Wallpapering with Photo Murals Inspiration from Real Homes

This is one of those design ideas that you see all the time in magazines or catalogs and less frequently in real life, but there some clever ways to adapt the concept to your own space. We combed the archives for examples from homeowners who have applied photo murals in several different ways — to conceal sliding doors, dress up an alcove, or draw attention to a main wall.

If you've got an empty wall, a photo mural can create a focal point or even make a small room seem larger. Websites like designyourwall.com or muralsyourway.com can work with you to create custom wallpaper or pre-designed patterns from a high-resolution photograph.

You can also go the DIY route and use the Rasterbator, an online program that will blow up a photo for you and piece it out into small, printable sections.

For details on the spaces above and the ideas shown, click through the photos and captions, as well as the linked tours below.

HOMES SHOWN ABOVE
• Kim's One Room at a Time
• Richard and Julie's Elegant Industrial Loft
• Galen's Ad-Hoc Apartment for the Arts
• Meg and Ross' Life in Logan Square

RELATED POSTS
• Wallpaper Murals: Traditional and Contemporary

Photos: Kim Johnson, Sarah Rainwater, Ann Manubay, Dabney Frake, Evan Thomas

Comments (12)

Kim has definitely done it the best in my books. Every time I go to Desire to Inspire, I find myself checking out her house tour, just so I can admire what she has done with her living room. (That new kitchen of hers isn't too shabby either..)

Laura
http://www.justalittlebit.net

I agree with Laura in wishing that we could bottle Kim's style. Only this arvo, I was swooning over her kitchen/kilim shot. And she's lovely, too.

We used a really lovely photomural of the Neuschwanstein castle in Lichtenstein (very "Disney") in an office whare I once worked. (I found it in a mail order catalog and it took a lot of persuading to get them to buy and install it.) It was put on an angled wall just about the same size as the mural, facing a service desk, and it was a lot of fun -- everybody enjoyed it! Something a bit unexpected and light and bright in an area with too few windows.

I would be really picky about choosing a photo mural, 99% of them I'd hate, but I couldprobably find a spot for the right one. (I've thought of using that iconic photo of the Earth from space in a dining alcove, for instance.)

SherryBinNH - Neuschwanstein is in southern Germany. And Mad Ludwig didn't copy Disney when he commissioned the castle. The Sleeping Beauty castle, which is supposed to be based on Neuschwanstein, was built about a century later.

I stayed at the Penguin and President hotel on South Beach a couple of months ago and they remodeled every room with modern decor and one mural wall. It was cool at first but after a few days i was already tired of it. Can't imagine doing one in my own home.

The heck with the mural - those throw pillows are great!

Hah! this should be "decorating with Cats"

My parents have a photo wallpaper in their kitchen wall (there was really nothing else to do with it, very awkward huge wall!) and in the media room. It actually looks great and fits the furniture and overall decor of those rooms really well. I had my doubts about it but I think they've turned out to be great ideas for the spaces.

This is the most impressive use of a photo mural I've ever seen: http://www.baumraum.de/index.php?pid=&articleID=502&galleryID=848.

It's from http://www.berlintapete.de who have some really gorgeous photo murals, Check out their references (by year) for some stunning examples and some very good ideas for usage.