This one is personal.
My son was four years old and going through a phase I suspect many parents recognise: he wanted colourful walls. Every single day. And during lockdown, with rainbows appearing in windows everywhere as symbols of hope, he wanted one too. Loudly. Persistently. In the way that only a four year old can want something.
I decided to say yes — but to make it mean something more.
At the time, we were preparing for a big transition: his little sister would soon be joining him in his bedroom. For a four year old, sharing your room is a lot to ask. I wanted the mural to reframe that moment entirely — to make the arrival of his sister feel like something exciting was happening, not something being taken away. A net gain, not a loss.
The room’s layout immediately ruled out a classic arched rainbow — the proportions simply wouldn’t work. So I reimagined it entirely. Instead of the traditional arc, I designed a bold hand-painted rainbow mural with dramatic diagonal stripes — red, orange, yellow, magenta, pink, purple, and blue — radiating outward from a deep navy geometric triangle in the corner. The result is modern, graphic, and full of energy while remaining rooted in timeless geometric principles rather than chasing a passing trend.
The design was also deliberately gender neutral — no pink-for-girls, no blue-for-boys — just pure, joyful colour that belonged equally to a brother and a sister sharing a space. Something that would grow with both of them, and still feel right years later.
He walked in when it was finished, looked at the walls for a long moment, and announced that his room was “the most beautiful in the whole world.”
I’m going to choose to agree with him.