MURALS AND FAUX FINISHES CAN SOLVE VARIOUS DESIGN PROBLEMS IN EVERY ROOM OF YOUR HOUSE.

Hallways   One of the most ideal places for murals. Why?  Because they are usually too narrow to put furniture. A mural is needed here to open up a space, therefore making it look bigger. Hallways are usually the first room you see coming into a home and will make a lasting impression. 

Before shot of side (closet wall) of  hallway

 A CURIO CABINET OF DECORATIVE OBJECTS, A HANGING COAT, HAT, SHOES, clock, HANGING PLANT AND BOOK SHELVES ADD A LOT OF EXCITEMENT, AS WELL AS THE ILLUSION OF 3-D DEPTH TO A WALL, THAT IS TOO SMALL, AND IN  A HALLWAY TOO NARROW TO FIT FURNITURE.

 

Faux log walls, and log beams on the ceiling add architectural interest, depth and height to an otherwise narrow hallway with flat walls and a low ceiling, giving the overall effect of a larger room.

Before shot

An Illusionary alcove with pot belly stove, creates a virtual opening in a wall that feels cumbersome in such a narrow, low ceiling hallway. The faux flagstone adds contrast to the rest of the room which is painted in faux wood. Faux stained glass painted on a door window, adds both privacy and pretty colored specks of light into a hallway.
 
Ceilings   Some of the most celebrated work is done on ceilings. When we look up at it our sense of balance, proportion, and reality, is slightly altered by the act of tilting our head backwards. This element of vertigo helps stimulate the imagination. Ceiling murals give an illusion of heightened space. Painted skies containing architecture, birds, flowers and trees are best.

Before shot of dining room

After shot of dining room with painted skylights

Before shot window wall of dining room

After shot with painted ceiling domes

  
Bathrooms  Time for meditation, lack of decoration or hanging pictures because of humidity. Tranquil scenes are best. 

Before shot of powder room

Garden scene for powder room.
Walls with natural curves enhance the Trompe-l'oeil architectural effect of the mural, by actually making it 3-D.

Before shot with old window treatment.

 Wall to wall mirrors play a role in reflecting an adjacent wall mural, creating a natural continuation of a scene, which enhances the illusion of reality of the mural and makes the room appear a lot bigger. The built in mirror on the left wall in the mural above, reflects this master bath mural on the back wall, creating a beautiful, graphic kaleidoscopal pattern in the corner where the 2 walls meet. The mural of the fountain and patio looking out to the Caribean is painted onto the vertical blinds window treatment. The patio floor tiles, columns, frames and wall are marblized.

 

Once again the mirror on the right extends the beach scene and doubles the size of the room.

  Murals of Fire Island beach scenes on doors. 

 Door frames painted in faux tile with sea shells to match tile on walls. The feeling that someone was just there moments ago, and had taken off their sandels, with the sand still stuck to them, adds an immediate heightened sense of reality and suspense.

 Baseboard cover (lower right) painted to blend in and look like sand with pebbles, shells and birds.

Dinettes  Good places for murals. Informal, eclectic. Very understated room, yet used everyday. Usually boring, empty walls. 

  .Plants always look green, flowers never wilt away and you never have to water them!

Windows are added to inside walls, where their construction wouldn't have been possible

The feeling of being in an open air cafe in Paris, lets the imagination run wild and allows for great conversation.

The terracotta floor tiles in this dinette continued into this Mexican market place mural, creating

the illusion of open continuous space.

Kitchens   Limited wall space. Painting can be done on cupboards, around windows and over cabinets.

These baskets on top of the kitchen cabinets, with their shadowing and perspective, drawn as if seen from down below, give the perfect illusion of a recessed shelf, although the wall is flat.

The illusion of glass objects is achieved by painting the highlights, transluscence and their colored reflections on the wall. 

Dining rooms   Usually the most formal rooms in the house and also the least used. The stuffy atmosphere can be considerably improved by some kind of visual feast, adding a festive atmosphere for dinner parties and the holidays.

 Architectural ornament such as mouldings, columns, and decorative
stone and marble panels on the chairrails add grandeur and formality to a room that is used for special occasions and dinner parties.

Children's bedrooms and PlAY ROOMs   My most popular request. Here people are not afraid to indulge themselves in a world of childish fantasy. We can depart from strict reality and refined taste

 Kids get so carried away by boat, out to the sea of their fantasies, that even the furniture starts taking the form of ships and lighthouses, and the carpet becomes part of the water and the sand.

 

 You can almost feel the tufts in the wall of the bunker, climb the ladder and reach under the bed for fishing rod.

 This boy can be in the Super Mario cyber world 24/7.

 Or swim with the manitees in the under water world.

 Or enjoy a bedside view of an Islanders game at the Nassau Coliseum if that is his fancy.

  
Living rooms  Last  but not least. A mural on the main wall creates an interesting focal point, as well as it ties together all the design elements in a room.

 A dull white panel walled living room needed some kind of focal point of interest. This mural served as a starting point, from which the style, colors and patterns for fabrics, pillows, rugs and furnishings for the room were chosen, as you can see from the couch in the photo below. Also, the mural comouflaged the lines of the wood paneling which virtually took away the confines of the wall opening it up to the clean, warm and dry desert air.

In order to tie the mural into the rest of this living room, and to add decorative significance to the window above the sofa, faux tiles were painted onto the white paneled wall surrounding it. This served as the primary window treatment which just required a basic white window shade in order to complete it.

Before shot of mantel

  Fire place mantels and walls are a focal point of a living room that can be showcased with murals, decorative ornament, columns, faux stone and faux marble.

 Faux stone bricks, columns, alcove and a running fountain set the stage for this living room above that was renovated.

Before shot of mantel

 This blank fireplace is an eyesore.

After shot of mantel

 

 This looks as if the white wall was removed, and this is what's behind it. All done with paint!

Marblizing onto a fireplace mantel, or columns adds elegance to a room.

 

Unusual requests and Places that are normally neglected for decoration will be featured in my upcoming newsletters.

furniture

Folding screens and room dividers

private elevators  

garage doors

enclosed swimming pool room walls

swimming pool walls and floor

outside garden walls.

Closet doors and all other doors