There was a customer who did, there was a customer who didn’t. To the customer who did… all the difference was made.

What do I mean? Here, let me explain…

Customer #1 

Customer #1 got excited when he found my night sky DIY stencil kit. He called me up, asked some good questions, got a price for me to paint a mural for him, then decided that ordering a DIY kit was easier on his budget. He was excited. You see, his girlfriend’s birthday was coming up and he wanted to give her the universe… or at least a small part of it.

I sent a kit out to him right away and excitedly waited to hear back on how it went and how she liked it. Instead, he started posting negative things all over the Internet, saying “how cheap the kit was and how it was NOT worth a couple hundred dollars. Shoot, not even $25!” Then he canceled the order and started a claim with PayPal. What was going on?????? He never called me once, but instead, he freaked out and went on the attack.

I was shocked. I finally got in touch with him and he could not understand that $20-$30 in material (some Kraft paper, paint, and some tools) could be worth what I was charging. I suggested he use the stencil and make that judgment after he finished. I even offered to let him use the kit and then, if he still felt that way… that I’d send his money back. He wouldn’t hear of it. He wanted his money back NOW and he was sending the kit back.

Done. I refunded his money, he sent the kit back and I never heard from him again.

I then kept thinking… “How could he look at the Kraft paper (sure, it isn’t expensive) and then go ballistic without trying it? Didn’t he see the intentionally placed holes all over that Kraft paper? Didn’t he understand what it would allow him to accomplish, on his first try?”

Well, that was a few years ago and I’ve had hundreds of very happy customers, who actually put the kit to use and have had great results.

Case in point… I just received a LONG email from a customer who was excited to get a kit from me and who actually used it. I debated boiling down what she wrote, but then felt that if there was anyone else wondering if the kit was REALLY worth a couple of hundred dollars, well, this would be an important read for them.

Customer #2

So, here is what Customer #2 just wrote to me…

When we were working on plans for a new house I was looking at Pinterest for unique and interesting design elements. I discovered Night Sky Murals and thought, “Wow, that’s awesome. I would love to have that in our house.” The biggest dilemma was trying to figure out which room would be the one to get the honor of the mural. Doing some quick calculations, there was no way I could afford 3 or 4 rooms painted with an authentic night sky mural. So I put the idea on hold and followed the Night Sky Mural Facebook page for about 5 years yearning for a starry sky above my bed when I saw a post about the stencil kit. Suddenly the solution was clear – I didn’t have to pick just one room anymore, I could do them all myself! I wasn’t sure if I could get anywhere close to the level of the Night Sky murals that Jeff has painted that I have seen pictures of, but I was willing to give it a shot.

I ordered a kit and it arrived very quickly. I opened up the box like a kid on Christmas morning, excited to get started. My husband looked at the contents of the kit and said, “That’s it?!?” But I was undaunted and ready to go. As soon as I had a weekend alone – kids at grandma and grandpa’s, and my husband working 12-hour shifts all weekend, I went to work. It is a long process, but oddly therapeutic in a Zen-sort of way. Our master bedroom is 14’ x 12’ with a lofted ceiling. I painted to show tunes – so our bedroom took the time for me to listen to “Hamilton”, “Shrek”, “Evita” and “Into the Woods”. In other words – about 10 hours, but it was worth every minute of it. I have a completely newfound appreciation for Jeff’s freehand murals. My husband said that he expected to come home to a total “Pinterest fail”, but he was shocked and amazed. Everyone who has seen it wants a mural just like it in their room. They can’t believe that this was a stencil kit.

We took out the bed to make painting easier, and my kids insisted on pitching their tent in the room so they could “sleep under the stars” the first night. Once we had our bed back in the room my husband lay awake for several hours just staring at the ceiling. I finally nudged him to go to bed, reminding him that the stars would be there tomorrow night as well. It’s so fun to point out the constellations – which are in the correct astronomical placement for the 10:00 pm on the evening I painted – thanks to a Night Sky App (not from the mural kit), that I have on my phone. It looks like someone lifted off the roof and our bedroom is open to the sky. During the day, the secret of the stars is completely safe. I smile knowing that the stars are there quietly waiting to come out in the dark, with a little help from our black light. Kids are learning astronomy and how to find constellations and the North Star. It’s been a great learning experience for them.

The kit is beautiful in its simplicity and ease of use. While the first instinct is “That’s it?” – that’s ALL you need to make an amazing ceiling. Really! Trust me! The paint is in a tiny little jar. Again my first impression was that I wasn’t given enough, but when I realized that I put only a dot on at a time, I was amazed at how far a jar goes. He is correct when he says two rooms in 1 jar is possible. The tool to put the background stars is simple and allowed me to make each star a unique size and shape. There was a learning curve to it. I’m 1/3 of the way through my 7 y/o son’s room ( 10’ x 12’) and that only took me 1.5 hours, so his will not be quite the marathon of the first room – so maybe just “Chicago” and “Sound of Music”.

