Show Me the Monet

 

 

As most of you know, I have just moved into a new place.  These past six months have been some of the hardest in my life.  I would have never thought that at the age of sixty five I would be starting over again with nothing.  I had been saying for the last ten years or so that I needed to minimize and de-clutter, but I never got around to it.  

Life has a way of surprising of you when you least expect it.

So these past months I have been busy sorting myself out, finding a place to live and then furnishing it, decorating it, etc.  I have a ways to go still, but I am slowly getting there.

Its a funny thing. When you think about starting afresh you never thing about having to start with even the most miniscule of belongings.  I mean, I had practically nothing.  I have had to completely re-fit my kitchen with the basics, and my house for that matter.

That's why I was really excited recently when a Swedish company called Photowall contacted me and asked did I want to try out their product.  I wasn't entirely sure that they actually delivered goods to Canada, but I was excited to find out.  It turns out that they do!  Count me in! 

So who are Photowall?  They are a company based in Sweden who manufactures and sells wall paper, prints, canvases, etc. The company was started back in 2006 by two brothers, but I will tell you more about that in a bit.  First I want to tell you about my experience.

Let me tell you, I was pretty spoilt for choice when it came for me to choose something to try. I looked at literally everything on their site. There is an abundance of things to choose from. I knew I didn't want wall paper, because being in a rental I wasn't sure what I was allowed to put on the walls in that respect and I am pretty happy with the color of my walls as they are.

I do love art and of course have very little to put on my walls.  I really love the great Masters, especially Monet. It was a hard choice to make, but I finally settled on this one.  It had the right color scheme which I felt would go with my personality and my furniture.  I knew it wouldn't clash.  I decided to order a canvas.  I didn't want to have to buy frames and stuff, and I knew that it wouldn't be in my budget to do so yet.  A canvas like this means I don't need a frame. 

 

 

I ordered and surprisingly it was here within just a few days of my ordering it. I think it was about 5 days. I should have written it down, but I forgot to.  I know it arrived very quickly, and there was a holiday weekend in there as well.  

I got notification from the courier that they would be delivering my package and was expecting that it was going to be huge.  When it arrived, I was really amazed at the size of the package!  Wow.  A 150cm by 120cm canvas in such little packaging. It was long to be sure, but wow! 

How was this going to work out?  I had been expecting a full canvas.  

  

 

 

Inside the long box was everything to "build" the framework of the canvas along with the canvas, very neatly rolled up in a protective paper wrapper. All of the packaging was recyclable, which I was very impressed with.

All of the hardware was included, along with a heavy duty hook for hanging it.  I was a little flummoxed because I have never been really good at putting things together, but I knew who was.

My sister. She is great at putting things together. She has a real eye and a talent for this type of thing.  She used to work in a mill, putting together, assembling wood doors.  I called upon her to help and she was happy to come over and put her skills to work! 

 

 

This is the genius at work.  (She didn't want me to show her face.  Why are we always so worried about how we look.  I think she's beautiful.) As you can see she is an expert at these things.  

First she measured from the corners for accuracy when putting the wooden bits of the framework on.  I have to say the instructions enclosed with the kit were very easy to follow. 

 

 

There were four stretcher bars to stretch the canvas over.  Each one had a side with double backed sticky tape on it to place upon the canvas for stretching.  The instructions were very clear about how to position these!

I liked that and so did sis! 

 

 

It didn't take her long to get each of them in place and folded over so that they fit snuggly against each other.   So often you will get things such as this that you need to put together and things won't fit together just right.

These did.  Bonus!  There was no fiddling about with them! 

 

 

Once we had the stretcher bars positioned, we needed to apply these metal braces to the insides of them which were used to join the stretcher bars together.

These were fitted with screws which had plastic heads, very easy to screw into the holes which had been pre-drilled into the stretcher bars.  Everything fit perfectly and snuggly. 

 

 

It didn't take very long to do this part of it at all. And my sister is very pedantic about things like this. So if it didn't take her long, then you know its not a hard job to master at all.

Before we knew it, all was in place and we were ready to lift the canvas up to see the end result. 

