Paint Ideas for a Boy's Pirate Room

Waves

• Even if you have no mural painting experience, adding a few rolling waves to the wall is an easy task. Paint the wall a light shade of blue first, recommends Disney Home, then use a darker tint for the waves to create contrast. Add caps of foam with white or sea foam colored paint for realism. Paint waves at about the height of the boy's bed so the waves appear to swell and crash around it like the sides of a pirate ship.

Underwater

• If you plan to add a bunk or loft bed that mimics the look of a pirate ship, split the walls into underwater and sky painting projects. Try adding clouds and a moon or sun to the ceiling. Paint an underwater scene, complete with sea life and a sunken treasure chest, on the walls below the bunk bed to imitate an underwater scene. Glow-in-the-dark stars make the ceiling seem even more like the real sky when the lights go out.

Wood Grain

• The warmth of wood grain invokes the interior of a large pirate ship, but installing new wood paneling is expensive. Try adding a faux wood grain to the walls with a special wood grain paint tool. You use the rubber wood grain tool by pressing it into the surface of the wet paint. Running it down or across the wall with a rocking motion creates a pattern mimicking natural wood grain. A glaze is also mixed into the paint to highlight the contrast between the grain pattern and your base color.

Beach Scene

• Pairing a light, sandy yellow with any shade of blue produces an instant beach scene on the walls of your boy's new pirate room. There's no need for extra murals or stencils if you simply paint the bottom third of the walls yellow. This works best in rooms where you plan to add lots of art on the walls and don't want to overwhelm a small space. Adding simple painted palm trees or a treasure chest adds interest without requiring the effort of a full mural. If you feel inspired, try painting a treasure map on one of the walls as an accent piece.