How to make a wall mural

I started noticing a new trend in interiors in passing weeks. Did you know that more and more people decorate their walls themselves rather than relying on wallpapers? I think it’s a wonderful idea. After all, is there anything better than getting creative and showing off with pride what you’ve accomplished by simply using a few sample paint pots? In my books, there isn’t and if you think the same way, keep reading to see how to easily make mural all by yourself!

There are two ways to make a wall mural. The first one is to go freestyle. And the second one is to use a projector to copy a picture that you like onto the wall. Both are super easy though!

What you need

• a pencil

• two brush sizes. One, a really small for details and another one, bigger for filling in larger parts of the designs

• a permanent marker

• optional: a projector

• sample pots of wall paint or leftover paint from recent projects

• optional: a picture that you like that you want to copy onto your wall

How to make a wall mural freestyle

Draw your design on the wall with a pencil. To make my mural I started by drawing steams of a flower. After I finished I stepped back to have a look at my drawing to make sure I am happy with it. Once I was satisfied, I started filling the design with paint. I used a big brush and I followed with a small brush to fill in edges. When the paint dry you will want to repeat this step giving your creation two coats of paint.

Remember to step back to look at the wall as a whole from time to time to confirm you are doing a great job. Will you have any mishaps along the way? You sure will! And that’s OK. A few times my hand shook and the brush went outside the leaf drawing but I just pretended that that's how this leaf should look like and carried on like nothing happened! That's the best policy I think. Who is there to know that my wall mural didn’t intend to look like that?

How to make a wall mural using projector

I really had a lot of fun making this mural. Mostly because it was for our twins nursery but I also found that drawing with a permanent marker on a wall was very relaxing. Therapeutic even! I picked a pattern of a simple drawing of forest animals that we both liked with my husband. You can find a lot of free patterns on Pinterest and on Google Images. Just copy it on a memory card, put it into your projector, place projector on a chair and you can start tracing your picture with a pencil or a marker.

I started in the centre of the wall and I was moving projector vertically to finish one ‘strap’ of the mural to follow by the same pattern to the left and right of the centre of the mural.

I won’t lie to you. It’s a slow process but I really enjoyed myself making this mural. It was easier to make it since I knew exactly what I was doing! If you aren’t very creative, this method of decorating your walls is for you!

I can honestly say that a wall mural is very easy to paint once you are patient with it. A big empty wall can be a bit overwhelming at the beginning when you start drawing your designs with a pencil but I promise you that you will get over it quickly and will just have fun with it. My advice is don't think too much about it and just do it!

Since I painted the murals we had a few guests over who thought that we got new wallpapers. They couldn't believe that I painted the walls myself! My wall paintings made a huge difference to otherwise empty and boring looking walls. And the best part of it is that they didn’t cost me anything to make! I already had everything needed to make them.

I’m wondering are you brave enough to make a mural in your home? Did you get tempted, even just a little bit, after reading my post? Please let me know. It would be lovely to hear what you think!