DIY wall paintings: 3 master classes, 7 ideas, 100 photos

The market for decorative materials for surface finishing is very diverse. One of the original options for decorating a room is painted walls. Such cladding looks unique, even if an ordinary replica of a famous painting is used. She is able to create a unique atmosphere in the room. Therefore, it is worth figuring out how to paint the walls with your own hands, what is required for this and what are the features of each method.

Idea 1. Painting walls using a stencil (+ master class)

Stencils come in handy when you need to outline the contours of a complex image, draw letters, numbers or any repeating patterns.

To paint the walls, you can use a ready-made template or one made to order in a printing house. Such stencils can be flexible or rigid, one- or two-layer (to create a multi-color pattern), self-adhesive or glueless. They are generally durable, fit tightly to the wall, and are designed to be reusable.

Do you want to purchase a super-fashionable and unusual stencil? We advise you to search for it in the international online store Etsy using the query “stencil” (price from 10 to 100 $).

However, you can make a simple single-layer stencil for painting walls with your own hands, following our step-by-step instructions.

What you will need to make a stencil: office paper, plastic film or thick paper (for example, whatman paper or wallpaper), pencil, scissors, a stationery knife or a special knife for cutting stencils, masking and transparent tape, as well as a printer and some kind of graphic editor (vector or raster).

Drawing techniques

There are many techniques for applying images. The choice of technique, as well as style, largely depends on your artistic abilities.

If you want to see something complex and multifaceted in your interior, but you cannot depict it yourself, then feel free to contact professionals.

Idea 2. Painting checkered walls (+ master class)

As you know, check is the most versatile print that never goes out of style. It fits perfectly into both classic and modern interiors, both into the interior of the kitchen and children's bedroom. You can decorate one or more walls with a cage using wallpaper or painting.

Painting checkered walls with your own hands is somewhat more difficult than gluing checkered wallpaper, but painting gives a better result: the painted surface can be washed, repainted, and most importantly, it does not have seams that risk peeling off.

The easiest way is to paint walls in a large Vichy checkered pattern, as in this collection of photos.

Painting walls in Scottish tartan requires a little more effort, but still, it is accessible even to beginners - after all, the accuracy of the markings, rather than painting skills, is what is important here.

And now we suggest you familiarize yourself with the step-by-step instructions for painting walls with your own hands in tartan, as in the photo below.

What you will need: 4 paints of the same color, but in different tones (in this project we used light olive for the background, a slightly more saturated marsh shade for vertical and horizontal stripes, an even darker one for the intersections of stripes, as well as two paints of contrasting colors), brushes , roller, masking tape and laser level, stepladder and other basic painting supplies.

It is best to use blue masking tape for painting walls, which can be removed without leaving a trace, without damaging the wall covering, and is marked “for clean lines.”

Instructions:

Step 1: Prepare the wall for painting, then paint it with the background color using a roller. In this master class, the background is a light olive tone of paint. Allow the background layer to dry before moving on to the next step.

Step 2. Mark vertical stripes of equal width on the wall using a laser level and masking tape. Then paint them with a paint darker than the background and let dry.

To ensure that the lines are smooth and clear, and the paint does not flow under the masking tape, use a small brush to paint along the tape and a larger brush to paint the main body of the strip. It is important to ensure that there is no excess paint on the brush. The movement of the brush should not be up and down along the tape, but left and right (across the tape).

Step 3. Now mark the horizontal stripes in the same way, paint over them and leave to dry.

Step 4. Paint the intersections of the stripes in an even more saturated shade to create the effect of layering threads of the same color in the checkered fabric (as if that made the cells darker than the stripes).

By the way, if you want to paint the walls in a Vichy checkered pattern, then at this stage the work can be considered completed.

Step 5. It's time to draw the contrasting thin stripes that are required for the tartan check.

To do this, again use the laser level and masking tape, mark a line along and in the center of the vertical stripes. Next, paint over them and let dry. Then use the same paint to draw lines along the horizontal thick stripes.

Step 6. Finally, we draw cells of a different contrasting color (in this master class it is blue). The technology is still the same, but the cell becomes larger, since the stripes are drawn along the lines of the first background layer.

Step 7. All that remains is to coat the painted wall(s) with matte varnish to enhance its moisture resistance and strength.

See also: Decorating walls with plates - master class and 100 photos for inspiration

Let's get down to business

Having decided on the choice of design, colors and technique, we move on to creating the image. We offer several options for different rooms.

Room	Material	Example
living room	watercolor	purple orchids on a blank wall
bedroom	oil paint, pastel pencils	stenciled love tree
children's	tempera paint using fluorescent	cartoon characters or animals
kitchen	oil	fruit still life in warm colors
bathroom	any paint with a mandatory varnish coating	marine motifs

Shall we decorate the rooms?

The landscapes in the apartment will look very beautiful

Living room

The choice of color scheme and theme depends on the overall style of the room. Black silhouettes of any kind you like are well suited for any color. They will fit harmoniously into cold and warm shades, without looking gloomy.

For a large living room, a watercolor painting on the entire wall would be an excellent option. Make it in cool, light colors to create a feeling of freedom and space, or use warm colors to create coziness.

An example would be a floral painting in purple or blue shades with the addition of green on a white background. In this room it is better to use hand painting.

For large rooms, you can make a large painting on the entire wall.

Bedroom

The help of stencils will be appropriate here. You can use them to create original patterns, making a photo frame that will be an excellent addition and a reminder to the couple of the wonderful moments spent together.

