The Inspiration, this kids' rug

Click here to see details of this
kid's' Rug

Ask your mural artist to use your rug as inspiration for the wall mural, and paint elements from it around the room in matching colours.

If you think you'd like to paint your kids' wall mural yourself, here is a guide on how to go about it.

You will need
Acrylic wall paint in the colours chosen from the rug. (Use tester pots)
White acrylic paint
A small paint roller
Masking tape
Tracing paper
Grey permanent marker pen
Sponge or Stencil brush
Stencil paper

Lets Get Started
Trace onto tracing paper the block shapes and flowers from this rug. If you want them bigger or smaller use a photocopier to adust the size. If you want them really big, trace them onto transparent film and borrow or hire an overhead projector to project them onto the wall where you can trace the outline.

Replace the letters on the blocks with the letters of name of your child.

Choose a colour from the rug and paint it in a paler tone on the top half of the wall.
I have chosen the pale yellow.

Tape off the lower part of the wall or paint it freehand for a more deliberate 'wobbly' look. Choose another colour from the rug, or a lighter tone of that colour if you prefer a paler look.

Arrange the blocks in a pleasing shape by taping the tracings onto the wall. Move them around until you are happy with the arrangement.(Or use the overhead projector).
Before you draw the toy blocks, mark the outside square shape of the background colour.
Paint on the background colour squares using a small roller.
Don't paint them perfectly! Keep their edges wiggly and rough as on the rug. No need for a perfect edge. It's part of the charm of the design.

After the paint is dry, tape back up your traced blocks onto the painted squares and draw out the block shapes.
Draw on the flowers. Dot them around the blocks in a pleasing arrangement.
Paint in the coloured sides of the blocks and the flowers.
Once the paint is completely dry take your grey marker pen and draw the outlines to the blocks and flowers.
Don't do it with a ruler, the look is freehand and a bit wobbly.

The lower half of the wall
Cut out a circle on stencil paper. With a sponge or brush paint the white dots over the wall in a random, but evenly spaced order.
Dot some around the flowers on the upper half of the mural.

Alternatively, you could use a dotty wallpaper like these two on the right.

Click here for this and more kid's' Rugs

Now you have the idea, you can use the same process for other elements in the rug which you could apply to other walls in the room. See the alternative design idea on the right.

Good luck, and if you do this design, please send me photos of it so I can include them in the website.
Click here to

TIPS
After tracing the designs onto the paper, rub the back of the paper with a coloured chalk, charcoal or soft graphite pencil. When you draw over the design pressing onto the wall, the design will be transferred.

If you use a graphite pencil to draw the design on the wall, do it very lighty as it can show through the paint and be impossible to remove

Use tester pots of acrylic wall paint available form DIY and paint stores. They come in small quantities and are inexpensive.

You can any word processing computer program to print off the name of your child in a big bold typeface if you are not confident enough to draw out the letter shapes freehand.

The painted kid's mural

Another child mural alternative

Dotty wallpapers

Pattern No.DZBE119	Pattern no. DZF7F36

Click here to see these wallpapers.
Search on the pattern numbers shown above.