TOP WALL DECORATING IDEAS for 2011

The big surprise in the top wall decorating ideas for 2011 is that there are no big surprises. Several of the top trends mentioned in the lists that I've seen are not what you might call NEW at all. In fact, some esteemed members of the decorating community are scratching their heads and have been heard to say that the list of 2011 decorating trends was more a collection of wall decorating techniques that were old-fashioned or "out of style" than a collection of trendy colors, decorations and designs!

Take wallpaper as an example, for several years now home decorators have been avoiding rolls of wallpaper like the plague! In the 1980s and early 1990s perfecting proper wall-prepping and suffering through the trials of dipping pre-pasted wallpaper into those irritating little troughs of water was THE way to get the ultimate in wall decor. We finally said "ENOUGH" and began to explore wall painting techniques and the versatility of wall decals and stickers.

Well, it was good while it lasted but it seems that wallpaper, especially plaid and floral patterns and wallpapers with whimsical themes designated for baby's nursery walls and kids' bedroom walls, is making a big comeback. Big, full-size wallpaper murals are also one of the top wall decorating ideas for 2011 that are mentioned as being a growing trend along with with my personal favorite, peel and stick wall decals.

PAINT

Talk about old-school; plain, old-timey wall paint was mentioned as another item on the list of top wall decorating ideas for 2011! The only thing new here is that traditional shades of pink and blue have trendy new names like honeysuckle and sky. I gather that whoever comes up with these wall paint color names never heard of yellow honeysuckle? In fact, where I live yellow is the most common color, but I digress.

GREEN and WHITE NURSERY DECOR

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As you can see, the main feature of the green and white nursery decor that you see in the pictures are the painted lime green and white stripes on the nursery walls. In addition to the stripes on the walls, there is a very unique tree with a rope defining the outline of its branches that reach across the top of the walls and over the window, an original painting of a princess (a likeness of the baby girl's mom) kissing a frog and a painting of a large castle.

The green wall paint color and wall painting ideas all work together to create a unique frog prince nursery theme. The green and white nursery decor and painted stripes on the wall give the room a crisp, tailored style that is softened by the whimsical art created by two loving parents.

JUNGLE WALL MURALS

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Is this one of the most adorable jungle wall murals you have ever seen or what? I can't decide which of the jungle animals that I love the best, the purple hippo, the big blue elephant or the cute lion, giraffe or tiger. All of the animals in the mural are painted with such sweet expressions on their faces and such charming features that they tug at your heartstrings.

Unlike jungle murals where the animals blend into the jungle scenery, this mural artist chose to paint the animals and colors that would virtually guarantee that they were the standouts of the painting with the lush, leaves, palm trees and undergrowth taking a back seat.


We just have one picture of the wall but the artist that was nice enough to share her wall painting ideas with us tells us that the ceiling as well as the nursery walls are also painted! This artistic lady drew all of the details of the artwork directly on the walls herself without using a projector or stencil. With the help of her husband she took charge of outlining the animals in the wall mural and mixing the paint colors while her husband 'filled-in' the images with the bright and cheerful colors that we see. We love this jungle mural believe that any child would enjoy having such a great mural in his or her room!

PARISIAN WALL DECOR

The Parisian wall decor that you see in the pictures consists of two elegant black chandelier decals and the pictures taken from the children's book "Eloise in Paris" that was published in the late 1950s. The two are a perfect blend of New York chic and French style which is especially fitting since the story takes place in New York and hotel rooms in Paris.

The framed wall art are pages that were salvaged from a book but you can find plenty of art prints without getting all dusty and dirty on a scavenger hunt in second hand stores or by spending the best part of your weekend haunting flea markets. Posters featuring fabulous views of the City of Lights and pictures of the Eiffel Tower from every vantage point you ever dreamed of can be found for less than $10! Figure in the cost of a pair of chandelier wall decals and you will still have bragging rights on your remarkable but cheap Parisian wall decor. If you have some Paris apartment style wall decorating ideas that you would like to share, just leave them in the comments section!

PINK STRIPED WALLS

SEE MORE IDEAS FOR PAINTING STRIPES HERE!

