skilled in the art should appreciate that they may readily use the conception and specific embodiments disclosed as a basis for modifying or designing other methods and systems for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalent assemblies do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form referring to the drawings fig1 is a partial view of a wall 100 on which a decorative modular wall panel system according to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention has been installed a number of decorative panels 60 are positioned within and bordered by a plurality of vertical decorative strips 50 a bottom decorative strip 20 and a top decorative strip 30 all of which are mounted to a wall using a hidden skeletal frame discussed in greater detail below so as to avoid the use of penetrating fasteners such as nails screws or the like by eliminating the need for such penetrating fasteners the outer decorative surfaces of decorative panels 60 vertical decorative strips 50 bottom decorative strips 20 and top decorative strips 30 remain unblemished and in fact may comprise pre finished surfaces as the traditional need for filling of nail holes and retouching of paints or stains is eliminated as best seen in the exploded perspective view of fig2 and the side sectional.