Remember Lora’s bright and colorful kitchen? If you did a double take when you saw her hand painted Franciscan starburst style wall — you weren’t alone. Lora has kindly offered to share her easy, affordable trick for painting an entire wall with these Franciscan style atomic starbursts. With just a little bit of paint and a few other odds and ends you might already have around the house, this project can be completed in as little as two hours — how’s that for instant wallpaper.
Lora says:
To make the pattern, and to be loose about it in design, I took a new regular kitchen sponge and cut 3 sizes. Using the colors from the Star Burst plate, I randomly placed clustered spots. From a heavy card stock paper, I made semi triangles to simulate the the star, and with fine tip permanent pens, I drew the stars and dotted the ends…It was about 2 hours and WahLah!
After seeing the photo above, I asked Lora what the white parts on the sponge were. Her reply:
The sponge is a basic with scratch pad on the back. It’s easier to hold and the paint doesn’t go though the scratch pad!
What a great tip — and a great idea Lora.
Add texture
Lora painted her googie starbursts onto bright white wall paint. But you know, if you wanted to come even closer to replicating the actual vintage plate you could (1) match the wall color to field color of the paint and then (2) after the base color is completely dry, experiment with getting the dark gray speckles onto the wall by dipping a medium-sized paint brush into paint… blotting the brush… then kind of “whipping” or “flicking” the brush to splash the speckles onto the wall. This would take some time…Work on different non-overlapping portions of the wall as you go so that you can remove the wet speckles if they are too gloppy or whatever.
Thanks again, Lora, for sharing your secret to getting the atomic googie Franciscan style pattern up on your walls — without having to use wallpaper. This is a great budget-friendly project for anyone who has a wall that could use some atomic pizazz.
Connie Jane says
Wow, you nailed it! I have tons of these dishes stored away from Grandma’s. I might have to dig them out and go retro. Thanks for the idea 🙂
Jamie says
Does anyone know what fabric was used for the curtains in this pic? Is it repro? I love the look — and am looking for something like this for my kitchen! Thanks!
pam kueber says
I do not know. But see our category Decorate/Window Treatments – we have various fabric ideas there. Good luck.
Jamie says
Thanks, Pam!
GreaseGirl says
This was the perfect inspiration for a simple and low-cost weekend project, thank you! I tried a small kitchen wall first, next up will be the wall my vanity table is on. I had some issues with the Sharpie’s tip losing it’s ink on my satin paint – next time I may try a paint pen instead. My results and process are on my blog at https://greasegirlgetscrafty.wordpress.com/2014/11/24/cheap-simple-diy-atomic-starburst-painted-wallpaper/.
lynda murray says
I cant believe how good that looks! Thanks for sharing your technique. I think I’m going to try this.
Stephen Jones says
What paint colors did you use?
Daniel says
***STAR***BURST***PERFECTION***
Chicago Char says
There are several sites where you can purchase blank repositionable sheets to create your own wallies. I’d try creating the designs on that first so I could take all that work with me since I rent.
I also have a pink tile and gray bathtub, sink & toilet bathroom but with vanilla cream walls. I introduced other colors too so I could have colorful towels.
Nathanael Kitchen says
That is brilliant! I love it. My wife and I were just talking about getting a stencil. We may not need it now!
Rosemary Thornton says
I have been searching and searching for wallpaper for my mid-century modern kitchen (which still has its original formica and knotty pine), and you’ve inspired me with this!
We have a full set of this Franciscan ware, and I *love* it!
Now I’m wondering how long it’ll take to do a whole wall!
Thanks so much for posting this! I LOVE IT!!!
pam kueber says
You’re welcome! Send me a photo when you are done!
Rosemary Thornton says
I will! I’ve already started on the project, and It’s looking wonderful! I’ll send you some photos when the job is complete.