Wall Mural Ideas for the DIY Artist
We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again: ANYONE can paint a mural. We truly believe this! No matter your level of artistic ability, you have the skills and the power to turn your ‘blah’ wall into something beautiful.
Though we have all the confidence in you, some of the most common hang ups about painting a mural that we hear from our audience is that they are afraid to mess up, they don’t want to ruin their wall, or that they’ve never painted a mural before.
Listen - you might mess up when you paint your first mural. We’ve painted 200+ murals and sometimes we still mess up. But the beauty of paint? You start over… again, and again, and again. Nothing is permanent. So if you paint your last brush stroke, take a step back, and are horrified by what you see- just grab your roller and cover it up!
We know it can be nerve wracking (especially if you consider yourself a perfectionist), but we believe in you. So much so that we dedicated our how-to guidebook, Wonder Walls, to everyone who has ever wanted to paint a mural but has never had the courage (seriously, we say these exact words on the first page).
In this guidebook, you can expect to be walked through everything: from the supply list , to how to choose the right colors, to what type of mural to paint based on the size of the room you’re working in. Best of all though? It’s chock-full of inspiration for you to draw from. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel with your mural for it to be awesome…. just copy one of ours to get started!
Is your copy of Wonder Walls still on the way? ;) We’ve got you covered. Below you’ll find three mural ideas in varying levels of difficulty pulled straight from our book- instructions, photos, and all. All that’s missing is your liquid courage of choice.
Color Blocking
Skill Level: Easy
Time: 1-2 hours (not including drying time)
Supplies: 1 quart paint in the color of your choosing, 1 sample size paint in a different color, pencil, 1 roll painters tape, drop cloth, 3-4 brushes in varying sizes, roller and tray, level
Have a small space that needs a little bit of love? Color blocking is a super-easy way to add color to any room without going overboard. If you’re worried about getting the lines super straight, you can double check them with a level before you get started!
How to Paint:
Measure from the floor up to where you want the first color block to end, and then make a pencil mark.
Repeat this mark every few inches or feet (depending on size of wall) to indicate the top of this color section.
Apply tape to connect each of the marks you made in Step 1 so it forms a straight line. Use a level to ensure that the tape is parallel to the floor.
Smooth out the tape with a credit card or gift card so that it’s as close to the wall as possible to prevent paint seeping under the tape and ruining that clean line of negative space you’re going for!
Decide how tall you want the second block of color to be. Measure from the top of the tape and then repeat Steps 2-4.
Paint the top block with your first color and a medium sized brush (don’t worry if the brush is slightly wider than your finished stripe - the tape will protect it!) If you come across any tight areas (i.e. around a sink or a toilet if you’re painting in a bathroom) use a smaller brush to get the paint in there.
Repeat Step 6 with your second color on the bottom block.
Take a step back to see if you missed any patches or see-through spots.
Look good? Carefully pull off the tape, let dry 1.5-2 hours, and enjoy your new color block mural!
Transparent Shapes
Skill Level: Medium
Time: 5-7 Hours
Supplies: 3 samples size or quarts of different color paints, chalk, 1 roll of painter’s tape, 4-6 brushes in various sizes, 1-3 black Bosca paint pens (optional), drop cloth, and solo cups to use for paint!
This one’s for all of our soul brothers and sisters who hate using rulers! If you’re comfortable free handing blobby shapes, give our Transparent Shapes mural a try. We love this design because it can be customized to whatever space you like. Corners, onto the ceiling, in the one awkward area of your house you don’t know what to do with… this is your mural!
How to Paint:
You wanna keep things looking fresh! Tape off the floor, ceiling, and trim with painter’s tape and lay down your drop cloth to protect it from any paint spills.
Grab your pencil, and get creative. Start sketching out some blobs in various sizes, overlapping some of them to make a nice layering effect. Don’t worry about sketching the black lines yet - you’ll get to that later.
Start painting your blobs in solid colors, ignoring the overlapping sections for the time being. Working with one color at a time, fill in the shapes with paint until all the shapes are completed.
To create the layering effect that gives the illusion of transparency, mix together the two overlapping paint colors.
Use this new, blended paint color to fill in the sections where the shapes overlap. Wait for the paint to dry, and add a second coat if necessary.
If you like the look of this mural as is…. you’re done! Take a step back and admire your work, pro.
Want to add black lines for contrast, like we did? Now’s the time to get that pencil back out and draw some more blobs over the painted shapes.
Trace the pencil with a black pen, making them as thick or thin as you like (ours are 1/2 inch thick, but it’s your wall so do whatever you want!).
Voilà! Your work is done here. We hope you’re proud of your blobby creation!
Sunset Ombré
Skill Level: Medium
Time: 2-3 Hours
Supplies: 1 quart coral paint, 1 quart bright pink paint, 1 quart golden yellow paint, 1 quart white paint, 2-5 medium/large brushes, pencil, solo cups for mixing paint, step stool, drop cloth, 1 roll painters tape
An ombré mural in your favorite colors creates a show stopping moment wherever you paint it, while still being relatively “minimal” and understated. We chose to paint our ombré on a fireplace to give it a pop of color, but you can use this same technique on any wall, or even furniture. We used “sunset” colors for ours, but you can switch these out for whatever color mood you’re going for!
How To Paint:
Make a pencil mark to show where you want each color to fade into the next one.
Paint each section in the color that you want to fade into the next section, mixing a small amount of white paint into your colors to create lighter tints, if desired. Don’t worry about blending yet - just create solid blocks, and add a few coats (waiting for each one to dry fully) if necessary!
Once your color blocks are down, it’s time to blend. Paint a solid line at the top of the first color you want to blend (make sure to use a good amount of paint), and a solid line at the bottom of the color you are blending it with. Make sure that these lines just touch, but don’t overlap yet.
With a dry brush, make long, back and forth strokes where the two colors meet. Continue blending until you get the look you want.
Repeat step 3 and 4 where each color meets the next, continually pausing and stepping back to look at the mural as a whole. It’s easy to get caught up in details when you’re working up close, but taking a moment to take in the mural from farther away allows you to see that the wall probably looks great!
Once you’re satisfied, remove the tape, let dry about 2 hours, and clean up. Now you’ve got a sunset to enjoy no matter the weather!