This is what one of the bathrooms looked like when I first toured the place. It hadn’t been updated since the ‘80’s, which was when it was built. About two years ago, I downsized the cabinet to something smaller and more modern and did the same with the mirror. I had been planning on circling back for more improvements and there was no time like the quarantine to push me to do it.

Wallpaper from Drop It Modern Design House.

While browsing Pinterest, I discovered this gorgeous wallpaper from Drop It Modern. While I was absolutely in love with the design, I wasn’t ready to shell out that kind of money for wallpaper. So I thought, maybe I could just draw it myself?

And I’m actually glad I did! The real-life paint job felt way more authentic than a wallpaper and the best part was being able to say it was DIY. I started out with a digital mockup on my iPad to check my dimensions, then used that to pencil in where I was going to paint on the wall. 

I found this great metallic gold paint online. This is an all-purpose paint – you can use it on your walls, on your furniture, on your door handles, etc (I actually ended up using some leftover paint to spruce up a vanity). The paint is a bit opaque, so you do need to use more than one coat. I used two coats on the mural and five coats on my vanity!

But it dries very quickly, so if you make any mistakes – be sure to correct it, fast! The entire process probably took about 4 hours (including the mock-up), but I am so glad I decided to try it myself.