Add drama - Go big

For a one-of-a-kind look that is more personal than wallpaper, grab some blackboard chalk and start sketching. In the dining room shown here, a swirly floral wallpaper pattern design was adopted as a larger, looser drawing for a fresh, whimsical effect.

 

The oversized flowers, tendrils, and leaves never repeat, making them even more dynamic as they travel around the room, bumping up against the trim.

1. Make a Pattern
Using a pencil and tracing paper, borrow a pattern from a book or a piece of wallpaper, fabric, or even gift wrap. If the design is on an object, like a rug, take a photo, make a photocopy, and enlarge it. Trace the largest shapes, and make the pattern wider than it is tall so that it can wrap the room like a mural. Avoid repetitions.

2. Create a Grid

Using pale chalk dust, snap vertical and horizontal chalk lines on the walls at 30cm intervals. Then draw a grid of 3cm squares on the traced pattern. Use chalk to transfer the design, now 12 times larger, square by square onto the walls. Step back and make sure the design connects gracefully. Allow it to bump up against windows, ceiling, and doors – that's part of the charm.

NOTE: The proportions are up to you. If you transfer a 3cm square of template to a 30cm square on the wall, you will enlarge the pattern 12 times. You can play with the ratio to get the effect you want.

3. Paint the Outlines

You can use any combination of colours that you like. For this project we started out with walls painted in Prominent Paints Sheen - Pale Sky (0614-R78B) and used Burnt Biscuit (5721-Y23R) for the outlines, applying it right over the chalk with a round artist's paintbrush and long, smooth strokes. Let the paint dry. Then gently erase the remaining grid with a damp cloth so that it won't distract you during Step 4.

4. Add Two Softly Contrasting Shades

Using an artist's paintbrush, dab on the paint to create a mottled effect, letting a bit of the pale-blue base colour show through. This adds depth.

Any mistakes can be easily painted over.

Finishing off

If you use a matt or flat paint for the walls and need to add more protection to the painted effect, apply two coats of Prominent Paints clear acrylic sealer.