actually spent over 12 hours to paint a small room. 1 coat, dry, 2 coat, dry, 3 coat dry, and that doesn't even include the prep time and clean up. Not only that, can I say boring. I designed myself a tree mural and will be putting it up and will also be available on the mural direct store website soon. Check back with my blog in the coming month to see it and many more new designs.

"Putting up a wall mural is so much easier and looks so much better." JC Moore