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I KNEW I wanted to do a DIY mural wall painting for my daughter's playroom and am SO in love with how this project came out! Sharing how to DIY an EASY, fun, wall painting to add some creative flare to your space! I'll walk you through the step-by-step process, with video, I used to create this Instagram-worthy statement wall (not trying to toot my own horn, but I got the inspo from Instagram). This is SO easy and the perfect way to create a custom diy mural wall painting for any kids rooms! You can swap out the colors or quote to match your style!
Table of Contents
How To DIY Easy Fun Wall Painting: Creative Idea For Wall Mural
Step-by-step DIY wall painting mural tutorial
WATCH THE VIDEO TUTORIAL
The room:
Our home is sort of a strange open concept. Basically we have one main room that's our dining room, family room and kitchen, and that flows into this room which is large and also very open.
Basically there's a fireplace (check out the DIY Painted Brick Fireplace Makeover On A Budget: Before & After!!), and then the other half of the room we are transitioning into my daughter's playroom/homeschool room.
Even before 2020, I always planned on homeschooling her. Eventually as we move more towards school age, I want to paint one of the walls as a chalkboard wall but that's for later!
Instead today's focus is on this weird indented/cut out accent wall in the room. I knew I wanted to do something to add some color and a playful vibe to the space. Originally I planned on doing a custom mud cloth wall since we have a lot of that print in our home and the current rug in this room is a southwest feel. I may swap it with the one from her Simple Colorful Neutral Boho Desert Moon Themed Nursery though, what do you think?!?
Ultimately I decided the mud cloth wall was a little too busy for the room. And with how dense 2020 has been, I wanted something creative, inspiring, and uplifting to look at all day. Afterall, our home is sending our subconscious messages ALL day long!
p.s. One of my favorite things about this DIY wall painting…
My daughter CHOSE part of it! See the video for that footage!!
Step-by-step DIY wall painting mural tutorial
Supplies:
- Clare paint – I used Rose Season, Whip It, and Fresh Kicks and used their painting kit (rollers and tray)
- Paint Edger
- Painter's Tape
- Canva
- Laser level
Step 1: Choose your colors + paint
You'll want two colors that are in the same family and then another color for your design.
For wall painting in kids room I highly recommend going with a zero VOC paint like Clare Paint! We are constantly coming in contact with VOC's (volatile organic compounds) and we definitely want to limit as much exposure to them as possible – especially in kids spaces!
For instance, indoor air quality is often is worse than outdoor air, due to how many items in our homes off gas VOCs (furniture, dry cleaning, and yes, even paint!). Most people only think paint is toxic when you're actually painting, but the truth is, your freshly painted wall can off gas for years!
That's why I went with Clare paint! They are a zero VOC paint brand that is SO cool! The colors are gorgeous and they deliver the paint right to your door! You can order swatches to see what the colors will look like in your space (this is SO important to make sure the color will look good with the rooms natural and overhead lighting).
I used Clare's Rose Season and Whip It as my pinks and their white called “fresh kicks” for the hand painted design.
Step 2: Layout your base
I wanted a geometric style background for this DIY wall painting, so I went with two angles on the wall.
To ensure the angles were straight, I initially tried using a measuring tape and pencil, but I kept accidentally moving the measuring tape at a weird angle.
So instead I just took some painters tape and a wooden stick to create my line. I started by putting the painter tape at one end where I wanted the angle to hit, and used the wooden stick to smooth the tape down as I unrolled. This kept the tape in the straightest line possible.
NOTE: I was very particular about where my lines hit. So I ended up having to do one of the sides twice before I got it just right on the third try.
Step 3: Paint your base
Your wall should be all taped off for your geometric base design. Next you'll just paint your colors in. I suggest starting with your darker color first. Once you get that on, take off the painters tape.
I waited a day between the darker color drying and starting on the light color. This way when you are getting into the detailed edging of where the colors meet, if you accidentally get the light color on the dark, it's easy to wipe off quickly with a damp cloth.
For painting the edging, I use this little edger tool I had. You could also use a regular paint brush, I just feel comfortable with the edger tool. Whichever tool you use, when you first touch the paint brush to the wall, start more in the middle, and then work your way to the actual edge. This way you can get some of the excess off the brush as you move towards the edge. If you start directly at the edge, you may get a lip effect of the excess paint coming off.
Step 4: Pick your quote
Pick your quote then determine how big you want it to be. I knew I wanted mine to be about 8.5 in so it was easy. I just opened Canva, set the dimensions to a landscape sheet of paper then typed my quote. I stretched it big enough so that the height of my quote matched the height of the page. Then I used noted the width dimension it was giving me and resized my graphic to match that. Ultimately my dimensions cams out to 43 in wide by 8.5 in tall.
If you know your exact wall measurements, you could just start with that though.
Next I downloaded my graphic (new page for each line of the quote) as a PDF. Opened it in Adobe Acrobat Reader and selected “poster” in print settings.
Step 5: Putting your quote on the wall
I used a little painters tape to put my “poster” on the wall exactly where I wanted it to go. Then I took a ballpoint pen and traced the OUTSIDE of each letter. This creates a subtle indent on your wall that you can either go over with a pencil and then fill it in with paint, or just paint using it as a guide.
I outlined it in pencil then painted in my quote.
Since I went from a dark color to white, I ended up needing 3 coats of paint. The first coat was definitely the most labor intensive, the other two went on pretty quickly. I waited 2 hours between coats. You may want to prime and then just do one coat of paint though (I did that for the rest of the design, both worked well).
Step 6: Filling in your design
This is where you get to flex your creativity!
It can help if you have a picture or image traced out for how you'd like to to ultimately look.
For mine, I knew a few elements I wanted on the wall (the star, dots, and some patchwork feeling lines) which helped me figure out what could potentially go where to break things up.
I decided to work in sections. I knew roughly where I wanted the star on the left side, then I created a triangle effect above and below it. So each little pocket felt like it's own mini design coming together for a larger effect rather than trying to do the entire side.
I also used this laser level which was a big help in laying out the initial dots on each side. It helped me create a starting point that was level, that I could work off of in filling in the rest of the design.
For the right side, I again decided to start with what I knew I wanted (the dots under your) and the little design up top. Then I put my star where I felt like it should go and began to just freeform fill in the rest of the design.
NOTE: I primed the design first, then topped it with just 1 coat of the white paint.
The final product:
I'm SO obsessed with it! We keep walking by and smiling! It brings us so much joy to have such a beautiful reminder on our walls each day! And it's all the more special that my daughter chose the quote!!
