See how this floral wall decal entirely transformed this little girl's room

Article by Your Home and Garden

A personalised wall decal has transformed this little girl’s room into a whimsical retreat perfect for dreaming and creating

See how this floral wall decal entirely transformed this little girl’s room

Who lives here?
Antony Clark, 32 (director of Your Decal Shop), Jess Cattroll, 31 (director of Your Decal Shop), Lola, 4, and Oliver, 8 months.

When did you move in?
April 2016.

Background

Tell us about your home.
We bought an amazing 1928 character home in Hawke’s Bay. It was renovated to a certain degree when we purchased it. However, we are slowly adding our own style to it. We also have a front studio and a workshop at the back of our home which we have renovated into a space for our business, Your Decal Shop.

What was Lola’s room like before the makeover?
When we first moved in, the walls in Lola’s room were bright blue. It also had turquoise carpet so there was a lot happening! There were double doors which opened into another bedroom, which wasn’t really functional.

What were you hoping to achieve in the room?
We wanted to create a really pretty space for Lola, using her favourite colours. We thought a blank white canvas would work best, with colour added through a wall mural that we could create for her. Over time, we can change the artwork and decals around to transform the room again without having to repaint.

The makeover

What did you change in the room?
We knocked out the double doors to the adjoining room, insulated and plasterboarded, gib-stopped, then sanded and painted. We added new blinds and got rid of the old, dusty curtains which took up so much space. We also redid the light fixtures and added more modern lighting. Then we designed and printed the wall mural.

Did you keep any existing features?
We had such great feedback from people on the colour of the existing carpet so we decided to keep it.

How did you choose the style of the decal?
Personalisation is important as we wanted Lola to feel unique and have something that really related to her. So what could be better than to simply ask her what she liked? When we told Lola, “You can have anything on your wall. What would you like?” she replied, “Flowers!” (We must admit that we were somewhat relieved when she said that!)
We created a little moodboard of different designs and she picked the flowers and colours she liked. We then drew the design, made the decal and put it up on her wall.

The result

What was Lola’s reaction to the finished room?
She instantly put on a bumblebee outfit and started jumping on the bed next to the flower decal, pretending she was flying around. It was hilarious.

Best moment during the process?
Getting that last coat of paint on which completely took the blue out of the room. And styling it is always super fun, too.

How does the new room work for Lola?
Her room is now a hub for all things pretty and creative. She can move easily about the room to draw on tables, play in the kitchen or doll’s house, or grab a book to read.

The legacy

Tell us how you came to sell the decal you made for Lola.
We told Lola, “You know your decal is unique – you’re the only person in the world that has it.” To our amazement, she replied, “I want everyone to have some flowers because they’re the most beautiful in the whole wide world.” For this reason the ‘Lola’s Flowers’ decal is now available in our shop in six sizes (yourdecalshop.co.nz/product/lolas-flowers).

Budget

Did you use tradies or do the makeover yourself?
We are extremely fortunate to have both a gib stopper (Ant’s dad) and a builder (Ant’s cousin) in the family. They did the wall and the plastering and we did the rest.
What was your budget? No budget. We knew what we wanted and went for it. Altogether we spent around $3500, which included building materials from Bunnings, paint, lighting, blinds and accessories.

What did you splurge on?
There are no shortcuts when it comes to quality. We splurged on Lola’s toys, her doll’s house and toy kitchen.

TOTAL: $3500