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March 25th, 2010
before & after: scott + cheryl’s mural wall


this fantastic wall makeover comes from scott and cheryl white in michigan. inspired by paint by number artwork, they decided to turn an ebay painting into their own custom wall mural. after their paint-by-number painting arrived from ebay, scott made a color transparency of it and borrowed a friend’s projector to trace it on the wall with pencil. scott and cheryl created a chart of all the colors, recreating their own numbering system. then after a trip to michael’s to pick up paints, scott and cheryl painted in their large-scale paint-by-numbers mural by hand over a period of eight months. the final results are stunning and i’m so glad scott and cheryl had the inspiration to create something so fun on their walls. well done, guys!

[have a before & after you'd like to share on d*s? just shoot me an email right here with your images!]



CLICK HERE for more images of scott’s finished mural after the jump!


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91 comments
March 25th, 2010 - 12:06 pm

YAY!!! My former boss and his wife! Love them and this mural :)

Heather said:
March 25th, 2010 - 12:09 pm

amazingly clever!

Tina G. said:
March 25th, 2010 - 12:11 pm

That’s the COOLEST thing I’ve ever seen!

Jen said:
March 25th, 2010 - 12:13 pm

That is super cool! What a fun project.

Dre said:
March 25th, 2010 - 12:15 pm

Wow-what an awesome idea. love it.

Christine said:
March 25th, 2010 - 12:16 pm

Genius! I love it.

Vicki said:
March 25th, 2010 - 12:17 pm

wow- truly impressive.

March 25th, 2010 - 12:18 pm

Great job !!

Jill E. said:
March 25th, 2010 - 12:20 pm

this is amazing. i love the final look so much.

Oonafey said:
March 25th, 2010 - 12:26 pm

I want one!

Barb S. said:
March 25th, 2010 - 12:29 pm

That is the coolest thing ever!

March 25th, 2010 - 12:30 pm

I found his site

web.me.com/plastipop

kate said:
March 25th, 2010 - 12:32 pm

i love it so much!

Sarah said:
March 25th, 2010 - 12:38 pm

What kind of paint was used? So cool!!!

Shari said:
March 25th, 2010 - 12:42 pm

This is brilliant. Love that they carried the sky over the archway.

March 25th, 2010 - 12:44 pm

Oh wow. That is great.

Erica said:
March 25th, 2010 - 12:44 pm

I am so jealous! Totally gonna use this idea…

Bridget said:
March 25th, 2010 - 12:50 pm

This would be an amazing pregnancy project – start in the nursery and take your time (with non-toxic paints of course!) and finish up right when the baby arrives!

March 25th, 2010 - 12:50 pm

How fun! I really love this; congratulations on a wonderful DIY!

tsuzikew said:
March 25th, 2010 - 12:53 pm

i see a trend a comin’!

beth said:
March 25th, 2010 - 12:54 pm

so so cool. I love this. If it didn’t take 8 months, I might be inspired to try my own!!

plastipop said:
March 25th, 2010 - 12:54 pm

in case anyone’s wondering. there are a total of 27 colors up there… :)

March 25th, 2010 - 12:55 pm

Haha, this is so funny! I actually bought a paint-by-numbers painting in a thriftshop a while ago because it was so…..strange! I can’t imagine anyone painting like that without the numbers, and I wonder if the person who made it thought it looked professional. It’s like when you trace something, you can tell immediately because something happens to the lines. My painting is of a little bird. A little, very very stiff bird!

hyzen said:
March 25th, 2010 - 12:56 pm

So fun, and cheerful, and attractive, and smart! Love it!

Rich (bro) said:
March 25th, 2010 - 1:01 pm

Nice work guys/kids! Looks better in person… Cheryl, are those your shoes?!?

Maria said:
March 25th, 2010 - 1:08 pm

my boyfriend would simply love that. he’s all about the mural walls.

March 25th, 2010 - 1:17 pm

This mural is simply fantastic. So well executed. I especially like the continuation over the doorway.

March 25th, 2010 - 1:17 pm

I am loving the before and after series!

Can I do the mural and the painted piano in one house I wonder?

Carrie said:
March 25th, 2010 - 1:21 pm

So cool! Reminds me of this gorgeous nursery mural from Ohdeedoh:

http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/small-kids-big-color-2009/small-kids-big-color-entry–100167

erin said:
March 25th, 2010 - 1:38 pm

amazing! i’ve been looking for a projector for so long. as soon as i get one, i’d like to do something similar!

