Go big and be home; the making of a mural
With the blessed return of color and pattern to the design world, wallpaper has made a stunning comeback. I have spent my fair share of time drooling and yearning over the glorious, curious, colorful and swoony choices available. To be able to wrap a room in repeated visual elements; subtle and tasteful or packed with bright flora, fauna, styled or realistic, evokes child-like wonder in my whimsy loving soul. And yet, wallpaper is not for every space, nor every budget.
Enter: murals.
I have been painting murals for 25 years, hearkening back to the young-and-penniless years when my babies were small, houses impermanent and paint, cheap (ahem....budget friendly). Because re-creating the Sistine Chapel was never my goal, I had much room for creative license. There were the many, many birch tree forests that suited children's rooms, pre-schools and not one, but two of my living rooms. There were the ever-popular beach scenes; palm trees, sand and blue skies. Remember the pop of silhouetted kids on skateboards, bouncing balls and bicycles? This was the nineties people, was there, did those. And, of course, we cannot forget the cherry tree branches. One of my favs was a stylized tree and flower number whose design I borrowed from a car ad and spent a month creating in my brick Tudor homes’ grand living room.
At one point when my client had plans to move in the near future, I hit upon a brilliant idea to create moveable murals. If you are a commitment-phobe, plan to move or would like the option of relocating it to another room in the future, what better solution than "mural boards". I made up the term, but it's pretty self explanatory; murals on boards. The cool thing about commissioning a mural on boards is that there is absolutely no intrusion into your personal space and it also allows for the added creativity option of collage (glued on images. paper, elements). Here are two recent mural boards
Right before the holidays, I was thrilled to be able to paint a feature wall for a client to be a dramatic backdrop behind her bed. Here is the story in pictures.
I kid you not, the "Making of a Mural" posts of this project received more giddy feedback than anything I have ever put on social media. This tells me that we all yearn for something unexpected. We are delighted to see something that doesn't fall under the "safe" design category.
My very latest collaboration, finished just a couple of weeks ago, is a Scandinavian inspired wall at Indigo Plum Footwear right downtown in (you guessed it) "little Norway" aka Poulsbo. I aptly named this one "Little Mural in Little Norway". I know, the creativity never ends. My happy shop owner requested iconic scandi symbols, wooden clogs and two little boys to represent not only the heritage of her little town but also the business itself and her family. We met together and chose colors and themes to ensure she would be getting just what she desired. We will make room to paint in more scandi babies should the future bring that blessing. The mural was completed just in time for her grand re-opening party celebrating her recent acquisition of the company.
This is something I truly love to do; creating out-of-the-ordinary and personal moments of whimsy and beauty in my beloved clients' homes and businesses. I would love to collaborate on a mural that speaks to your soul. Email me at kristinalvaradodesign@gmail.com
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