DIY: Creating THE Alphabet Mural

We were delighted to introduce you to Nicole Worth and family a few months back. You made it known that you were just as delighted to view their son’s incredible modern nursery. And like us, you thought, “Hmmm? Do I dare copy this look? Is it really difficult?” So without further adieu, Nicole shares with us her mural making secrets and you don’t have to be a graphic designer after all…

Melisa at Project Nursery asked me to write a how-to on creating our alphabet mural for a nursery, and I am happy to oblige!  Being that my husband and I went to art school during the days when hand-lettering was a class, we decided to create a mural that not only reflected our son’s crib bedding but also let us take a step back-in-time and put our hand-lettering skills to the test.  Although we built our mural using alphabet letters, any design can be created to get the same effect.

Here’s how we did it:

We started the process by figuring out which colors worked best for our design.  Knowing we wanted to use a color that went with the Dwell Studio Bedding we chose, we decided on blue.  Using BEHR paint from Home Depot, we chose three shades of blue:  the base color- which covered all the walls- is Cumberland Fog and the other two colors-Little Dipper and Silver Strand-are a lighter hue and a darker hue of this same blue shade.

After painting our wall with the base color we started creating the design for our mural.  Being graphic designers, we decided to use Adobe Illustrator to layout our design. Knowing we were going to use two different color values, we designed the mural to have an overlapping effect for interest and depth.

Once completed, we then printed out the design and used this printout as the stencil for the wall.  Using a projector in the room, we projected the printout on the wall and proceeded to outline the design very lightly with a colored pencil.  Luckily enough my husband has an amazingly steady hand so he was able to handle all the large straight lines without a straight-edge.

Once the design was transferred to the wall, the real fun begins.  Using varying size paintbrushes, the design was then outlined in paint. Since we used two different shades, the light color was put down first so that the dark could overlap it.  After the light shade was all outlined, we used a small paint roller to fill in the color.  Waiting till the light color was dry, we then proceeded to outline and fill in the remaining letters with our darker color.

All in all it’s a simple procedure used in creating the mural.  A steady hand with a paint brush was the hardest trick, but the design can truly be translated into anything you want!

Nicole is kind enough to answer any questions and can be contact directly at nicole{at}formcode{dot}com. Stay tuned for more information on the official launch of FormBaby toward the end of this year.  FormBaby will offer one-of-a-kind wall art and designs especially for baby which answers our second most popular question, “Where can I get that monkey wall art?”

Thank you to Nicole and her beautiful family. We look forward to seeing more of your great designs!