For the bedroom, it is recommended to use calm motifs and warm colors. From the cold range, gray, blue and light green are suitable. Add white notes, and a gentle, relaxing design is ready.

It is better to use calm tones in the bedroom

Children's

In this room, creative thoughts are allowed to be fully realized. You can create an original and fashionable design by inviting a master. Then you will get an abundance of bright colors and an accurate representation of the chosen theme. Having artistic talent, you will be able to independently depict your child’s favorite characters by decorating the entire wall.

If your talents do not allow you to create on a large scale, you have a chance to paint a wall with your child. To do this, use stencils or projector equipment. This choice will be a good opportunity to have fun together and let your child show his artistic abilities.

The children's room should have bright colors

Idea 5. Painting with chalk on a slate wall

By decorating one or two walls with chalk wallpaper or slate paint, you will have the opportunity to change the pictures on the wall every day, write down foreign words, to-do and grocery lists, instructions for household members, motivating or just funny phrases. A chalk wall looks especially cool in the interior of a children's room and kitchen.

If you want to keep your chalk painting forever, you just need to coat it with matte varnish.
You can (and should!) draw on a slate surface not only with crayons, but also with chalk pencils, markers and paints.
Lettering (the so-called painted words) looks especially impressive on a dark wall. True, if you are not a professional font designer or an artist, then it is unlikely that you will be able to write words beautifully, but you can do this with the help of a homemade stencil. The main thing is to find a suitable blank on the Internet.

Rules of care

Despite the fact that the materials and the method of their application differ from those used in the Middle Ages, some care for the product will be required.

First, don't forget to varnish the picture. This will simplify care and allow it to remain fresh for a long time.
If coating is not part of the plan, use a dry cloth to remove dust.
Monitor the temperature and humidity of the room.
If the drawing has smudged, make small corrections with a brush.
Periodically update the brightness of the image, or change it completely.

In general, when using a protective coating, maintenance is reduced to removing dust from the wall with a damp cloth. The rules of care are quite simple, so you can safely make your dreams come true, creating unrealistic images to your delight and to the envy of your friends.

Idea 6. Striped wall

Striped walls not only look cool, but also visually correct the shortcomings of the room. For example, vertical stripes “raise” low ceilings, while horizontal stripes increase space and push walls apart.

It’s very easy to paint walls with stripes with your own hands; the main thing here is to carefully stick the masking tape and correctly calculate the optimal width and number of stripes.

To find out the required number of stripes of the same width, but alternating in color, you need to divide the height or width of the wall by the desired width of the stripes. But there is one nuance - if the number of stripes is even, then along the edges of the wall the stripes will be of different colors. To make the number of stripes odd and the wall design symmetrical, you can “play” a little with the width of the stripes or simply divide the height or width of the wall by an odd number. For example, a wall 270 cm high can be decorated with 17 stripes 16 cm wide.

In order for the stripes under the ceiling and above the floor to be the same color, there must be an odd number of them

It is desirable that the stripes have a width of 10-30 cm. A width of less than 10 cm will be too narrow, and more than 30 cm will be too wide and heavy.
The best way to paint stripes is to use blue masking tape that can be removed without leaving a trace, without damaging the wall covering, and labeled “for crisp lines.”
To ensure that the lines are smooth and clear, and the paint does not flow under the masking tape, use a small brush to paint along the tape and a larger brush to paint the main body of the strip. It is important to ensure that there is no excess paint on the brush. The movement of the brush should not be up and down along the tape, but left and right (across the tape).

Ideas for lovers

It’s great if you have some drawing skills, then you can draw with your own hands not only cute characters and animals, but also a whole plot, for example, as in this photo selection of interiors with painted walls.

It is especially worth highlighting the theme of trees, which is fertile for creativity - they are not difficult to draw, but you can come up with so many interesting details! For example, these could be birds or fairies sitting on branches, beautiful leaves or flowers, squirrels or butterflies.

Mirrors - functional room decor

Not a single house is complete without a mirror, and if a representative of the fair sex lives in it, then there may be quite a few such interior items.
Therefore, women are very attracted to the idea of decorating the walls with mirrors. They can be placed in several lines horizontally or vertically, hung in a chaotic manner, or used to decorate the entire surface of the wall. Start taking action and inspiration will come. It is not necessary for mirrors to have a strict geometric shape. The use of mirrors of different sizes and shapes is encouraged. They can also be placed in decorative frames. For a girl's room, the most suitable option is a collection of elegant mirrors on ropes or chains.

using two mirrors to decorate the living room walls

Decorate corners? No problem!

Corners should not be empty and faceless. But those who have at least once tried to decorate wall surfaces on their own come to the conclusion that corners are the most difficult place to decorate. There is no need to worry, many professionals fully agree with this point of view. But this is a winning place for any decor, and correctly selected details will turn an unremarkable corner into an original part of the interior. Designers offer the most original ways to decorate corners:

corner photographs;
decorative baguettes;
tile;
stone;
shelves.
stylish floor lamp as decor for a corner area

Such elements can be arranged into an effective composition or used separately. A small gallery of paintings or photographs will enliven an empty corner. But don't overdo it. It's better to leave the corners a little empty than overloaded.

Conclusion

Now you know how to decorate the walls of your home with your own hands. Many people think that bringing various design ideas to life requires the help of professionals and a lot of money, but, fortunately, this is not at all the case. A person who has basic skills in handling the simplest building materials and tools can create a unique decoration with his own hands.