You quickly develop a rhythm and pattern. There is nothing quite so satisfying is pulling back a stencil and seeing a galaxy open up on the ceiling above. Next, I will be on to my 5 y/o daughter’s room, but she is okay waiting because I did a practice session (Highly encouraged by both Jeff and me) on the underside of her bunk bed, so the bottom bunk looks up at stars too. My daughter asked me if she made a wish on a shooting star I painted if her wish would come true. Despite putting the stencils up and down multiple times, they are holding up well with no rips or tears. Which I was worried about at first, but I see my fears were completely unfounded.

The directions were very detailed and gave the best possible set up for success. For those who don’t want to read a page of instructions, Jeff was kind enough to post a video set of instructions as well. For those who are type A like me, you can learn something from doing both reading and watching the video. While you are at it, watch the other videos that Jeff has posted. You will find out that he is a pretty awesome guy with a great sense of humor. He was super helpful and available for any questions and tips that I needed along the way. I was so excited that I had to send him a text with a picture of my room. Now I think I have to add him to our Christmas Card list.

So if you want a Night Sky Mural, but don’t want to pay Jeff to come out to do it for you (Which are worth every penny he charges and he should probably charge more for the amount of detail and labor required to do this unique work of art), then this is truly the next best thing. This way, you don’t have to choose the room that gets the stars. So far our house will have 3 bedrooms with night sky murals, and honestly, I have a feeling the downstairs family room and guest room are both feeling left out, so I may have to fix that later. Forget counting sheep, now I can count the 5,400+ stars I painted on my ceiling. If that doesn’t give you a sense of accomplishment and pride, I don’t know what will.

Jill

How sweet is this view?

Go on… tell me you wouldn’t just love to drift off to sleep under a scene like this on a nightly basis.

Sleeping under the stars can certainly be awe-inspiring, romantic, or an amazingly peaceful and relaxing experience… but annoying things can also get in the way too. Things like the distance you’d need to travel to get to that perfect location, timing it just right so a bright moon doesn’t rain down loads of light into an otherwise perfect night sky, then there’s rain, cold and so many kinds of insects, both flying and crawling, that can definitely put a damper on the experience.

But, fret not… there’s a way that you can enjoy a beautiful star-filled night sky, every night if you’d like, and avoid all the hassle of dealing with the elements, travel, and bugs. How? Simply, re-create that experience by transforming your bedroom ceiling into your own remote night sky, or planetarium.

There are a few ways that you can go about creating that look and feel, and with the right “stuff” in hand… it may actually be easier than you think — and you don’t have to be an artist to pull off the look.

All the options below will cover a night sky that will be viewed in the dark. If you want something that will be visible in the light, then I’m sure there are articles out there that will cover that.

OK, let’s jump right in.

Sticker Stars

This wouldn’t be my first choice, but it is easy, inexpensive, and it’s been wowing kids for years… so we know it’s a solid option. Even adults tell me how they grew up with the sticker stars on their ceiling, and loved them. So, there’s a great, inexpensive option. Just grab a bag and start sticking them up. You can’t really go wrong with these. If you have too many in one spot, then remove some. Not enough in another area… then add more. It doesn’t get much easier than that.

Painted Stars (Professional, Stencil or freehand options)

Professional Option

Night Sky Murals

There are others out there (much less expensive) if you want to do a search

This option is the most expensive option, but you’ll usually get the most realistic recreation of the night sky, depending on if you do your due diligence in finding the right painter. With this option, hopefully, your painter has already painted a few hundred murals and they will come in and paint a beautiful mural for you in anywhere from a few hours to a full day (a lot depends on their experience, their techniques, and the ceiling size).

With a pro painting your mural, there’ll be no need for Ibuprofen for your neck and upper body pain, and it’ll be done fairly quickly. The downside of a “pro” painting your mural is that you could get someone that isn’t much more experienced than you are. It is the more expensive of all the options (prices range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars per ceiling), and you’ll have to wait until they can fit you into their schedule. Plus, you don’t get the satisfaction of saying that “you” did it.

DIY Stencil Option

No matter how much sense it makes to just hire a professional night sky mural painter, there always seems to be those who are just die-hard DIY’ers or others who want to go that route to save some money. Not a problem!

Painting your own night sky mural has become much easier over the past few years. In the past, you’d run to the hardware store, grab a few small paintbrushes and have at it. Then, the next day you’d usually be repainting the ceiling to cover up the horrible “star ceiling” (if that’s what you wanted to call it)… and you’d be down buying those plastic sticker stars to put up instead.

