Transforming our home with wallpaper from Photowall of Sweden

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The start of my wallpaper installation courtesy of Photowall delivered to the Philippines direct from Sweden was on the 15th of September 2020.

I have to thank DHL for the swift delivery since the estimated arrival was actually on the 17th! Yet it was a surprise that it got to our home two days earlier.

Photowall is a brand all the way from Sweden. They sent the wallpaper along with a kit containing tools to install it.

The 20sqm wallpaper was installed at our other home in Montalban, Rizal. It took me 4 days but only because we had other tasks to do. The actual installation only took us two days, but it's also possible to install it within just one day if we dedicated our full time solely on it.

Surprisingly, the paste (a pack of powder paste mixed with 1 gallon of water) did not harden even after an overnight.

My chosen wallpaper theme for our newly renovated home in Montalban was "Native Tapestry". Paninindigan ko na ang pagiging Pambansang Blogger ko...hehehe.

I ended up choosing the Native Tapestry design to be consistent with my Philippine theme for Wazzup Pilipinas. The design looks and feels very close to home.

I patiently browsed through all 200 pages of wallpaper designs. I must admit this was not my first choice since I probably selected at least 10 favorites on my first browse, but after another browse, I finally decided on this.

It will be easier to work around with this design just in case I make a mistake in installation.

I chose the Premium quality which adds $3 per square meter to the standard cost. The Premium features an extra layer that gives it a matt finish. It is extra-resistant to scrapes and does not reflect sunlight.

Total cost for around 20 square meters of wallpaper is $696 (value in peso depends on the current dollar to peso conversion rate).

This amount already includes the wallpaper application kit that valued at $18. I ordered it separately during checkout. The kit is composed of a brush for applying glue, a seam roller for making the seams invisible, a paperhanging brush for smoothing the strips, a knife and cutting guide for trimming excess wallpaper, plus a bubble level, a pencil and a tape measure.

Wallpaper paste is already included with the wallpaper even without ordering the kit.

The wallpaper design truly promotes the Philippine look and feel, it's appropriate for the provincial setting in Rizal, it's also less prone to mistakes since the weaving of fabrics for tapestries could still work even if it is not that 100% seamless, ....aayyy palusot ka pa. Basta it would go well with items I can easily buy around the Philippine archipelago which we are inclined to visit more often due to accessibility.....though other Asian countries also have similar images from their rich cultures.

I would have gone with nature-related designs but I realized my greens and blues are already out there in my front and back yards. Nothing beats being in the garden and smelling the fresh air.

I would have chosen the photorealistic backdrops like landscapes, seascapes or cityscapes, but it would seem awkward when you finally put in the furniture and appliances blocking part of your wallpaper.

The images of renowned personalities, or pop culture icons, would not stick with me since as time goes by, the entertainment industry has constantly produced new idols you could ogle or look up to. I am never infatuated to a single person forever so it would feel strange to keep their images on my walls.

Also, this design is not so feminine or even cartoonish that is more meant for a girl or a child's room respectively. A man of my age could work well with this ambiance which perfectly fits artists who appreciates local inspirations rooted in Philippine history.

Oh I see myself painting and doing artworks, sketching my own comic books with my own characters, etc., again just as how I was doing during my younger years.

Got some reading to do to be ready for my wallpaper project. I need to know how to paste them neatly on the walls and cutting the columns to the exact lengths, making sure they're all installed straight.

I also watched their short video advertutorial where a father and his young daughter worked on the wallpaper.

You see these wall at my back? Hopefully tomorrow they'll be looking so much better when the wallpaper from Photowall has been installed.

The wallpaper columns with 45cm widths are conveniently numbered accordingly so you won't be confused which column or panel comes next.

I've got 18 columns rolled in three boxes. First and second box has 8 columns each, while the third box had only two, all rolled together. 

After unboxing, cleaning of walls, preparing the tool kit and paste, and cutting of wallpaper panels on the 15th and 16th, we did the actual wallpaper installations on the next day, the 17th, and finished off the other half of three walls on the 18th.

We cut them per column and laid them flat on the floor so that on the next day they will be straight and thus easier to manage.

Cutting the wallpaper was like I was weaving native tapestry.

Before and after the installation of the wallpaper truly gave our home a character. Proud of my choice as it matches my Masskara Festival of Bacolod mask hanging on our door. ..and this is just half of my wallpaper setup. Watch our videos to see the full wallpaper setup.

It is without any doubt that the wallpaper effectively transformed our home and gave it an impactful character compared to the plain and boring blue that it was before.

I must insist, to get a better experience of my wallpaper project, below are all the YouTube videos I did for this brand:

Unboxing: 

https://youtu.be/29WTMhfvQ9w

Prepping the wall and materials: 

https://youtu.be/XF9NarEDM4g

Installation:

Part 1: https://youtu.be/UsNvZyIbn0o

Part 2: https://youtu.be/xCJMIqv-rXQ

I still have the longer versions of my time lapse during installation which I will just post separately on my social media pages...and more photos to upload since I couldn't post everything in this one blog.

