Riding the Wallpaper Wave With Walls Need Love

 

Nashville-based company WallsNeedLove (WNL) designs and collaborates with artists around the globe to create wall art designs used for wall decals, wallpaper & removable wallpaper, and wall art. WNL makes it simple for the interior designer by offering complimentary wallpaper & wall mural samples for Trade Program members. This makes it easy for interior designers to propose a variety of color swatches and patterns to clients. Don’t see something you like? As a Trade Program member, interior designers can work directly with the WNL Art Director and Graphic Designer to create custom wallpaper or mural design to fit both the needs of the designer and client.

Sarah McCall, WNL leader of Business Development, discusses the growth of the WNL team and their focus on building their Trade Program, the rise of removable wallpaper, and best practices for choosing the right removable wallpaper for a space.

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What’s WallsNeedLove (WNL) all about in 140 characters or less?

At WNL, we believe your environment is an extension of you; creative, enlivening and inspiring. We specialize in removable wallpaper, wall murals and decals, and home decor.

How do you typically work with interior designers?

We have always sought to provide interior designers with a reliable product and hundreds of design options to meet the needs of their clients. We recently revamped our Trade Program and joined the American Society of Interior Designers because we are committed to working with interior designers and trade professionals on a deeper level. We are a small team in Nashville, TN, and our company is growing. I recently joined WNL to lead new Business Development initiatives and to specifically oversee our Trade Program and provide interior designers top-notch, personalized customer service. A new feature of our Trade Program is the ability to work with our Art Director and Graphic Designer to create a custom wallpaper or wall mural design to fit each unique need of the designers’ clients. I love working with interior designers to take their vision further and make it a reality.

In your opinion, why is wallpaper making a comeback?

Wallpaper as a modern decor option is making a comeback thanks to new technology like it being self-adhesive and easy to remove. We are finally starting to see wallpaper shed its old identity of being that gaudy 80s floral design in your Grandma’s house that was difficult and messy to adhere to a wall and impossible to remove. Our removable wallpaper is easy to apply – just peel and stick!

In addition, the DIY, weekend warrior culture is really booming right now with the popularity of Pinterest, Instagram, and shows like Fixer Upper on HGTV. People are drawing a lot of inspiration from bloggers they follow on social media or the shows they are watching on TV and removable wallpaper is so easy to apply, anyone can do it and become a weekend warrior themselves.

Another reason is our millennial consumers. Wallpaper is a new and fun concept for many and it’s the perfect solution a new generation is discovering to express their individuality and make their spaces unique. Plus, oftentimes, young people are on the move (switching jobs and cities much more often than older generations), and they are purchasing homes later in life, so having a temporary decor option that still allows you to express yourself and feel right at home is really appealing.

There are so many reasons removable wallpaper is a trending decor option and we hope folks explore the hundreds of designs we curate at WNL and go for it!

“Wallpaper as a modern decor option is making a comeback thanks to new technology like it being self-adhesive and easy to remove.”

What wallpapers trends do you foresee for 2017?

Two of our featured wallpaper collections that are really popular right now are our Geometric and Art Deco collections. Style is cyclical and with Mid-century modern decor making it’s comeback, these designs fit in really nicely with that motif.

Can you offer 3 tips of “best practices” to interior designers for choosing the right removable wallpaper for a space?

First and foremost, always order a sample. Our wallpaper samples are $2. Our Trade Program members receive free wallpaper and wall mural samples and free Easy Stripe color swatches so you can be sure that what you see online will work in the actual space.

Secondly, wallpaper and wall murals will most likely be the largest design element in the room so it’s important to plan out which design works best with the other decor items you have. For example, if your decor aesthetic is more minimal, a bold print wallpaper in the space may be the perfect balance. Or if you are working with a variety of loud, eclectic pieces, you may want a more clean and simple design on your walls to provide a small accent to the rest of the decor. Whatever look you are trying to achieve, at WNL, we have the art to match it, or, we will work with our Trade customers to come up with a custom design.