Luckily, today there are options that range from fairly basic to as nice as a professional would paint… all in a stencil.

• Ursa Major stencil

(See the Ursa Major Stencils here)

If you will do a quick search on the Internet, you can easily find a stencil kit from Ursa Major called the Night Sky Star Stencil. They sell the kits on their website, plus other stores offer this kit as well. Here is a link to the Ursa Major site:

Let me state that there are a handful of different stencil kits on the Internet, but for a good, basic stencil that will give you a good star ceiling for the money, then the Ursa Major kit is probably the best value for the money, if you want something easy to use and that doesn’t cost very much money.

OK, so that covered the basic stencil kits. Now let me tell you about a kit that is more expensive, but will give you a night sky mural on your ceiling that will be as good as most “professional” star mural painters will give you… many times even better than you will get.

• Night Sky Stencils

(See the Night Sky Stencils Kits here)

The Night Sky Stencil kit came about after years of listening to customers ask for an alternative to the pricey professional painted options. After 10 years in the works, Jeff Stewart, owner of Night Sky Murals finally said… “It is ready!”

The Night Sky Stencil Kit was not designed to be like other cute stencil kits that were available… that would give you a star ceiling that was only slightly better than sticker stars. It was designed to help the customer paint a mural that rivaled most “professional” star ceiling painters and do it at a fraction of the cost.

So, if you are feeling adventurous and want to spend a day or two on a ladder… then give this kit a try. Though it will give you a beautiful star ceiling, it really is pretty simple to use.

OK, those are two options for the DIY’er. This next one is riskier, and will actually take some talent.

Freehand Painting Option

If you just have to do things your own way and don’t want any help from anyone… then this might be your option. One question first… Why? Why would you grab some glow paint, a brush and then try this on your own? Sure, it looks fairly easy to do, but to get a nice looking star mural on your ceiling, it actually does take a little talent. But, if you feel like you just must go it alone… then at least take a look at this video where I give you a few pointers on tools and other things that you might appreciate. Here you go…  Tips on How To Paint A Star Mural (Video)

OK, so take a look at that video and then order some good paint online. In case the mural turns out really nice and you don’t want to paint over it, then you’ll want to make sure that you used some really good paint. Here are a couple of places to get good quality paint:

Glow Inc – (High-quality glow paint)

Night Sky Murals – (I’ll sell you the same paint that I use)

One tip: Go online to find some constellations that you recognize and print them off. Don’t worry about trying to paint a night sky that is specific for a certain date in time… nobody will care and nobody will recognize the majority of the constellations. So, pick out 4-6 constellations that you want in your mural and paint those.

Now, since the video that I linked to goes into some tips for Free handing the mural, I won’t go into too much more here. I will suggest, however, that no matter which option you decide to go for, make sure that you cover everything below the ceiling that you don’t want to get glow paint on. No matter how careful you are when you paint, accidents happen and some stars that you are painting will become shooting stars and fall onto furniture or carpet.

Adding a moon into your mural

The star ceiling alone is so worth whatever you had to do to get one… but if you want to add a little something into the mural that won’t make it look too cartoonish, then a small moon is a good addition.

Let me, right up front, give you a little advice… DON’T PAINT A FULL MOON! You will regret it. Just trust me on this… paint a crescent moon into the mural, if you even want a moon, and paint it no larger than a DVD disc. In fact, use an old DVD and put a little paint along the edge of half the DVD… and call it good. Seriously, don’t overdo this. Oh, and be sure to do the moon first so you have a spot where no stars are painted yet (you don’t want the dark part of the moon to have stars in it).

Review (for adding a moon):

•      Before getting into painting any stars, decide where you want your moon to go.
•      Stick up an old DVD.
•      Paint half of the DVD (I always paint the right half, for some reason).
•      Don’t add stars into where the dark part of the moon will be.

Fiber optic Star Ceiling

OK, so there is another option that has nothing to do with painting or putting up sticker stars… but it involves drilling holes and running wires to make a Fiber optic star ceiling. If this is something you want to look into, then here is an article that goes into the pros and cons of a painted versus fiber optic star ceiling. (See the Painted Star Mural vs Fiber optics HERE)

Hopefully, something in here will get you motivated to get a star ceiling on one or more of your ceilings. That’s my hope, no matter which option you choose to go with. There really is nothing like sleeping, or just relaxing under a beautiful night sky, and while a real night sky is THE ultimate rush… it isn’t the only option these days for a night sky to drift off to sleep under, or to just turn on some mellow tunes and relax under.

If I missed something in this little article, please shoot me an email and ask, or offer suggestions.

Good Luck!

Jeff Stewart

Night Sky Murals