The parents featured in this episode are adopting a little girl from China and want a nursery that's fun and outdoor-oriented, not too frou-frou or frilly. Since they like the idea of a wall mural, the room's design is developed around the motif created for the walls. The couple has designated their former den as the nursery, and though it's currently bare (figure A), the room has plenty of potential. Two of its best features include space for a window seat and a small play nook. Background colors (figure B) continue the outdoor theme: apple-green for the walls, sky-blue for the ceiling. Once the wall and ceiling colors are in place, it's time to start adding fun accents. Here, Gigi Turpin, a decorative paint designer for Delta, demonstrates the easy step-by-step process she used to create the realistic painted clouds and delightful flowers that adorn the walls of this fun room. Materials: Stencil(s)
Acrylic paint in light purple and white (for clouds) plus the desired colors for flowers
Small, medium and large paintbrushes
Sea sponge
Pencil
Tape measure
Clouds Before penciling in and painting your design, you'll need to determine the placement of all items and decide what size you'd like them to be. Since this nursery features a bold design, the flowers are large and brightly-colored (figure C). If you plan to add other details -- like the large tree and hand-painted sign over the miniature door shown here (figure D) -- incorporate these elements into your design plan as well. If you'll be including oversized items like the tree, tackle these objects first. Simply pencil in the outlines of each design, either freehand or using a stencil, then begin filling in each area with paint, working in small sections. Once large items are done and you've finalized the layout of all mural elements, you're ready to start painting. Turpin suggests tackling the ceiling next, where clouds are randomly scattered across the pale blue background. - First, dip the sea sponge into just a bit of the light purple paint and dab a small amount on the surface (figure E).
- After you've sponged on enough paint to form the "lining" of the cloud (and achieved the desired size), blend along the bottom line of the sponged area using a horizontal motion to add a bit of definition.
- Next, sponge over the entire purple area with white paint (figure F), making sure to turn the sponge over before dipping it into the new color. Continue covering the purple, allowing just a bit to show through, until you've created a realistic cloud.
Tip: Leave more purple exposed along the blended line at the bottom. - Finally, move on to the area where you'll paint the next cloud and repeat steps 1-3. Continue, taking a step back every so often to keep the clouds randomly spaced until you've created the appearance of a dreamy sky (figure G).
Flowers For the flowers featured here, Turpin creates stencils of various shapes and sizes to form the outline of each design (separate stencils are used for stems and leaves). For the large roses, she uses a circular stencil (figure H), which she fills in with paint in a medium shade of red. Tip: To ensure good results, Turpin suggests practicing a small version of the designs on a board as shown here. After allowing the paint to dry completely, Turpin sketches a spiral pattern on the circle, then traces over it with paint in a darker shade of red. Once this color has dried, she adds highlights to the medium-red areas with a light reddish-pink to complete each rose.
RESOURCES :
Faux finishing and decorative painting
Treasures for Baby: Exquisite Nursery Decorations and Handmade Ribbon Keepsakes
Author: Ellie Joos
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