This Toronto family wanted a warm welcome home and a break from their dull white-grey walls. Their busy mudroom is constantly filled with kids and everything that comes with them.
Since the walls would be partially blocked most of the time and the space needed to appeal to all ages, I went with a classic design for this custom mural: stripes. But not your average stripes — colourful ones.
By painting a base of multiple colours, we achieved three goals: everyone got their favourite colour on the wall, we put a unique spin on a classic, and we captured that beloved watercolour gradient feel.
During the installation, I couldn’t help but connect the result to the work of Eric Carle — those hand-painted collage illustrations that are a staple of children’s literature. There’s a quality to this family mural that’s beautifully simple, yet it draws you in. Without overwhelming the space, it invites you to connect with art during one of the most mundane, repetitive moments of daily life: arriving home and heading out again.