When considering Wall Murals, you may also want to look into: Chalkboard Paint, Door Painting, Faux Finishing and Painting, General Painting Technique, Indoor Painting Projects, Interior and Airless Paint Sprayers, Magnetic Paint, Paint Applicator Overview, Paint Contractors, Painting Kitchen Cabinets, Painting Various Surfaces, Prepping Interior Surfaces, Stenciling, Texturizing, and Zero VOC Paint.
Regardless of the type of mural have fun and use low or Zero VOC paint whenever possible to save your families health and the environment.
Tip #1 - Get Your Site Ready
The first step is to properly prepare your site. Painting wall murals is just like any other painting project. To do it right, you will need to pull out the masking tape and drop cloths:
- Remove furniture from the area or cover with drop cloths.
- Mask off any woodwork with pre-gummed paper or wide masking tape.
- Cover your floor with drop cloths.
If you are not putting on a fresh coat of paint, make sure wall surfaces are completely clean to ensure the best adhesion. Use a product specially formulated for cleaning walls for best results.
Tip #2 - Prepare Background for Wall Murals
Many people apply a fresh coat of paint to the room before hand painting wall murals. If this is the case for you, use a satin finish or eggshell finish latex wall paint for the best sheen and chose a color that will look great with your mural. Better yet, consider painting a specialty background for your wall mural. For example, with a gallon of glaze, a sea sponge, and some other items you may already have around home, you can paint a cloud background. And that’s just one example – there are a lot of great background options when it comes to wall murals. How about faux bricks for a fire station mural? Or a parchment background for a Tuscan mural? I encourage you to check out another website, How to Faux Finish, to learn the techniques to create these backgrounds, as well as many others.
Tip #3 - Choose the Right Mural Paint
You may read elsewhere that oil-based paints are the way to go when it comes to mural painting. Well, if you are a commissioned muralist or have an art degree, that statement is probably true. A fresh coat of latex paint is a great base for hand painted wall murals. Acrylic paints can then be used for the actual mural painting. They are quick drying and water soluble (translation - easy clean up!). They are very similar to latex wall paints, but can be purchased in smaller sizes. Consider Liquitex Soft Body Acrylics. They are slightly more expensive than ordinary craft acrylics, but they have twice the covering power and contain rich, pure pigments that produce intense color. When it comes to painting wall murals, they are great for practically all surfaces, including wood, fabric, and canvas.
Since ec0-responsibility start with REDUCE, REUSE, and RECYCLE look in your basement for some leftover latex wall paint from another project. REUSE makes your mural part of the eco-solution. Latex wall paints and acrylic craft paints are compatible products and you can be used interchangeably when you paint murals.
Tip #4 - Choose the Right Brushes for Painting Wall Murals
A quick trip to the craft store may leave you scratching your head. There are so many options when it comes to paintbrushes. Paintbrushes are made with natural animal hair, synthetic fibers, or a combination of both. Natural hair brushes are not the best choice for use with acrylic paints. The pH and quick-drying properties of acrylic paints are destructive to natural hair brushes. The best brushes for use with acrylic paints are high quality synthetic brushes. While walking the paintbrush aisle at your craft store, you will probably also note that the heads on brushes come in many different shapes and sizes. For painting wall murals, you will need more than one type of brush. At a minimum, I suggest you purchase a wide, flat brush for painting the large areas of your mural and a round paintbrush for adding details and outlining images.
Tip #5 - Final Touches & Finishing Up
When painting wall murals, the last step is to protect your finished masterpiece. If your mural is located in a high traffic area, such as an entryway or busy hallway, it is especially important that you seal it with a water-based varnish. To apply the varnish, start in a corner and apply evenly and smoothly using a cross-hatched brush stroke (basically making a series of “x’s” with your paintbrush to ensure even distribution of the sealer).
Overall…enjoy the mural experience to enhance your home.
The right home improvement products, techniques, and services:
Contractors, home improvement stores, and specialty shops in your area may not yet have a complete familiarity with the ‘green’ opportunities, products, system integration, and overall savings potential. So, you may get some resistance, since people in general are typically more comfortable recommending something that they are already familiar with rather than something new. To help break the inertia, use the information across this website like our Return on Investment Master ROI Table. Also feel free to post a question in our forum on the message board about a particular need for your home relative to your area. Our team has spent multiple years aggregating research from public and private sector performance reports and from manufacturers and homeowners across the country in order to provide you with the perspective you may need to see the initial payback and long term advantages. Environmental enthusiasts and leading institutions like the American Institute of Architects and the National Association of Realtors, see the value and link into our resources to support their members.
The Green Home:
For your overall home improvement, you can save money, improve your family’s health, and save the planet. Find out for free how much it will cost to do different types of home improvement in your home from a qualified and member approved contractor in your area. Get a FREE Quote . Plus, regardless of the size and scope of your home improvement project, save money and keep your home clean with the top rated chemical free and concentrated Green Home Cleaning Products.
Home Improvement Basics:
When it comes to home improvement basics, look for interior home improvements like creating a clean, safe, and healthy home through sustainable ‘green’ furniture, home décor, zero VOC and Interior Paint, plus ENERGY STAR Appliances and Electronics. For energy and utility savings you can focus on insulation and air sealing, windows, doors, lighting and skylights, water saving plumbing opportunities, and high efficiency heating and air conditioning systems. On the outside of your house, look for exterior home improvement opportunities through landscape design and gardening plus solar energy, wind and other power sources. If you are undertaking a major home renovation, an additions, or building a new home, then take the lead to ‘go green’ in as many ways as possible to save money and the environment.