7rish said:
March 25th, 2010 - 1:56 pm

amazing work!!! this post reminded me of one episode of ‘united states of tara’ … made me smile =)

marissa said:
March 25th, 2010 - 2:07 pm

Oooh, a rural mural! Love it.

March 25th, 2010 - 2:34 pm

Oh MY! Such a great technique to know – I am filing this one away for the future. And I love how bold & graphic the painting ended up looking once it was expanded to fill the whole wall. Nice!

March 25th, 2010 - 2:37 pm

oh my GOD that is so badass. That would be amazing for a kid’s room, too.

Julie said:
March 25th, 2010 - 2:42 pm

Great idea!!!

keith said:
March 25th, 2010 - 2:50 pm

No way – that is so fantastic

maria said:
March 25th, 2010 - 2:50 pm

love this!

XK said:
March 25th, 2010 - 3:05 pm

Reminds me of my grandparents’ wallpaper mural from the 70s in their downstairs basement. Although I didn’t appreciate it when I was a kid, I’m now intrigued by it and miss it a lot. This is even cooler! I love the colors… Very inspiring :)

shana said:
March 25th, 2010 - 3:21 pm

Oh, that is rad.

Debra said:
March 25th, 2010 - 3:37 pm

I’m admiring the patience it took to create the mural as much as the mural itself!

carole said:
March 25th, 2010 - 3:46 pm

so clever! and, I love how the couch looks against the mural colors. (By the way, where did you get the couch? Is it the Petrie from Crate & Barrel?)

March 25th, 2010 - 4:19 pm

Wow-great idea!!!
Jana

eloo said:
March 25th, 2010 - 4:20 pm

radical, times a million.

Halie said:
March 25th, 2010 - 4:38 pm

What a wonderful idea! Love how they didn’t just paint on a plain wall but used one with a door that you can walk through. So creative!

sherenec said:
March 25th, 2010 - 4:39 pm

one of the coolest before and afters I have seen. bravo!

cathie said:
March 25th, 2010 - 4:47 pm

so neat! i would love to paint my own mural wall! that projector idea is awesome.

Connie said:
March 25th, 2010 - 4:48 pm

B-E-A-utiful!
Hope they don’t put the couch in front of it.
Lovely

Nicole* said:
March 25th, 2010 - 4:58 pm

too cool! great work guys!

Loopy said:
March 25th, 2010 - 5:11 pm

I….Love…THIS!!!!! AHHHH!!! Brilliant!

plastipop said:
March 25th, 2010 - 5:26 pm

@ carole, yep it’s the Petrie Sofa by Crate and Barrel.

Angela said:
March 25th, 2010 - 5:27 pm

I am obsessed with vintage paint-by-numbers (am longing to start a collection beyond the one horse painting I have) and this is SO awesome! I love it.

Joyce said:
March 25th, 2010 - 5:28 pm

wow the projector idea is just awesome!

March 25th, 2010 - 5:34 pm

This is something that even I can do! Can’t wait…

stacey said:
March 25th, 2010 - 6:25 pm

love and love and then love this some more!!! fantastic idea – clever people!

March 25th, 2010 - 7:05 pm

First time I have ever seen something like this..a mural is one thing…this is on a whole other level!!

lia said:
March 25th, 2010 - 8:30 pm
kim bee-arrgh said:
March 25th, 2010 - 8:45 pm

I.Love.This.So. Much.

Missy said:
March 25th, 2010 - 9:48 pm

holy cow, what a good idea!

Penny said:
March 25th, 2010 - 9:51 pm

Very creative idea. I’m totally jealous! I love fall colors, this would make me so happy. I can’t imagine it turning out that well if I did it. I imagine you must have some kind of artistic talent.

March 26th, 2010 - 12:32 am

awesome! i’m most impressed.

kiki said:
March 26th, 2010 - 1:05 am

um, this is amazing. i think my favorite part is how long it would take! how many evenings do you have a creative itch, but not the motivation to start a whole new project?? i love these ongoing bits!

March 26th, 2010 - 6:50 am

What a wonderful idea! I would hate to see any of it obstructed by furniture, though, after all that work!

March 26th, 2010 - 9:16 am

how wonderful…and truly unique ~

modfrugal said:
March 26th, 2010 - 9:37 am

Best DIY in ages…..awesome. Now I know who’s been outbidding me on PBN on ebay lately!

March 26th, 2010 - 10:03 am

This is so great… Now I want to go out and find some paint by numbers!

