Commissioning a mural, step by step

I would like a mural at home, where do I start?

Send three things: a photo of the wall taken square on, its approximate size, and your idea, even in one line. From those, Giulia sends a quote within 48 hours with a first drawing set onto the photo of your own wall, to scale. The first two sketches are free, revisions are included, and you confirm when you are ready. From 150 € per m².

What photo of the wall should I send?

One taken square on, standing back far enough to see the whole wall, in daylight with the room lights off. Two extra shots help: one from the doorway showing the wall in the room, and one close up of the surface texture. From these Giulia reads the size, the light and the state of the plaster, and draws the first proposal straight onto your photo.

How do I measure the wall?

Width times height, in metres, and approximate is fine at this stage. For a stairwell, take the widest and tallest points. Deduct doors and windows if you like, or leave them in and let Giulia work it out. The surface in square metres is what sets the budget, since the rate is per square metre.

What if I do not know what I want yet?

That is the usual starting point. Send a photo of the wall and a few images you like, from anywhere: a colour, a garden, a painting, a fabric. Giulia draws two free sketches from those, set onto the photo of your own wall, and the idea takes shape from there. Revisions are included, and you confirm when you are ready.

How many sketches are included?

Two, free, and that applies to walls, canvases and drawings on paper alike. A sketch takes Giulia around two hours, sometimes a little more. You receive it drawn onto the photo of your own wall, to scale, with the itemised quote. Revisions come after that and are included.

Are revisions charged for?

Revisions are included. Giulia is precise from the outset about what she will paint, then shows the work in progress so it can be adjusted together during the project rather than at the end, and finishes with small refining touches until the result matches what was imagined. Where a sketch is set aside and redone entirely from scratch, it becomes a new project.

How long does the quote take?

Within 48 hours. If there is a delay, Giulia gives plenty of notice. The quote itemises the surface, the level of detail chosen, the technique indoors or outdoors, the number of working days and the dates that are open. Scaffolding and special varnishes appear as their own lines, so the price is clear before you confirm.

Do I have to decide straight away?

You confirm when you are ready. The quote and the two sketches are free and stay valid while you think, show them to the people who need to see them, or wait for a date to suit. Many projects start with a message months before the wall is painted.

Can I commission a mural from a distance?

Yes, and many are. Photographs, measurements and a conversation are enough to draw the sketches and settle the subject. Giulia then travels to paint it: she works across sixteen European countries and speaks Italian, French and English fluently. Travel and logistics are agreed together and priced in the quote.

Does Giulia come to see the wall first?

She does where that helps, and works from photographs where that is simpler for you. For a large facade or a complicated space a site visit is worth it, and it is arranged with the quote. For a bedroom or a shop wall, good photographs and measurements usually do the job.

How do I pay for a mural?

A deposit of around 100 € at the start covers materials and colours bought for your project. The balance is settled at the end, together, once the mural is finished and approved with you. Where the project is far away, an advance on travel is sometimes asked. Everything is set out in the quote before you confirm.

Why is the deposit only around 100 €?

Because it covers what it says: the paints, brushes and materials bought specifically for your wall. Giulia would rather be paid for the work once the work is there to see. The balance is settled at the end, together, with the finished mural in front of both of you.

What happens if I cancel?

Materials already bought are reimbursed, along with the sketch made and the time held in the calendar, during which Giulia turns down other projects to keep the slot for you. That is the counterpart of a date blocked out. The rest comes back to you. It is written into the quote before you confirm.

How far ahead should I book?

Two to three months is comfortable for an interior, and more for a facade, since outdoor work is grouped into the spring-to-autumn window. Where a date is tight, ask anyway: a slot sometimes opens. The dates that are free appear in the quote sent within 48 hours.

How long does the work take on site?

A bedroom wall of 6 to 10 m² takes two to four days. A living-room wall of 12 to 15 m², four to six. A facade, a week or more depending on the surface and the access. The number of days is set out in the quote along with the open dates.

Can the work fit around my opening hours?

Yes, and it often does. Restaurants and shops are painted around service, hotels room by room, offices outside working hours, schools during a holiday. The odourless acrylic is what makes it workable: the place stays in use while the painting goes on.

Will I have to move out or close?

The place stays open. Indoors the paint is an odourless acrylic, so a family keeps sleeping in the house, a restaurant keeps serving and a shop keeps trading. Giulia sheets the floor and the nearby furniture, and clears up at the end of each day. The room comes back into full use the same evening.

Do I need to prepare the room?

Clear a working strip of about a metre in front of the wall and take down anything hanging on it. Giulia brings her own sheets, ladders and equipment, and covers the floor and the furniture nearby. Where the wall itself needs preparation, filling, sealing or a base coat, that is in the quote as its own line.

What do I need to provide on site?

