Indor Mural Project

I am back to share another paint project I completed this week. Paint is one of my favorite decorating tools because with only a small investment of time and money, it can quickly and dramatically change a space. The options for application and color selection are endless! And, if you don’t like the results, simply paint over them.

One of the reasons we purchased our current home is that it has kind of a bonus room. Our idea for this part of the house was that I could set it up as a space for small events, and classes, and work out of our home. Below are some photos of how the room looked when we purchased the house.

Shortly after moving in, we had it all set up and ready to use. I named this space the “Sandrilene Room”. We got married in our home and used the space for the first time during our wedding. I hosted a few more events and then the pandemic hit. In person meetings were basically cancelled and the room sat, looking beautiful, but mostly unused.

This photo shows one part of the space and shows how the wall looked before this project.

Over the past 3 years, my life has really changed. My plans have changed too, as I’m sure most of you can relate! The Sandrilene Room turned into a different kind of work space for me, but it didn’t feel like a great use. We did not spend any time in the room and I was unsure of the direction I wanted to take it.

With life’s changes, I realized that I no longer wanted to use the space for events. Maybe classes in the future, but not an event space. My true love has always been creating art and being involved in the local artist community. Since moving to Des Moines, I have not had the chance to be as involved as I was in other communities and I miss it. I miss going to art shows and hosting art shows, so I decided to change the Sandrilene Room into a space where we can host local art shows.

This idea was the fuel I needed to inspire change for the space, and I got to work making changes. I cleared out some furniture pieces and rearranged others. Part of this room had become a space for storing my vintage inventory before getting it listed, so I got to work on moving that and turned my attention to the walls. All of the walls were white, except one, which has a geometric white and gold wallpaper.

We plan to hang some gallery hooks to make set up easier, but that means that the walls will be empty between shows. I decided to create some art by painting a design on the wall, and add some color too. I started by drawing my idea to scale. Below is the drawing I made.

Once I was happy with the idea, I used this drawing to mark some of the main points on my wall. To get the curves right, I used the old pencil on a string trick for some of the shapes. This didn’t work for all of it though and I ended up free-handing most of it. That’s the great thing about paint, if I mess up I can just repaint.

After marking the design out with pencil, I started painting the outline of the shapes. I used tape for the section that I wanted to be straight. For the shapes, I used a brush and free-hand painted them, letting the pencil marks be my guide.

Once I was happy with the outline, I filled everything in with a roller.

I had the first coat on everything and then stood back to take a look.

One side of the design didn’t look right to me. It didn’t feel balanced and the shapes felt too small. I decided to change it, and was much happier with the result. Below shows the before and after.

After completing the details and touch ups, here is the final result.

I am so thrilled with how this project turned out! It adds interest to the wall, but will still be a great backdrop for showcasing artwork. And, it was fast to complete! This project took a day and a half from start to finish. Having a plan really helped. Also, the shapes were simple to create and using only one color made it go quickly.

The next project for this space will be to remove the wallpaper. It is a peel and stick that is not holding up super well. I plan to create a gold and white mural instead, that I am going to paint. Below are some pictures of this wall and the wallpaper.

(Please ignore the remaining inventory that I am working on clearing out)!

I cannot wait to start this new mural. And, you know I will be sure to write about it here - so stay tuned!

Would you create this kind of wall treatment in your home? Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for following along!