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We hope you enjoy these articles on the Frieze Frame Murals.

    The creator is a very energetic and enthusiastic Englishman named Roger Hayes.   Living in Birkenhead, England, Roger Hayes started everything about fifteen years ago when his son, Charles, was just a toddler.  Roger wanted a train mural for his son's room and found that his choices were limited to a simple border about 6 inches high that repeated every two feet.  After checking every store for other alternatives, Roger decided he saw an opportunity to fill a niche.

     After creating several sketches of the current Railway mural, Roger found art studio people to produce the art work and then the fun began.  To convert the idea to a finished product, Roger had to bring together a wide and diverse collection of companies, each of whom had a particular job to do in the complex process of getting to a finished product.   When the mural was finally printed, "the result was awful," Roger said.  "The engine was a horrible burgundy color, instead of bright red and the detail was blurred and fuzzy."

     With precise attention to detail and a great deal of effort, Roger was able to find the correct paper and the right type of ink, as well as solving all of the other little problems that occurred, to where the finished product was exactly what he wanted.  Buoyed by that sucess, Roger then created the Woodlands mural for his daughter.  The Jungle theme became the third mural in his collection soon after.  He asked a very popular British television personality in the art field to promote the murals.  Not only did the person agree to promote them, he actually created the Underwater World artwork for Roger's fourth mural design. 

    Pretty soon Roger was able to get his products into a few small stores and one day, a local television production company called about doing a show on his murals.  Before long, Roger was getting calls from retail companies in Europe.  Apparently, people in Belgium and the Netherlands had seen the show with Roger's murals and went to their local wallpaper store to buy one.  The stores had no idea what these murals were, but needless to say, they were anxious to get the product. 

     Not everything went according to plan.  Roger had many setbacks and pitfalls and some difficulties that were almost insurmountable.  But he carried on and refused to quit.  Now his business in the UK has expanded into a complete one-stop solution for children's interior decorating and furnishings needs.  Roger now manufactures custom beds and furniture for children, as well as carpet, paint and decorating accessories.  And we here at FunDecorForKids.com are thrilled to be able to offer his mural designs to the U.S. and Canadian markets.

     The truth is a resounding "Yes, you can!".  It really is simple enough for an 8 year old child to do.  We know, because we have seen it done more than once.  At a recent consumer show in Charlotte, North Carolina we did a 45 minute stage presentation to show how to put up one of our murals.  We had just started the presentation when an 8 year old girl in the audience said in a loud voice, "Wow, that's cool!".  We asked her if she wanted to help us on stage.  Her face beamed as she jumped up and started helping us apply the pieces.  Within a minute or two we had her actually applying the paste and then positioning the features and figures on the wall.  It was that simple!

     These murals are usually displayed on the wall(s) between 3 feet and five feet above the floor.   Furniture, beds, toyboxes and many other things sitting on the floor usually block the view below three feet.  Many people will paint the wall(s) before putting up the mural to add some realistic effect.  This usually means painting a blue sky color and a color for the ground, or track in case of the Grand Prix mural.  We recommend drawing a line about 5 feet above the floor and painting blue sky above it and ground color (or track color) below.  

     The first step in this basic process starts with positioning the upper border.  For the Jungle, Prehistoric Park, Teddy Bears Picnic murals, this is the distant mountain range border.  For the Grand Prix mural it is the tree line/Grand stand/Pit row building pieces.  These are placed on the 5 foot high line between the sky color and the ground (or racetrack) color.  The second border is the bottom border in the scene (foliage in Teddy Bears, Jungle and Prehistoric Park and the Checkerboard strip in the Grand Prix).  This lower border is usually placed at the 3 foot above the floor level. 

     The second step is to place the larger appliques.  We suggest placing some scotch tape on the back and begin placing them on your walls.  This way you can move them and get a visual feel for how the appliques will look before you apply them to the wall.  One suggestion with the Jungle, Prehistoric Park and the Teddy Bear is to place the larger figures closer to the bottom border and place the smaller figures closer to the mountain border.  This will give the mural scene some perception of depth.  Once you are happy with your creation then apply wallpaper paste and place them on your walls.  The exception is the Underwater World mural this design place the larger fish closer to the ceiling and the smaller schools of fish in and out or around the seaweed. 

     The third step is to make sure that you wipe off the excess wallpaper paste.  Use luke warm water and a clean cloth.  And that is it.  

     These murals are fantastic because of the flexibility and creativity they allow.  I remember a customer calling me after she created her Underwater World and she said "I love this mural because it is so forgiving."  Honestly, it is easy as 1,2,3 and we know you will have a great time creating your own mural. 

Article Four:  "Rooms That Are Fun For Kids" , published by Urban Home Magazine in Charlotte, NC:  Vol 5 No 1

     Here is a link to the article in The Urban Home Magazine in the 1st Quarter 2005 issue.

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