Finally, another basic tip for covering walls is deciding what colors work best for the aura or mood you are trying to achieve in a specific room. For example, blues and greens, especially soft hues, are calming and soothing and great for bedrooms, while whites and neutrals give rooms a nice airy, open feel. On the contrast, reds and purples stimulate one’s energy and promote liveliness so you may want to avoid those colors in your bedroom.

“Whatever look you are trying to achieve, at WNL, we have the art to match it, or, we will work with our Trade customers to come up with a custom design.”

What are your best-selling wallpapers, murals, decals and art?

So far, in 2017, our best-selling removable wallpaper designs are Waves of Chic, Pixel Diamonds, The Legend of the Jackalope, Banana Leaf and The Palms in White. We work with bloggers and social media influencers all the time and these are constantly their go-to patterns.

Our top 3 selling wall murals right now are our Misty Forest, Vintage Bouquet and White Washed Brick.

And in terms of our most popular wall decals our Easy Stripe and Polka Dot Design Packs are big sellers for us. In fact, our self-adhesive, reposition-able and removable Easy Stripe is probably our most popular product because it allows you to create endless customized stripe designs, without the hassle of measuring and painting stripes. Our customers use our Easy Stripe product on theirs walls, ceilings, doors, stairs… the list goes on! Our Easy Stripes comes in 10 sizes and 25 colors for infinite possibilities.

And finally, who doesn’t love polka dots? Again, with the flourishing DIY culture, our Design Packs allow our customers to create endless designs because you can arrange the polka dot decals yourself. Our Polka Dots comes in 4 sizes and 25 colors.

Who are some of the up & coming wall art designers that have been making a splash in 2017?

We are glad you asked this. An important aspect of WallsNeedLove’s mission is to support artists worldwide, which we do by sourcing many of our wall art designs directly from individual artists. Every time their design is purchased on one of our products, they receive a commission. We have been seeing some innovative and unique art from all of our featured artists but a few that are really popular right now are Elisabeth Fredricksson and Gulay Day. There is something quippy about Elisabeth’s art deco and geometric art, while Gulay’s industrial patterns with a soft touches of floral and muted colors give off a subtle femininity, which is really unique for the industrial texture look.

Based on your knowledge of the industry and best-selling products, what advice would you offer an artist looking to design wallpaper or art?  

There are so many companies and websites out there these days that feature artists’ original designs on a wide array of products. In working with the artists we feature at WNL, a few things come to mind.

First, determine what your goal is. Is your goal to make money and appeal to “the masses”? Or, is your goal to get your unique point-of-view out there for a niche customer? The fact is, some designs are going to be more popular on wallpaper, and if you design something that is purchased over and over, you will make more money from the commission on sales.

Second, don’t be afraid to self-promote to increase the visibility of your art on the company’s products. Some of our artists are constantly self-promoting their art on their own social media platforms and they tend to see more revenue from that promotion.

What are some new and creative ways to use removable wallpaper? Is it safe to use removable wallpaper in rentals?

We are always amazed at the ways bloggers and influencers we work with creatively use our removable wallpaper. We’ve seen our wallpaper as the backsplash of bookcases, on filing cabinets, as backdrops for home photography studios, on dressers and doors. The list goes on!

And yes, our removable wallpaper is perfect for rentals! It removes clean, so it is a really popular option for folks who want to personalize their space, and don’t want to have the hassle of painting, and then re-painting when it’s time to move.

What’s next for WallsNeedLove?

AT WNL, we strive to stay ahead of the curve. We recently redesigned our website to really highlight and feature our curated wallpaper collections. As you noted, the resurgence of wallpaper is fantastic and we are really trying to keep our wallpaper art and designs fresh and innovative.

Like I mentioned earlier, we’ve expanded our Trade Program so we can provide 1-on-1, personalized service to interior designers. And, we are working to get our products in front of commercial designers and trade professionals, which is something we have not focused on to-date.

Finally, we are constantly trying to launch new products. We have just added a “Custom” option to our website so our customers can upload their own art or photograph and have it printed on our products. For our Trade customers, we will also work directly with you to create a custom design if a client has a specific print in mind and we don’t have it on our site. We will do our best to go find the design and turn it into removable wallpaper.

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