DIY Backyard Mural

When your “backyard” has an ugly spray painted wall, the only option is to repaint it. I use the word backyard loosely because this was actually more of a patio in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia. And it needed help. Lots of help. Enter DIY backyard mural.

It was so dingy and dirty looking back there, so I wanted to paint something fresh. Rather than painting the wall one color, I decided to try a mural. Clearly I had too much time on my hands. I was single and all my friends lived halfway across the country. It’s amazing what boredom and free time can create. I have artistic ability, but very little creativity. Because of that, Pinterest is my best friend. I found this pin and knew it was perfect for my DIY backyard mural.

The first step was the paint the wall white. I didn’t take a lot of time to make sure every spot was covered. This was just an outdoor space! Next, I painted the main flower outlines. I used this set of paint brushes from Home Depot for the entire wall. They worked out well. There was a large brush for big flower sections, a medium brush for stems, and a small brush for detail.

After the flower outlines were painted, I could add details. The colors used on this project were mainly 3 shades of green (dark, medium, light), one pinkish red, one yellow, and a teal. I used white paint to create different shades of each of these colors. An added bonus is that all but two of the green paints were samples or leftovers that I already had in the house. Pro tip: Sherwin Williams has paint sample jars that are much bigger than samples at Home Depot or Loews. They often have 30 or 40% off sales as well.

The details took much longer than any other part of this project. Particle board soaks up a lot of paint and it was hard to put details on uneven wall. Luckily, blending paint is very forgiving and it was simple to cover up mistakes or make them look good.

Finally, I filled in any extra space with vines, small flowers, and extra leaves. You could probably take this step even further and make it more of a jungle scene! Personally, I was content at this stage with my DIY backyard mural. Just add some Italian lights, music, and friends!