One of the most exciting things about planning for a baby is designing the nursery. The moment we decided on a name for our baby, I automatically knew what the theme would be. Because we chose the name Celeste, derived from the word “celestial,” I wanted to make a night sky in her room.
Most of my designs I start a sketch either on paper or in procreate. I chose a cool color palette of navy blues, lavenders, and greys. I didn’t want to pick something over-the-top-girly but at the same time wanted a feminine vibe. I picked a few color samples of paint and sat with the swatches on my walls for a few weeks before making a decision (babies take awhile to grow so I had the time).
After drawing the outline of my mural in pencil. I filled each section with the desired color. I had a plan for most of the colors, but not all and ended mixing some new colors with paint I already had. It’s important to have a plan but remain flexible if things don’t work out like you hoped! I did have some unforeseen issues with the original primer peeling off the ceiling, I had several spots that I needed to repair as you can see in this first photo.
The most challenging part of the mural was the gradient between the blue and lavender colors. what worked very well was taking a clean rolling brush and adding one color on one side and the other on the opposite side then rolling it in the pan until the colors blended in the middle. I had to be very precise on how I rolled the paint on the wall but it turned out great overall!
The final touch to the mural was adding a starry sky. I had a pretty grand idea for this part. I wanted to make the night sky accurate to the location of our house and to the day that Celeste was due to be birthed (aside from the moon which was an artistic choice I was unwilling to budge on). In order to do this, I found a star tracker online where you can input the location, day and time. I then used a projector to display it on the ceiling so I could paint the stars in their location.
And here is the final product! I am super happy with the results and I hope Celeste enjoys and appreciates the mural she grows older. I had a lot of fun planning this mural and was able to paint some murals for a couple of friends in their nurseries as well.
Rachel Williams
Artist | Designer | Educator
Making mistakes and fixing them, so you don’t have to