Landscapes are a popular choice for covering a large wall. It could be an enchanted forest for a child's room or a peaceful seascape in a living room. Before you begin you will need to prepare your surface well. It needs to be clean and grease-free. Fill holes and cracks and apply a good quality undercoat or primer. Water-based acrylic paints are a good choice for interior murals. You may need emulsion paint for exteriors.

 

If you are creating a scene such as a landscape, you will typically start by covering your surface with the background colour and building up your image in layers. Your final layer will be the fine detail. Once you have a background coat you can sketch out your design.

 

Murals can also be images painted onto walls that serve the same purpose as framed pictures. Motifs that complement your décor and architecture are another idea. Tuscan murals, with grape and foliage motifs, provide an attractive finishing touch to a room and are popular for their old-world charm.

 

For the less experienced, stencils are the perfect solution. You will find an extraordinary range of designs that you can use to achieve effective results. You can also buy kits that let you transfer a design onto the wall. All you have to do then is apply the paint.

 

Murals do not have to be limited to the walls in your home. Schools and public buildings often have murals painted indoors and outdoors to create a more interesting atmosphere for the students. Adding mural in the workplace, including offices and schools, can banish that institutional look, adding colour, vibrancy and warmth.

 

To make life that bit easier, the lovely people over at the Crown Paints Colourmix HQ is giving one lucky winner the chance to have a completely personalised mural, inspired by their very own design, applied to a room of their choice in their home. All you have to do is send a drawing or painting of a design you would love to have in a bedroom, playroom or school wall. The competition is open to children of all ages and all entries will be assessed by a panel of Crown's colour experts, taking into account the age, originality of the concept and artistic flair. The competition will run until Sept 30th inclusive and the winner will be announced on Oct 3rd 2011. Check out the entries they have received here.

 

To find out more on where send us your masterpiece, click here to enter.

 

Best of luck and happy decorating,

Neville