Word Mural How-To

As mentioned in my last post, I have been attempting to freshen up and add color to our school room.  As I was standing in the room last week, just looking at the walls...you do that too, right?...I got a wild hair to paint some large words on the wall.

This is not that unusual for me.  I co-owned a business painting wall murals for five years, so they are sort of my go-to decorating idea.  So, while murals might be out-of-the-box for most people, it's really not at all for me.  As a matter of fact, I should probably be thinking more out of the box myself when it comes to decorating...

Here are a couple murals I've painted in our home elsewhere...

J1's nursery

Girls' room

So generally, we would start with a sketch, transfer that to an overhead projector, and project the image on the wall as we began a mural.  But for something so simple as a word, I used a much simpler method.

First, I used a level to measure out and draw guidelines on the wall.  It's hard to see them in this picture, but that is EXACTLY what you want!  Draw your lines lightly, because you will be erasing them once you've painted over your word.  I like to draw 3 lines...think like you're back in Kindergarten and you are writing on a writing tablet.  Then I just used my own handwriting (but I took my time and was careful to be pretty and consistent), using my guidelines.  The last thing you will want is a crooked word on your wall!

Next, I thickened up the letters using pencil.

I used this paint straight from the bottle, which made it easy since I didn't have to keep stopping to mix paint.  I use acrylic paint, but when you purchase acrylic paint you will want to take note that it is sold in gloss as well.  If you are not painting on glossy walls, you will probably not want the gloss paint.

This is our new art display center.  I bought these clipboards for $1 each and drilled one screw through the top center into the wall.   Now the kids have a place to hang their artwork in the school room.

This was painted above the doorway, so the kids can read this as they leave the room. :o)

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