Painting pink striped walls in the nursery and in girls' rooms of all ages is a great way to give walls more personality and pizzazz! You can alternate stripes in wide stripes, narrow stripes, vertical stripes or horizontal stripes. It really makes little difference whether you paint them up and down or sideways they will make the entire bedroom look more tailored and stylish.

VERTICAL STRIPES or HORIZONTAL?

Make your pink stripes work for you! Bring the ceiling height down to make the room cozy by painting horizontal lines. Paint vertical stripes to make those traditional eight foot tall ceilings seem taller making a tight space seem airy.

HOW WIDE SHOULD I MAKE THE STRIPES ON MY WALL?

The width of the stripes that you create on your pink striped walls is determined by the size of the room. As an example, no matter how much you love stripes it would be a mistake to paint bold pink stripes in a small room. For a small bedroom, less contrast in your pink paint colors is best. The idea is to create a backdrop for the furnishings of the room not a design that will overpower and compete for attention. Another tip for making a small bedroom seem larger is to paint WIDE pink stripes, since wider stripes make a room seem bigger.


HOW TO CHOOSE 2 PINK PAINT COLORS

As always, I recommend choosing your wall paint color according to an inspiration piece. Take your inspiration piece or fabric swatches to the paint store. The best way to insure that your shades of pink are perfect for each is to take a dark pink and then a lighter shade of pink from the same paint sample card. And if you have never experimented with paint glazes, this may be the best time ever to do some research because nothing is more lovely than a combination of salmon pink and pale shrimp pink glazes to create alternating light and dark pink striped walls.

If you are having trouble choosing color or style, there are many pictures of pink striped walls to help you make a decision.

TWIN NURSERY WALL IDEAS

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The twin nursery wall ideas that you see in the above picture are pretty amazing. So much so that they took 1st place in a baby nursery photo contest. At first glance, you might see a nursery for twins and think, "That's cute, but there's nothing that I couldn't do myself". And you would be absolutely correct; no fancy wall painting techniques to learn, no wallpaper to hang. There's not even a wallpaper border, a chair rail or painted woodwork! But the color scheme and overall nursery design works so well that it won first place in a nursery decorating contest!

This twin nursery is painted in a soft, sage green paint color with some framed artwork over the baby crib and a simple black and white window valance, nothing fancy. I decided to take a look at the twin nursery pictures and imagine a complex pattern painted on the nursery walls. When I tried it, I just didn't like how the wall dominated those adorable twin boy and girl art prints. I even pulled my portfolio of twin nursery wall ideas to see if I could find a color or wall painting technique that I might prefer over the solid green paint and failed.

I took this as a reminder that the design of stunning wall decor does NOT have to be complicated. There are times when simplicity is the best route to take.

FARM WALL DECALS

Farm wall decals with horses, cows, pigs, chickens and maybe a John Deere tractor rolling into the barn have found their way not only onto the nursery walls and into kids' bedrooms but I've noticed a "farm fresh" wall mural or two in some of the finest cooks' country kitchens.

By farm fresh, I mean decals and stickers featuring farm animals and chickens with freshly laid eggs and cute yellow ducks marching to pond shaped stickers followed by a straight line of baby ducklings. Does this indicate a resurgence of country home decor that was so very popular a decade or so ago? Are decorators searching for farm wall decals and artwork that will take urban dwellers back to their roots?

I don't see modern decor being replaced by rural scenes just yet, but I'm digging out my portfolio of farm wall painting ideas to refresh my memory just in case I'm hit with a run of requests for farm wall murals.

NOAHS ARK NURSERY WALL

Noahs Ark nursery wall decor isn't limited to Noahs Ark wallpaper. In fact, it would be a shame to use wall border and overlook the adorable decals and stickers that you can use to make your own custom wall mural.

Rather than focus on one single style of artwork or wall decorations, since the selection of possibilities is so vast (and so cute!) it would be so much more interesting to use a variety of wall hangings. Start with the best wall color or wallpaper, (rustic grass cloth wallpaper would be nice) as a background, decide on a border, art prints and a collection of Noah's Ark wall decals and hang the big items first, always taking care to pick pieces that will complement the color and style of the Noahs Ark baby bedding that you chose for the baby's bed. After the large pieces are in position surround them with arrangements of small posters and/or art prints.

