My daughter and I visited the local library yesterday. The librarian had been bragging to me about their new mural, and when we visited I could see why. One entire wall of their story time room is now covered in a gorgeous West Coast-themed mural with swirling trees and little animals hiding in them. I’m in awe, and I’m coveting one for myself. Of course, I doubt that I can afford it.
I grew up lacking the artistic gene, even though my father has it in spades. However, I did create a mural on the wall of my daughter’s room when she was one, and although it isn’t one that is going to win awards, it’s quite passable for a preschooler’s eye. If you’re thinking of creating a mural as well, here are a few tips.
If you have no artistic skill and no time, look into the new commercial wall tattoos. In the last few years, this market has exploded, and there are many wall pictures that look striking and are totally suitable for an adult space. Enough with the Winnie-the-Pooh already.
If you’d like to try your hand at painting, you can also stencil a mural. There are stenciling companies that sell mural kits and give you instructions on what colors of paint to buy and how to position the stencils. The result will look a little folksy, but if that’s the image you’re aiming for, great!
You can also be daring and go almost freehand, like I did with my daughter’s mural. For this, I recommend finding a book or books that inspire you with their pictures. Then take elements of these pictures and transfer them to the wall. If possible, you can take slides of the pictures and project them onto the wall. You can also copy the pictures onto grid paper and lay out a grid in pencil on the wall for easy transfer. I created a mix and match mural of Dr Seuss characters, a nature scene, and some trees from a favorite book that all fuse together nicely.
Would you create a mural in your home?
(Image courtesy of linder6580 at stock exchange)