Back For Round Two

Muraling in a home for a second time, this time a nursery!

A few months ago, I was contacted by a family who I’d worked with back in 2021. I’d painted a mural in their son’s room. A bold, electric mural that I’ve since called The Campfire Mural. Still one of my faves. You know I love a mural that wraps around walls, goes around windows and doors and completely transforms every aspect of a room.

Here’s the before of that room:

And the after:

(I’ve since learned that the overhead lights should be off when taking photos!)

The homeowners got back in touch because a new baby was due to join their family and they wanted a mural for the baby’s room. Is there a better compliment than being asked to come back and do another mural in someone’s home?! I think not! I jumped at the chance to come back to this sweet home and be muraling again. It’s been a while. And gosh, it was so good to flex those muscles. I love this work.

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Location: Summit, New Jersey

Brief: Bring some interest to a room with an unconventional shape. Add a mural to the nook where the crib is, and bring the color round to the door and window frame.

Time Spent: 4 days (half days book ended by camp drop offs and pick ups!)

Color Palette Inspiration: Earthy greens, mushroom browns, neutral but warm.

Colors used:

Benjamin Moore: Sienna Clay, Polished Slate, Forest Floor, Spicy Mustard

Behr: Blank Canvas, Cracked Pepper (always Cracked Pepper whenever you want black!), Plumville, Modern Mocha, Rugged Tan, Linen White.

Listened to:

BBC Radio 2 (An absolute staple errry single day)

Bille Eilish - Hit Me Hard and Soft (My summer 2024 soundtrack. Cannot get enough.)

Say She She - Prism (Will love forever)

Everything Chappell Roan (Loved hearing how different her latest album is from her early stuff)

Clap When You Land - Elizabeth Acevedo (Enjoyed, but not the easiest Audiobook to listen to due to rotating narrators.)

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Baby’s room before:

And the baby’s room after:

There’s a point in every mural where you question every decision you’ve made up until then. Did I get the palette right? Is the weight of all the colors balanced within the space? Did I put the stripes in the right place? And then, boom, it all comes together and life is good again. I’ve done enough of these murals now that I have an ease in the uneasiness, but the uneasiness still appears each time, regardless!

I’m thrilled with how this turned out and even had a really lovely email from the homeowners about the mural (and it’s connection to the original mural), which truly is the icing on the cake and the raison d'être in this work:

Hi Madeline,

Thank you so much for the beautiful work you've done in Jack's nursery. 

I love the colors so much. It's so fun to see the difference in appearance depending on the time of day. It was such a great idea to paint the ceiling and the soffit.

Another thing I find really beautiful is to gaze from Sam's doorway into Jacks room. Although the color schemes are very different, it actually really creates this cohesive feel between their bedrooms. 

If you’re new here, you can see all my past mural work here including this beast for Reddit’s head office in One World Trade Centre and this fun bathroom complete with spinning disco ball!

And whilst muraling has taken a bit of a back seat this past year, there’s been plenty going on with the color consulting side of this business. Looking forward to sharing more of that with you soon. Until then, thanks for stopping by!