Designer: ODA New York
Location: New York, NY
Mural Artist: Aaron Li-Hill
Photography by Eric Laignel
The mural is located in the bowling alley of Denizen Bushwick (a luxury rental complex in Brooklyn). We started the nonprofit organization OPEN (ODA’s Public Engagement in Neighborhoods) in 2017 with the purpose of giving local non-profits the resources they need to develop projects that unite, engage and empower residents of diverse backgrounds. We engaged OPEN to fill Denizen with murals that engaged the neighborhood, including local artists and community opinions on the artwork. The mural was created by artist Aaron Li-Hill, using a mixture of methods. To obtain the rust effect of the wall, the artist used watered-down acrylic latex paint. When the paint is almost dry, a roller is run back over top which removes paint and creates texture. The figures and animals are all handpainted directly onto the wall. Li-Hill’s inspiration for the mural is of Native American culture and the environment where the building stood, before settlers and colonizers came to New York.
Designer: Marie Flanigan Interiors
Location: Houston , TX
Mural Artist: Rebel Walls
While I was pregnant and designing my little girl’s room, I came up with the idea of a floral mural. I wanted it to look like a secret garden. It creates the artwork for the space, and also sets the color tone for the room. The vibrant hues created an energetic, youthful yet still sophisticated palette, and a bright fun place for her to play. I custom ordered the size of the mural from Rebel Walls, which they print and send to you based on your specifications. It installs just like wallpaper. – Designer Marie Flanigan
Designer: Kelley Proxmire
Location: Bethesda, MD
Mural Artist: Gracie Wallpaper
Photography by Kip Dawkins
The Gracie Wallpaper is on four walls of the dining room of a client’s home in Washington, D.C. The walls include separate handpainted panels, aligned in succession to create the effect of a mural. Every project begins with a hand-drawn sketch of the pattern, designed
to fit the particular architecture and clients’ specifications. Once approved, a team of artists in the studio in China paints each panel, according to the sketch. Each panel involves 3-4 artists painting different elements, like flowers, birds or leaves. The paints used are an opaque watercolor. In this specific project, the background is a pieced silver ground, made from overlapped sheets of artists’ paper. The tree and floral Chinoiserie design is painted in warm sepia tones. Gracie has been in business since 1898 and was the first to bring handpainted Chinese wallpapers to the market in the early part of the 20th century. Early clients included William Haines, Dorothy Draper and Elsie De Wolfe. The whole room is designed around the Gracie wallpaper. The mural effect of the paper creates an elegant setting. – Designer Kelley Proxmire
Designer: Erin Gates Design
Location: Newton, MA
Mural Artist: Susan Harter Muralpapers
Photography by Sarah Winchester
I wanted a grisaille colored scenic mural for my son Henry’s nursery because I thought it would be soothing, unique and something that would work no matter what the room became later on. It is now our guest room and it still works. It’s the highlight feature in the room, and also what grounds it, with a mix of grey, beige and ivory. It was the jumping-off point for the whole design, and I worked in some icy pale blues in the room to make it a little boyish. Susan Harter’s mural wallpapers are amazing because her original handpainted murals were printed with archival inks on a canvas paper that is incredibly durable. They are shipped with a sealant that is applied over it, once installed. Great for busy families. – Designer Erin Tubridy Gates
Designer: Raji RM & Associates
Location: Bethesda, MD
Mural Artist: Raji Radhakrishnan
Photography by Rikki Snyder
The 13 ’2 ”wide x 7 ’3 ”high mural, located in my living room, is based on my photograph of an early 19th-century painting by Louis-Léopold Boilly that hangs in The Met. It is a scene inside the Louvre of people looking at a painting of Empress Josephine being crowned by Napoleon. I wanted to create a Parisian salon perfect for entertaining but also to quietly sit by ourselves and contemplate. While it acts like a large painting, the layering of furnishings in front of it – rather than below a painting that would normally be hung on the wall – made it that much more interesting. The room was also an exercise in juxtaposing the old and the new, the traditional and the contemporary and shows the importance of scale. This is not a very large room, but the sheer size of the mural makes it feel huge. – Designer Raji Radhakrishnan
