Episode #8: Painting a Mural: What I'd Do Differently and Why I'd Still Do it Again

June 30, 2025•2 min read

What do you get when you combine big dreams, bright paint, and six bug-themed classrooms? A hallway mural project that I'd call a success!

Before I was even on staff, the idea of a mural had been tossed around by a fellow team member. Once I stepped into leadership, I decided to run with the vision—and, in full transparency, I learned a lot through trial and error.

The Vision Behind the Mural

The dream was to give our kids a vibrant, welcoming hallway where they felt seen, known, and excited to belong. Each classroom already had a bug-themed name, so the mural extended that with sections featuring each of the bugs: bumblebees, dragonflies, ladybugs, grasshoppers, butterflies and fireflies. It brought cohesion, color, and creativity to a previously plain space.

What Went Well

We had a great starting point: a ministry volunteer with artistic gifts who could sketch the layout. I provided the vision and Pinterest inspiration, and she helped translate it into reality. We chose a consistent style and a set of core paint colors to maintain unity across all six mural sections. And most of all—we made something our kids loved. They could walk down the hall and proudly identify their classrooms by the mural outside.

The Hard Lessons

There were a few key things I would absolutely do differently next time:

Sketch in layers. Doing it all at once caused major confusion when grass overlapped flowers and volunteers couldn’t tell pencil lines apart.
Account for different artistic styles. Volunteer help is amazing—but unless there’s a clear artistic guide and supervision, things can get… well, blobby.
Double your time estimate. What I thought would take 2 weeks took closer to 4, with many late-night painting sessions after church hours.

I also had to accept that, eventually, this mural would be painted over. Ministry spaces shift, and what made sense for preschool classrooms might not for future uses. But that didn’t take away from the beauty of the season it served.

Why I’d Still Do It Again

Even with the mishaps, this mural brought life to our ministry space. It showed our families we care. It gave kids visual anchors to help them feel at home. And it reflected a heart of creativity and intentionality. I’d absolutely take on a project like this again—only with a bit more planning and a lot more layering.

If you’re considering something similar in your ministry space, I’d love to talk through it with you.

The Progression - In Pictures