How to Paint a Room to Look Like an Ocean
Giving a room an ocean theme can be an excellent way to put your creative talents to use. This type of décor is best used in a bathroom, playroom or child's bedroom. In these areas, you can really have fun with the ocean theme, adding playful furniture, window coverings and other accents to complete the look. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Paint
- Masking tape
- Plastic tarp
- Pencil
- 1-inch paintbrush
- Small roller
- Large roller
- Edger
- Sponge
Instructions
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Select three or four colors for the palette of your ocean-themed room. Most of the wall area should be a pleasant blue-green. Avoid colors that are too dark and may look menacing. Use beige or light brown for the bottom of the walls---the sandy ocean floor. The top of the walls---where the waves and sky will be---can incorporate a small amount of darker blues, and above these can be a light blue.
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Prepare the room for painting by removing the covers from light switches and electrical outlets. Apply masking tape around the baseboards, doors and windows. If the walls have excessive dirt or scuff marks, clean these off with soap and water or a Magic Eraser. Fill any holes left from wall hangings and sand the dried filler down so that you have a flat surface to work on. Lay a plastic tarp over the floor to protect it from paint drips and spills.
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Lightly mark the top and bottom of your ocean with a pencil. The bottom 6 to 12 inches of the room should be reserved for the sand color, while the top 12 to 18 inches will have the waves. Draw a gently waving line along the bottom. The depth of the sand can even vary from one wall to the next. At the top, draw your waves. These can be either another gently waving line, or sharper, choppy waves.
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Edge the top and bottom of your ocean with a 1-inch paintbrush dipped in the main blue-green ocean color, following your pencil lines. From here, you can work away from the edging on the top and bottom with a small roller until you feel that you have a large enough barrier to safely roll with a large roller without going past the lines. Paint the entire center area of the room with the blue-green color. Let this dry before continuing.
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Edge the bottom of the room in the sand-colored paint, using an edger along the floor. Use a 1-inch paintbrush along the line where the ocean meets the sand. You can continue with the paintbrush or change to a small roller to fill in the rest of the sand area.
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Edge the top of the room in the sky-colored paint using an edger along the ceiling. Paint the line where the waves meet the sky using a 1-inch paintbrush. Fill in the rest of the area using the paintbrush or a small roller.
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Accent the tops of the waves with a darker blue, using a sponge to gently smudge the paint. Do not apply the darker color over the entire top of the ocean; instead, use it sparingly on a few of the waves to add detail to the scene. You can also use the sponge to add texture to the sand by blotting on a slightly darker or lighter sand color.
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Tips & Warnings
If you want, you can paint the ceiling sky-blue as well and sponge-paint fluffy white clouds onto it. Wall stickers depicting fish, dolphins, mermaids, seashells and fish can bring the ocean to life. Talented artists may even be able to paint these on the walls themselves.