Designer: Heather Hilliard Design
Location: San Francisco, CA
Mural Artist: Iksel Decorative Arts
Photography by David Duncan Livingston
The design is based on archived handpainted panels and decors from Iksel Decorative Arts. The style “Hindustan” is an evocative fantasy landscape of pre-Raj India, imbued with a sense of whimsy and nostalgia. Some of our clients’ favorite scenes feature elephants, tigers, graceful figures and architecture. The Music Room is primarily used for entertainment and the clients wanted to be able to draw visitors into the space. They loved the idea of a scenic wallpaper and natural elements that connect with their beautiful and lush yard, seen through the French doors in the room. The theme of the wallpaper also reflects their Indian heritage and the art found throughout their home. The sepia tone provides the perfect backdrop for the rich, earthy color palette of the furnishings. Though there are many interesting scenes and elements in the mural, it does not read as busy due to the neutral tones. – Heather Hilliard Design
Designer: D’Aquino Monaco
Location: New York, NY
Mural Artist: Candice Kaye Design
Photography by Costas Picadas
The mural encompasses the entire main dining room of Sel Rrose Montauk. The painted aspect traverses all four walls and reaches nearly 18 ’at its highest point, and the design meanders above and below the banquettes, and around the existing architectural elements in the space. The scale of the painted portion is oversized, and the plaid lattice overlays from floor to ceiling, wall to wall. The inspiration began with Dorothy Draper, and her use of scale as well as classic design elements synonymous with decorating in the Hamptons, like trellised walls and floral patterns, just to name two. We took these elements and reinterpreted them so that they would feel new and also in line with Sel Rrose’s existing brand identity on the Lower East Side. We morphed that into what Sel Rrose could become in Montauk. The mural was hand-painted by Candice Kaye, using Benjamin Moore paint. – Design Director Dane Pressner
Designer: Kyle Bunting
Location: Austin, TX
Mural Artist: Kyle Bunting in collaboration with Marc Thee
Photography by Reed Voskuil
The mural, crafted of the finest Italian hides and leathers, is located in the master bedroom of designer Marc Thee’s Winter Park, Florida home. It draws on the emotional process of transformation through adversity, finding purpose in the process and surrounding yourself with the beauty of that truth; the beauty of enlightenment and the simple act of letting go. It offers a distinctly modern and geometric, yet undeniably soulful edge to the space, and is a dynamic backdrop to a brilliant interior by Marc Thee in hues of gold, grey and green. – Creator of the original decorative hide rug, Kyle Bunting
Designer: Laura Bohn Interiors
Location: New York, NY
Mural Artist: MuralsYourWay.com
Photography by Eric Laignel
I love Marilyn Monroe – she is the most photogenic person on the planet. This particular image is timeless and my favorite and I love the sepia tones. The mural really makes the space. A huge painting could have also worked, but I like the graphic quality of murals. They are whimsical and have a sense of humor. I’d like to try a cow mural next. This mural is vinyl with a peel-off back, and is installed with a squeegee, similar to putting up wallpaper. – Designer Laura Bohn
Designer: voila! Creative Studio
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Mural Artist: Katrien Van der Schueren
Photography by Dalmiro Quiroga
The mural is located in Costa Palmas, inside the restaurant Estiatorio Milos at the Four Seasons. This was an onsite installation where we made the relief out of concrete clay that hardens over the next 24 hours and leaves room for sculpting for about two hours. The shapes and background were applied and sculpted by hand. Once the concrete had cured, we colored the mural with a custom tinted concrete stain. The design inspiration was both the nature surrounding the property as well as the almost brutalist style of Mexican art. In a distant way, the figurative elements in the mural refer to totem poles, the sun, cacti – all elements that can be found in the nature and history of its surroundings. – Katrien Van der Schueren
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