DIY Mountain Wall Mural: no artistic skills required

We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.

When we moved into our new house there was this room off of the kitchen we weren’t sure what to do with.  We decided to make it into a playroom for the boys (I was tired of toys invading the entire house).  The room however, was a little plain.  I needed to up the fun-ness factor, hence a wall mural.

From the day they were each born, I have known that both of my boys are drawn to adventure. And they LOVE the outdoors.  I couldn’t think of anything better to put on the wall than mountains.  I want to encourage their love for adventure and the outdoors.  And if we ever decide to convert the room, it would make an incredibly cute wall in a nursery or even work in an office.

This mountain wall mural is incredibly simple to do and requires no art skills, just some creativity and a little patience.

Supplies needed for wall mural:

• Painter’s tape
• Paint in 3 different colors – I was lucky enough to already have all of the colors I wanted since we were repainting the entire inside of our house.  You don’t need a lot of paint, just enough for one wall.
• Paint brush

First, paint the base color of the wall mural.

The base color will be whatever color you want the sky, or the area above the mountains to be for your wall mural.  You may or may not need to do this step, depending on what color your wall already is.  The original walls is our room were an ugly yellowy-beige color, and I wanted a light blue.  The color blue I used I already had on hand from painting the upper cabinets in my kitchen, and I think it was the perfect choice.

I went ahead and painted the entire wall.  I felt like painting the entire wall would give a more even color for the mountains.  If you are short on time, hate painting, or are short on paint you can just paint the portions that will be seen.  However, if you want to do it this way you need a good idea on how the mountains will lay on the wall.  I tend to wing it, so it was better to paint the whole thing.

Next, tape off the back layer of mountains.

Use the painter’s tape to outline the mountain range that you wish to portray.  Make sure the paint on the wall is good and dry and then just be creative. Tape out the peaks however you want them to be.  This is when you can use your imagination, no one needs to like it except for you.

Once it’s all taped off, paint the area of the wall underneath the tape.  Here you will want to use the medium of shade of paint, or the lighter of the two mountain colors.  I chose a dark blue (again from my kitchen).  The lighter color gives the appearance that the mountains are further away.  Again, if you want a more even final layer you will want to paint the ENTIRE portion under the tape.

Remove the painter’s tape and then take a break.  You can quickly touch up anything you may need to from where the tape was.  Just make sure you let the paint dry thoroughly before moving on to the next step.  You don’t want to ruin your freshly painted wall by putting tape on it before it’s good and dry.

Next, tape off the front layer of mountains.

I wanted three mountains that were rather on the tall side.  So basically I taped off three triangles of slightly varying height.  I made sure that they were NOT completely symmetrical triangles. I like the character it gives when things are a little wonky.

Now it’s time to paint the final coat.  Here I used a dark gray color I had on hand.  Paint the area under the tape.  After painting, remove the painter’s tape and let it dry.  You may have a little more touch up to do here, but it shouldn’t take long. And voila, your wall mural is complete.

Now sit back and relax, you have created a work of art!

My next to-do item for the room is to make some cloud shaped bookshelves that will hang above the mountains.  I’ve always wanted to have some bookshelves to display the boys’ favorite books, and I think clouds would look perfect. 

To sum up: 10 easy steps

1. Paint the wall
2. Let the paint dry
3. Tape off the rear mountain range
4. Paint area under tape
5. Let the paint dry
6. Tape off front mountains
7. Paint area under tape
8. Let the paint dry
9. Touch up if needed
10. Admire your masterpiece

I would love to see your results! Let me know if you try this tutorial or have a different idea for a wall mural.

My mom and sister completed cityscapes in the boys’ bedrooms during one of our many hospital stays. I’ll show you how they did them soon. In the meantime check out the DIY crib rails I made to go along with the superhero theme of their rooms!