Mum Saves £100s Creating Underwater Wall Mural For £50 Using Etsy Stickers
- Claire, 42, wanted a temporary solution for her daughter’s bedroom
- She picked up wall stickers from Etsy to create an under the sea theme
- Other bargains she got include a £10 cabinet from Marketplace which she upcycled
When you’re staying in temporary accommodation, it can be hard to make the place look the way you want it to. One mum found herself in this position when she was faced with blank walls in her daughter’s bedroom - but she came up with a budget-friendly solution.
Claire Vernon, 42 from Teddington, Greater London who has two children aged 3 and 7 and posts on Instagram as @housekidscats, told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: ‘We are staying somewhere for a couple of months while we’re in the process of moving house. My little girl was really upset to leave her rainbow room, so I wanted to do something to decorate her room here.
‘I follow a few Instagram accounts of people who rent properties. While I didn’t use any of their ideas specifically it gave me the inspiration to look for solutions of my own! I decided to look for removable wall stickers, as we weren’t allowed to paint or wallpaper the walls.
‘My little girl loves all wildlife and is particularly interested in sea life at the moment, so she was very keen to have an under-the-sea theme. She also wanted to move away from pink, which is apparently no longer her favourite colour!
‘I got the removable wall stickers from a supplier on Etsy.com who posts on Instagram as Olianda. This seller was offering a range of peel-off wall decals for kids, and there were lots of under the sea themes. The pack I got included a whale, turtle, jellyfish, two rays and a range of starfish, corals and small fish. It was great value for money as the stickers are huge - the whale is the biggest and measures just under 50 inches by 30 inches!
‘I was able to save money by picking up a bedside cabinet from Facebook Marketplace - it was a bargain price at £10 and I upcycled it using pink leftover paint from my previous bedroom project, where my daughter and I painted a rainbow onto her old wall.
‘To match the underwater theme, I got some starfish drawer handles from Amazon. Some of the options are priced as much as £20 but there are some cheaper ones, such as £3.50 for a pack of two. This is much more budget friendly, you just have to wait a little longer as it doesn’t come with Prime delivery but this is often worth it in the long run.
‘The project was fairly simple - the steps were to put the wall stickers up, paint the cabinet, replace the drawer handles and put up the bed canopy which I already had. Some of the wall stickers are very large and it became a two person job to put up the whale!
‘If I was going to do this again, I would plan out where the stickers were going to go before putting them up on the wall. I winged it, which worked out fine. It turns out I will be repeating this project in the new house, as my daughter has said she wants exactly the same when we move - so that’s one less decorating decision!
Tom Church, Co-Founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, said: ‘Wall decal stickers are a great way to make a room look brighter without spending too much money. It’s much cheaper than getting an artist in to create a mural painting - according to CheckATrade, prices can be as much as £190 per day! Here are my top tips for ensuring you get the best results if you choose to apply wall stickers in your home.
- ‘Clean the wall surface beforehand. You don’t want to have debris ruining the look of your wall.
- ‘Use a squeegee to apply the decal to the wall after sticking it on. This will ensure it attaches properly.
- ‘Take your time. Peel off any transfer tape slowly to avoid taking the decal with it!’