Not to long ago we were contacted by LM Interiors located in Menomonee Falls Wisconsin to help create a dramatic statement in their new location. This is a new location for LM Interiors and the timeline was short. So how do you take a wall that really isn’t that impressive and really make it stand out?
The first thing we realized is that in the hallway outside the lobby, is a beautiful Cream City brick wall. It looks like the wall at one time was a part of the buildings exterior and it was well aged and worn. Absolutely beautiful. The trick comes in when you try to reproduce an entire wall from a 12″ picture. That is were Optimum Signs comes in. We were able to use the state-of-the-art design software to manipulate a high definition photo of the wall that we wanted to reproduce. A challenge that presented itself was that if you just repeat the photo a pattern appears which is not what you want. So our graphic designer went to work changing each panel to break up the pattern. Then he brushed in additional color and diminished other colors to completely hide any patterns. So now what do you print this on? Vinyl? Wallpaper?
We started by testing the walls. We noticed that even though regular vinyl was sticking to the wall, it lacked the strength to look good for a long time. We tried different kinds of vinyl and realized that the wall was never primed and no matter what we used it would not adhere. So off to the paint store to buy primer. After giving the wall 7 days to dry, we went back with the print . We printed on 3M IJ40 which is designed for textured walls and it definitely did the trick. After about 6 hours of installation we completed a beautiful reproduction of a Cream City brick wall. Now LM Interiors has a wall that brings distinction and most certainly is a talking point in their showroom.
So if you have a need for custom wall coverings, whether vinyl or commercial grade wallpaper, you need to call Optimum Signs at 262.289.9481 or email at info@optimumsignswi.com.
