For painting murals and creating faux finishes on walls, some understanding of paints and their properties and possibilities is essential if you don’t want to make ugly and potentially costly mistakes. If in doubt, you should be able to get good advice from your paint retailer or hardware store.

* Creating murals isn’t just about applying your design. It starts with preparation of your wall surface. You’ll need a special sealer for fresh plaster or concrete and any holes or cracks that you’ve filled will also need sealing before painting over. Once you’ve completed your mural you may need to protect it with a clear glaze that will also give it a shiny finish.

* Make sure that your paint is designed for your purpose, whether that is use inside or outside. Think about the wear it will be subjected to. Murals in kitchens and bathrooms will require a steam and/or water-resistant paint. Don’t be tempted to cut corners and buy cheap, low quality paint.

* You will need to look at your base coat carefully since it will affect the paint applied to it. Standard interior paint is a matte finish, water-based paint often called ‘flat paint’ because of its low-gloss quality. This is the worst kind of base coat. Subsequent layers tend to dry quickly, leaving you without the ‘wet edge’ you need to create a good finish. Also it tends to flatten color on subsequent layers. Paints with a higher gloss content, known as satin or pearl paints (depending on manufacturer) are always a good base for faux painting.

* For interior murals you can’t go wrong with acrylic or latex paints. These water-based paints are user-friendly and make cleaning brushes and splashes simple. (Latex paints today typical use resins that aren’t rubber and may be labelled ‘acrylic latex’.)

* Remember to check before you mix paints. Acrylic and latex paints are water-based and mixing them with oil-based paints is an easy error to be avoided at all costs. It can even be a problem applying latex or acrylic paints onto a glossy base layer, since they may not ‘take’ well.

* Once you’ve chosen the right paint (oil- or water-based) with the right degree of gloss, you will be ready to select your colors. Color can be changeable, so think your choice through. It can look very different in a sunny or shady room, for example. Also, that color on the sample will almost certainly look a lot brighter or deeper in hue when painted onto a much larger expanse of wall. Try it out before you commit yourself to creating your mural. As long as you don’t mix oil and water-based paints you can usually adjust the color by mixing it.

If you know what paints are available and what their properties are, then you are ready to experiment with interesting effects. You can have a lot of fun with the many novelty paints available, with finishes ranging from texture, to metallic to fluorescent!