March 26th, 2010 - 10:17 am

My question is this: When you go to resell the home and you need to paint over this beauty, does it leave a lumpy, bumpy mess below the surface of the paint? I love this idea but I’m scared that it would call for new dry-wall in the area after it’s all done!

Steph said:
March 26th, 2010 - 11:00 am

This is pure brilliance! Bravo!

plastipop said:
March 26th, 2010 - 11:30 am

@Stickyheels. We painted it on by hand and painting by hand does leave brush strokes. Stirring your paint well will prevents lumps. Alternately you could try doing a series of masks and spray it on. But depending on the number of colors that would be pretty hard core. If you wanted to go back to a solid color and not see any brush marks, sanding the surface and a good primer coat should do the trick.

March 26th, 2010 - 11:40 am

Oooh, WOW! That’s so amazing….ahh, I’m jealous I didn’t come up with that first…hehe…

Heidi

Novi said:
March 26th, 2010 - 11:46 am

This is something different, it’s awesome!

Helena Hatlevig said:
March 26th, 2010 - 12:36 pm

WOW! WOW! WOW!

March 26th, 2010 - 12:42 pm

Love it! linking it to my Friday links!

March 26th, 2010 - 12:44 pm

That is GREAT. GREAT! Good job. If I only had a wall left …

{ kat } said:
March 26th, 2010 - 2:59 pm

OMG OMG OMG!

stephanie said:
March 26th, 2010 - 6:35 pm

i LOVE this idea. way more fun than a white wall. beautiful work!

pink said:
March 26th, 2010 - 10:59 pm

It’s just charming beyond belief. If I walked into an apt. and it had this, I’d rent it even if it were a studio! The kids could just sleep in the kitchen.

Hannah said:
March 27th, 2010 - 3:34 am

Oh my goodness, this is just so beautiful! And such a coincidence, I was thinking about an alpine mountain scene mural the other day as I’m missing living in Whistler… may just take plunge and try it after seeing this. Love it!

Madie said:
March 27th, 2010 - 9:13 am

wow, this is truly amazing. I love those colours and how good they fit in that interior!

Melanie said:
March 27th, 2010 - 9:57 am

That really is amazing, I LOVE it and want to have a go. I’ll be trawling the junk shops from now on. Thanks for posting this!

bananasdontsk8 said:
March 27th, 2010 - 6:27 pm

this is AMAZING!

I’ve been looking for a map large enough for one huge wall in my living room. maybe I should just project one and paint it on myself!

thanks, d*s, for all the inspiration!

Bernie said:
March 27th, 2010 - 6:31 pm

Nice to see someone actually follow through on a great idea! I’ve been thinking about doing something very similar for a long time, only I was going to outline my picture on the wall in blue (like the PBN paintings before they are painted) number them, paint the “key” on the wall, and have a party and give the guests a smocks, paint and a paintbrush….OK they’d probably want food and beer) I’d most likely leave some of it unpainted too) My husband thinks I’m nuts.

Mary Anne said:
March 28th, 2010 - 10:18 am

I love that idea!

Kelly said:
March 28th, 2010 - 11:37 am

Oh my! I love it and my house next…this would be a great addition to my office! ~Kelly

unDeniably Domestic

Eva said:
March 28th, 2010 - 3:54 pm

very very cool (8 months??)

plastipop said:
March 28th, 2010 - 11:32 pm

We took about 8 months to finish it, but it wasn’t 8 months of work. It’s nice to not have a deadline. :) My best guess is that it took us somewhere around 60 hours of work, give or take…

March 29th, 2010 - 1:33 am

very, very cool <3

Heather said:
March 29th, 2010 - 10:27 am

This is amazing! Amazing! Beautiful! Cool! Sweet! I love love love it!

Debra said:
March 29th, 2010 - 12:43 pm

Fantastic idea. Takes me back to childhood Christmas memories where I traditionally received a paint-by-numbers set from my parents every year. Hmmm, so off to consider a good spot in my home for MY paint-by-number project.

Jordan said:
March 30th, 2010 - 1:45 pm

This is beautiful. I am so inspired! Love it.

plastipop said:
April 7th, 2010 - 9:18 am
August 22nd, 2010 - 8:19 am

I was really fascinated by the paintings and how the painter turned the wall into a very amazing wall design. A creative person really has a talent in making a dull wall into a very fantastic one. The style is so new and so unique. I guess some will follow this style at their home because it’s really very inspiring.

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