Kids’ rooms are probably the most fun part of the house to decorate because they allow you to delve into the depths of your long forgotten imagination. Maybe your children are big fans of Spongebob Squarepants or scary pirates, their bedroom wall can be a great place for some creative design.
Murals are relatively easy to paint because they are usually big images that you can take a paint by numbers approach to and if you are unsure of your artistic ability there are professionals out there who can do it for you. If you are confident enough to attempt it yourself it can be a great project for the entire family to enjoy together.
Start off by deciding what you would like to have as a theme, whether it be fairy princesses, monsters or ballerinas, there is a myriad of fun free imagery on the Internet that you can use as source material and inspiration.
Plan your mural carefully, you don’t want the ballerina to be completely covered by the chest of drawers. Set the room up the way you will want it to be once the mural is complete and plan your pictures around the furniture, unless you decide to go for some sort of pattern mural in which case the furniture shouldn’t matter.
Prepare your wall according to the instructions on the paint you will be using, most people will opt for an acrylic based paint because they are easy to use, dry fast and can easily be found in non-toxic varieties. Never use a paint that may be unsafe, ask the paint salesman what the best option for you will be.
Have the most artistically capable member of the family draw the outlines on the wall and then plot out where your colours are going to go. This will not only make the painting go a bit faster but because you will be working on a relatively large scale it will be very easy to lose your place and get confused about what part you are painting. It may sound a bit silly but having a number system that corresponds to a colour really does work, for example everywhere you have put a 1 should be painted red and everywhere you have put a 2 should be painted blue and so on.
After doing all your planning it is now time for the really fun part, the painting. Follow the usage instructions on your paint tin and remember to keep the room well ventilated. Allow for enough time for the paint to dry before moving any furniture back in and make sure your children aren’t going to sleep in a room that is still full of paint fumes. Again the paint tin itself or the supplier should be able to give you all the necessary information.
Once everything is dry move all your child’s belongings back in and enjoy the fantasyland you have created together.