Access to the wall, a power socket and water. For outdoor work, somewhere to leave the equipment overnight. Everything else Giulia brings. Where scaffolding is needed she sets out the most economical option given the access, and it appears as a separate line in the quote.

Can I be there while she paints?

Yes, and most people are, at least part of the time. Showing the work in progress is Giulia’s method: it lets things be adjusted together as they go rather than at the end. In restaurants, shops and hotels the painting itself draws people in, who take the time to watch, admire and photograph it.

Can I change my mind about the subject halfway through?

Small adjustments are part of the process and are included: a colour, a detail, the balance of an element. That is why Giulia shows the work in progress. Where the subject changes entirely once painting has started, it becomes a new project, and she says so before going further so the cost stays clear.

Do I need permission to paint a mural?

Inside your own home you are free to paint what you like. On a facade or any wall visible from the street, a declaration to the local authority applies, and in a protected or listed area the heritage service is consulted. For a rented home the landlord’s written agreement is needed, and for a shared wall in a building, the residents’ meeting. Giulia sets out the steps before starting.

Can I have a mural painted in a rented home?

Yes, with the landlord’s written agreement, and many say yes once they see the drawing, since a painted wall adds to the property. Two other routes work: painting a movable panel that you take with you, or agreeing to repaint the wall at the end of the tenancy. Acrylic covers over with two coats of ordinary wall paint.

Can a leaseholder have a mural painted?

Inside the flat, yes, like any decoration. On a shared wall, in an entrance hall, a stairwell or a courtyard, the residents’ meeting decides. Giulia provides a drawing set onto a photo of the actual wall, to scale, which makes the vote straightforward: people are voting on something they can see rather than on an idea.

Can I paint a wall I share with a neighbour?

On your side of a shared wall, with the neighbour’s written agreement, which is worth getting before the quote is confirmed. Where the wall faces the street as well, the local authority declaration applies. Giulia lists the steps in the quote so the order is clear.

What applies in a listed or protected area?

A declaration goes to the local authority and the heritage service gives an opinion, which can shape the palette and the subject. It adds time rather than difficulty, and the constraint often improves the result: a scheme drawn for an old facade sits better than one imposed on it. Giulia has painted in protected centres across Italy, France and Spain.

How long does permission take?

Allow one to two months for a facade declaration, and longer in a protected area where the heritage service is consulted. For a building’s shared wall, the timing follows the residents’ meeting calendar. Giulia starts the sketches while the paperwork runs, so the two move in parallel rather than one after the other.

Can a mural be a gift?

Yes, and it is a good one. It works two ways: a gift voucher for a surface, so the person chooses their own subject, or a finished surprise arranged with someone close to them who has the measurements. Giulia draws two free sketches either way, and the quote arrives within 48 hours.

Can you paint for a wedding or an event?

Yes, live painting: Giulia paints during the event, in front of the guests, and the finished work stays with you afterwards. It suits weddings, private dinners, brand events and openings. From 400 €, with the format and the timing agreed together beforehand.

What is live painting?

Painting done in front of an audience during an event, over a few hours, from a blank canvas to a finished work. Guests watch it take shape, which becomes part of the evening, and the painting goes home with the hosts. Giulia does it at weddings, private dinners, openings and brand events, from 400 €.

Can a company commission a mural?

Yes: offices, reception areas, showrooms, break rooms, warehouses and shop fronts. Giulia paints to the brand’s palette and references. The odourless acrylic means the floor keeps working while she paints, and teams usually document the work in progress, which gives the project a story to tell internally and outside.

Can an interior designer commission on behalf of a client?

Yes, and many do. Giulia works from the designer’s drawings, samples and palette and paints to the scheme. The quote itemises surface, level of detail, technique and working days, so it drops straight into a schedule. Designers usually photograph the wall being painted, since it documents well.

Can I commission a portrait or a painting on canvas instead?

Yes. Giulia is a painter first: she paints portraits and landscapes on canvas and on paper, exhibits her paintings in art galleries, and also paints on walls. Canvases start at 60 € for an A4 on paper. The same two free sketches and the same included revisions apply.

Can I order a mural and a canvas together?

Yes, and it is a common pairing: a wall in the main room and a canvas for another. They are quoted together, the wall by surface and the canvas by format, and painted on the same trip where the dates allow. Send both ideas in the same message and the quote covers the two.

Does Giulia sign the mural?

She signs it if you wish. Some people want the signature visible in a corner, others prefer the wall to carry the image alone. Either way the work stays hers as author and yours as owner. A signed wall is also easier to attribute later, when a photograph of it travels further than the room.

What languages can I write in?

Italian, French, English or Spanish. Giulia speaks Italian, French and English fluently, and the site answers in four languages, with pages for cities in sixteen European countries. Write in whichever language is easiest for you, describe the wall in your own words, and the quote comes back in that same language within 48 hours, free, with a first drawing set onto the photo of your own wall.