 

And this was the end result!  A beautiful large canvas ready to hang on my wall.  I was actually quite surprised at how very large it was!!  I hadn't realized just how big a 150cm by 120cm is! Its huge!  But that is a really good thing because I had a really large empty wall to put it on.

I was so happy with this painting!  The colors in it were just beautiful.  I was over the moon.  My sister is an artist herself and she has really piqued my interest in impressionist art over these last six months.  I  had bought her pear painting that she did,  and I felt this was Monet going to be a wonderful addition to my home! 

 

 

And there it is hanging on my wall!  It goes perfectly with everything else in the room. I am so, SO  in love with this. (Sorry for the light from the window on it, I haven't gotten around to getting curtains yet, but I have plans for them!) 

This canvas was the perfect addition to my home and I am well pleased with how it fits in.  Actually I am well pleased with the whole process I went through to get it. I am pretty sure I will eventually be ordering some more art from them, maybe even some wall paper at some point.  Its been a pleasant experience all round.  

 

 

Ordering it was really easy.  You simply find what you want from their vast variety of options to choose from.  Then you decide if you want it as wall paper or as a print.  Once you have done that, you only need to choose the size or amount that you want.  Easy peasy! 

The process of choosing and ordering it was totally uncomplicated.  I really liked that.  Too many companies these days make you jump through too many hoops.  They have this whole process streamlined! 

 

 

From their page: We believe that the walls of a room affect how we feel. You'll find the perfect wallpaper and prints for you in our collection. We are passionate about helping you transform your home to reflect your personality.  

The idea of Photowall was born in 2006 when brothers Niklas and Charlie Johansson realised that the selection of personalised wall art on the market was relatively limited. 

With their technical background and a keen interest in design, they decided to try something new – printing wallpaper digitally. Without any previous printing experience, the brothers bought their very first digital printing press in 2006 – and Photowall was born! 

A company focused on quality, creative design and custom-made products. Photowall is now an established company with its own factory and offices in Skarpnäck near Stockholm, Sweden. From the very beginning, it has been driven by the desire to create and constantly test new ideas. 

 

Creativity and design for you 

Our customers style their interiors with wallpaper and canvas prints they love and that express their unique personal style. 

We are always on the lookout for new designers, famous brands and innovative illustrators so we can offer the most inspiring wall designs. 

We want to give everyone the opportunity to express their creativity on all their walls with just the right personalized motifs and patterns. 

We see walls as a giant canvas where our customers can be creative with colors and shapes. 

Digital printing technology makes it possible to create almost anything, whether it’s a personal photo, a wallpaper pattern that covers the entire wall or a print. As a fully digital company, we can instantly print a unique order to your measurements. (I love LOVE this idea!  I think I may explore this option!) 

 

 

 

At our wall mural factory we strive to minimize our environmental impact, and our environmental approach permeates everything we do. All production is to order, which means we only produce the quantity of products required, none are held in stock or discarded unnecessarily. 

The printing ink we use for our wallpapers contains no solvents or hazardous chemicals, and is biodegradable. Waste material from our processes is recycled by environmental entrepreneur Hans Andersson Recycling AB.  

I love LOVE that they are environmentally aware and like I said, there was nothing in the packaging that was not completely recyclable.  I was very pleased about that. 

 

 

Overall, I have to say that I have been incredibly impressed with this company, with their Ethos, with their delivery service, with their packaging, with their product.   Excellent printing quality and service with incredibly fast shipping.  I highly recommend this company and their products.

I will be ordering from them again.  at some point. I guarantee! 

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Many thanks to Photowall for having afforded me this opportunity to try out their product!  I was offered free product in exchange for an honest review.  Photowall gets The English Kitchen Two Thumbs up stamp of approval on all counts!! 

I am also excited to tell you that to show their appreciation Photowall would like to give you this 25% discount code !  It will be valid from June 23 through August 31, 2021: theenglishkitchen2021  

Just add the code at checkout! 

@photowall_sweden #photowallsweden #interior #wallpaper #wallpaperdesign #style #decor.