Here's an example of how to decorate a Noahs nursery wall that will serve as a focal point in your baby's room. Start by hanging one large, framed poster over the head of the crib and then hang smaller framed art prints evenly spaced, either on its sides or at its top or bottom.

If your wall decorating ideas trend towards a free-form style; an eclectic mix of decals, stickers AND art prints might be more pleasing to your taste.

GOTHIC FAIRY WALL ART

This fine example of gothic fairy wall art is, as you can see, a wall mural that was painted in a baby's room. There's nothing evil or menacing about the fairy princess reclining on the grass surrounded by woodland creatures.




In fact, the raven haired fairy is rather enchanting with her gossamer wings and sassy black boots. The pink flowers contrast very nicely with the bright, green grass and gives the painting an ethereal, peaceful feeling while the psychedelic (?) mushroom positioned to the side and the blackbirds flying overhead are what give the gothic fairy wall art a unique personality filled with fantasy.

I can imagine a new mother rocking her infant beneath the multi-colored mushroom painting that defines this unusual fairy nursery theme. We aren't able to see the cap of the mushroom, but if we could I wouldn't be surprised to see Absolem the hookah smoking caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland as a companion to the fairy princess in the painting, would you?

PAINTING WAVES ON WALLS

As you can see from this example, you don't need much artistic abililty to start painting waves on walls. A simple one-piece stencil pattern is all you need to paint the walls of your baby's nursery or your kids' bedroom in an ocean theme theme rather than wrestling with wallpaper border or (YIKES) trying to paint the design free handed!

If it's realistic looking waves of the type that send surfers running for the beach, wall size murals might be best for your decor than the above wave mural which is better suited for kids' rooms or a baby's nursery wall.The wave wall mural featuring the ocean and the whitecapped waves beneath an azure blue sky is the perfect complement for a modern style of decor and will provide a beautifully colorful background for your contemporary living room sofa.

Face it,painting waves on walls such as these would require hiring a mural artist with considerable skills (read: expensive!) and many hours with the artist in your home not to mention the drop cloths and paint fumes. Why put yourself through it when you can have one of these wall size murals hung in a matter of minutes?

DECORATING WITH CHALKBOARD PAINT

The beauty of decorating with chalkboard paint is that for just a few dollars you can have a fully functional chalkboard on the walls of your baby's nursery or in any room of your home. You can make chalkboard paint the focal point of any room with no more effort than it would take to paint the wall in colors.

And unlike your average, run of the mill wall paint chalkboard paint is made to write on! The only problem that I've had with my chalkboard walls is having to explain to my girls why they could write on some walls and not others.

HOW TO PREP THE WALLS FOR CHALKBOARD PAINT

Step 1 - You must prepare the walls that you have chosen to decorate with chalkboard paint in much the same way that you would if you were using any other paint. It's necessary to clean and smooth the wall as well as putty any existing nail holes.

Step 2 - Use painter's tape to isolate the area of your chalkboard. Applying a coat of dark tinted primer on the area of the wall where you want the chalkboard is recommended if you are using a dark color paint.


The last step - After you are SURE that the paint is dry take a large stick of chalk (I used sidewalk chalk) and "color" your chalkboard and then wipe the chalk off. This process is a sealer insuring that whatever is written and drawn in the future can be erased, leaving no "shadows".


That's all there is to the application process; it's not very exciting, is it? It's decorating with chalkboard paint that's a blast! Some people prefer using Krylon spray paint rather than applying the paint to the walls using a paint brush or roller but I haven't tried it.

MAGNETIC WALL PAINT

MAGNETIC CHALKBOARD PAINT takes the concept a step further. Not only can your children write on the walls, they can take advantage of its magnetic properties to create 3D masterpieces by attaching their artwork to the surface.


COLOR

The most popular CHALKBOARD PAINT COLORS are black (if you consider black a color), blue and green. I prefer using black when decorating with chalkboard paint because it is both versatile and neutral.

However, you can actually make chalkboard paint in ANY COLOR that you need for your room and the instructions for this wall painting technique are easy to follow.