One of the best things about miniature builds is the fact that you can try all sorts of things you might not try in your real life home. This beautiful tile mural shower is so lovely, but it would likely be pricey to install and so specific that you might turn off buyers if you decided to sell your home. Of course, you wouldn’t worry about the latter if it was in the dream home you finally managed to achieve. :D
I thought something as expressive as a mural shower would fit right in at The Artist’s Studio. If the original above came from an existing art source, I couldn’t find it after numerous image searches. If anyone recognizes it or knows of something similar, please let me know.
In the absence of being able to replicate that image in miniature, I did find some fun things along the way, from wallpaper borders to scrapbook paper to desktop wallpaper images. I printed the ones I found online and made color copies of the scrapbook papers to make mockups for your viewing enjoyment. The shower base from The Dolls House Emporium measures 3.5″ square, so the tile mural will be 7″ overall, with an inside corner.
So you could get the full effect with the bathroom color, I cut the Canson Ivory drawing paper for the bathroom but haven’t glued it in place. I’m using a pedestal sink instead of the wall sink for now. I don’t know where the sink will end up on the inside wall, and I don’t want to mar the paper by taping the wall sink in place.
Option 1 – Fish-o-Rama
This is scrapbook paper called Turmeric by Jillibean Soup.
I moved the paper around until I found a fun grouping. The subtle dotted pattern doesn’t show in my color copy. It’s definitely quirky and cute, but even still, the fish seem too sparse on this small sampling.
Option 2 – La Cage aux Folles (the birdcage)
Has anyone seen the 1978 French film by that name? I just love it. The American version The Birdcage is good, too, but the 1978 film is simply awesome! :D Anyway, this is scrapbook paper called Hummingbird By Kaiser Craft.
I used the upper right corner with the birdcage. Again, the color copy loses the subtle stripes in the background. With the cut, there’s a design on only one side and I’m not sure birdcages work with a shower. It would make a lovely wall mural in a regular room, though.
Option 3 – Hummingbirds in full color
This is a wallpaper border from Wallpaper – Inc. I’ve printed from the thumbnail, so it’s very blurry. You can get samples, and if I decide on this option that is what I will do. Maybe too out of scale.
There are a few groupings along the pattern repeat, so this is another option. Seems too busy.
Option 4 – Chinoiserie inspired hummingbird
This is actually an iPad wallpaper. I miscalculated and made this mockup too small, but it works well enough to show the concept. The bird will be slightly larger when printed to the correct size, though it would be better if there were more flowers.
I like this one for its similar tone of the original, but I don’t know how I feel about those silhouetted boaters eyeing me in the shower. :O
Option 5 – Hummingbird in green
This is a desktop wallpaper called Hummingbird on White from 1ms.net. This one is lovely for its simplicity, and the green goes so well with the Ivory paper. This is another close but not perfect solution. I wish more of the branches fit into the sample and that the bird’s wings were more defined.
Thoughts? Do you prefer any one over the others? Should I scrap these and keep looking? I might have to draw it myself. :D
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As this year comes to a close, I offer my sincere thanks for all the warm wishes and generous compliments you’ve sent my way. Being part of this worldwide community is another great thing about minis, and you’ve all brought so much happiness to my life! Happy New Year!!!! :D