For more information about Photowall, you may check their official website and social media pages:

Photowall website: https://www.photowall.com/

Photowall Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/photowall

Photowall Instagram: http://instagram.com/photowall_sweden/

#wallpaper #Photowall #Sweden Wazzup Pilipinas #WallpaperInstallation #WazzupPilipinas

Planting the seeds of our future

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Life is a cycle, but it can be more than one cycle.

We plant seeds, we nurture them while they are sprouting until they become seedlings, we maintain them free from harmful pests while nourishing them with nutrients, we then enjoy the produce during harvest time, then we plant new seeds again...from the same fruits they gave us.. whether it's vegetables, fruits or others via several ways of propagation.

But remember that planting new seeds doesn't mean we have to settle for what we have right now. We don't need to wait until our current plants have withered and died. We can always plant new seeds,or cuttings, while we are still enjoying bountiful harvests from our first plants.

Thank you also to the Bureau of Plant Industry of the Department of Agriculture for sending over to our home a bunch of seeds - upland kangkong, okra, upo, pechay and mustasa.

I just wish I have enough for an urban garden or a small farm.

It would be nice if we could all be self-sustaining or able to grow our own food, at least able to harvest what we need on a daily basis or just some of the ingredients we need to supplement our daily food needs.

The future will be brighter for us if we are capable of surviving even without the comforts of a market or grocery where we buy our food. It's time we learn how to grow our own food.

Mix your soil with these beneficial add-ons to improve plant growth

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Aside from regular watering, Tender Loving Care (TLC), and the so called Green Thumb, not that it is true or not (also that Black Thumb terminology), our plants need the best soil there is for it to grow healthy, strong and thriving.

There are several ways to improve your soil but it would be better for your plants to get the most nutrient-filled mix already from the very start. They have the NPK  (Nitrogen - Phosphorus - Potassium) requirements but some plant varieties require more of one or two compared to the other plants....plus inclusion of other non-essential but highly beneficial add-ons will do amazing wonders for your plants.

Here are some options that I've gathered from gardening supplies and soil mix sellers themselves that you can use to cultivate your growing medium, whether it's a pot or plant bed, or even the land, for the greater benefit of your plant from seed to harvest time:

🍀 COCOPEAT is a multi-purpose growing medium made out of coconut husk. The fibrous coconut husk is pre-washed, machine dried, sieved, and made free from sand and other contaminations such as animal and plant residue. and other contaminations such as animal and plant residue. 

Cocopeat is a very good alternative to traditional peat moss and Rock wool.

🍀 CHICKEN MANURE is the feces of chickens used as an organic fertilizer, especially for soil low in nitrogen. Of all animal manures, it has the highest amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

🍀 HUMUS the organic component of soil, formed by the decomposition of leaves and other plant material by soil microorganisms. Humus is the dark organic matter that forms in soil when dead plant and animal matter decays. Humus has many nutrients that improve the health of the soil, nitrogen being the most important.

🍀 CARBONIZED RICE HULL is made from incomplete or partial burning of rice hull. (Carbonized Rice Hull) is a very good soil fertilizer and conditioner as it contains Phosphorous (P), Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), and micronutrients vital to growing crops.

🍀 RICE HULL are one of the most sustainable soil amendments available to gardeners. When properly applied, they improve soil drainage, water-holding capacity, and aeration. I'm

 

🍀 FERMENTED SEAWEED is a broad spectrum fertilizer that is rich in beneficial trace minerals and hormones that stimulate plant growth. Seaweed is high in carbohydrates which are essential building blocks in growing plants and low in cellulose so it breaks down readily. Seaweed shares no diseases with land plants.

🍀 VERMICAST also called worm castings, worm humus, worm manure, or worm faeces) is the end-product of the breakdown of organic matter by earthworms. These castings have been shown to contain reduced levels of contaminants and a higher saturation of nutrients than the organic materials before vermicomposting.

🍀 BEETLECAST is simply an alternative to vermicast since according to the survey, most gardening lovers are women and most of them has fear in the earthworm. Dahil takot sila sa bulate,ayaw na nilang humawak ng lupa. We Experimented the beetle cast o anak ng uang kung saan sila ay nanginginain ng mga nabubulok na dahon ng halaman at kahoy. Lumalabas na masmaganda ang combination ng Nitrogen / Phospurus / Potassium or (NPK) sa dumi ng beetle cast kompara sa Vermicast na nitrogen ang kadalasang nilalaman.

Just remember that a good mix of these, not necessarily all of them, is advisable than just the basic soil that you can dig up at home or the gardening soil you can buy at the nearest gardening supplies shop. Many are already selling various mixes of a few of these and selling them ready for gardening use, but still there are some plants with different needs from other plants. Just like people, we thrive in different conditions, so you have the option to experiment on the right mix for your plants.