When creating a fantasy room for your child, dragon murals are a popular choice for rooms for both girls and boys. Adding murals can be a do-it-yourself project, or you can hire a professional to complete your interior design.
Options with Dragon Murals
Using murals in a child's room is a fast and easy way to create a custom look.
Those of us who are not artists might find the thought of painting dragon murals onto our child's bedroom wall an intimidating home decorating project. There are two easy alternatives to hiring a professional artist.
- Purchase murals from a wallpaper provider, and hang the mural exactly as you would hang wallpaper.
- Paint the mural from paint by number kits, or by using a dragon image that you project onto the wall and paint yourself.
How to Hang Wallpaper Murals
- Prepare your surface properly. Make sure you purchase a pre-pasted dragon mural to make the job simpler. If your walls have not been previously painted, make sure you add a good coat of primer. Painted walls should be clean and dry, and free of any flaking paint. If your walls have been previously papered, you will need to remove all the wallpaper, sand and prime the surface prior to applying the mural.
- Hold the mural onto the wall and check for placement. You may need help if there is more than one piece to the mural. You can mark the area on the wall with a pencil. The pencil mark can easily be removed later.
- Fold the mural into sections, and then dampen by placing the mural into a plastic tub filled with warm water. Remove from the water and allow to set for a few minutes to allow the glue to activate.
- Apply the mural to the wall, and slide into the placement you chose earlier. Using a damp sponge, smooth all air bubbles and wrinkles out of the mural. Wipe any excess glue away with the sponge. Allow to dry. If there is more than one piece to your mural, apply them in the same manner, matching to the first piece as you go.
How to Paint Murals Yourself
Several online companies offer services where they create paint-by-number murals for children's rooms. These are easy to use for anyone, and no artistic skills are necessary.
If you have difficulty finding dragon murals, you can also paint murals yourself. The basic instructions are:
- Paint the wall you have chosen for your mural a complimentary background color. Allow to dry at least 24 hours.
- Rent or borrow an overhead projector. Place an image on the projector of your chosen dragon scene. Images can be found on the Internet, in children's books and in coloring books. Project the image onto the wall and adjust the projector for the right size.
- Trace the image projected onto the wall with a pencil. Include the main details, but don't get too intricate. Once the image has been fully traced onto the wall, turn off the projector and turn on the lights.
- Using craft paint and artist brushes, simply fill in the mural you now have drawn on your wall with paint colors of your choice. Seal the painting with clear polyurethane so that it can be easily cleaned without damage.
- Add simple accents to your painted mural to add to the fantasy. Castles, clouds and unicorns are popular partners to dragon motifs.
Where to Purchase Dragon Murals
There are several places online you can purchase dragon murals and paint-by-number murals.
Conclusion
Creating dragon murals for your children is an easy home decorating project that doesn't require artistic skills. Using a little creativity and some elbow grease, you can add a mural to any room. Create a fantasyland for your little one!
- Written by Kathy Wilson
