Field Report: Ditch Your Accent Wall for a Custom Mural

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In the franchise Field Report, SPY investigates the rise in popularity of a product by reporting on how the phenomenon came to be.

Moving into a new apartment can be tough, especially in the stages of upgrading after a promotion or moving in with a significant other. Suddenly, the furniture and wall hangings that filled one space suddenly look a little sparse in the new one. It’s a good but tricky problem to have. Not to mention, once tastes become more well rounded, the blank walls in that lovely shade of Landlord Créme give way to rich hues from paint brands, primer layers, or fanciful wallpapers that can turn a rental unit into a home more expeditiously. 

The downside, it seems, is that many of the great wallpapers and paint colors have already been seized upon. You can think of six friends with either sage-green painted bedroom walls or a bathroom covered with zebras and arrows on a red backdrop. To counter this issue, more and more people have been hiring artists to install and create custom murals in their homes that are unique to each space. For the price of a large-format painting, artists will tailor their style of work to a specific site. 

This poses a simple, if obvious question, though: where to begin? SPY spoke with artist and creative director Maggie Antalek about her process, both fielding new commissions and in caring for the works afterward. 

Antalek, whose work has been featured on everything from HGTV to New York City sidewalks, recommends reaching out for any room. Artists are often found on Instagram, and Antalek has her website to contact through for commissions. 

“Often, [clients] are looking for a specialty piece that they could not find in a wallpaper or they want something entirely custom for a special room in their home,” she says. Her work has also expanded into business in the New York area. 

Depending on the scale of the work, a mural doesn’t need to break the bank. There’s a relative scale to the affordability of art for different people, but Antalek charges a minimum project fee of $1,800 — still much lower than what many pay for a painting a fraction of the size of her installations. “The range can vary so much depending on certain factors, including size, complexity of design, number of colors, my labor estimate, or location,” she says. “I promise all my customers the price will include is multiple digital art draft options, accurate mockups, unlimited revisions, and a completely original design.”

Picking the right location for a custom mural is also critical, particularly for the maximalist who has a lot of art and accolades to hang. While the resident may be commissioning a mural to make the most of the negative space in a room, Antalek and other muralists are creating a custom work of art, and it should be treated as one. ”Furniture location, function of the space, plans for décor always play a role,” says Antalek. “If I’m creating something for a baby nursery, for example, I will factor in the location of the crib and keep in mind that the colors should feel soothing. The expectation can never be that the mural will shine as a standalone piece, like perhaps a canvas would. It must enhance the function of the space.”

The best way to enjoy and take in these works though is to understand what they are and that they’re meant to be temporary. While many of Antalek’s past clients have been those in their permanent homes or apartments, those who will eventually move know that the work is to be enjoyed in real time, rather than as an investment art piece that gets stored away until its value swells.

“Although there is no real way to preserve the murals through a move, I always recommend that my clients take photos for the memory of the space,” she adds. “I would say the majority of my clients are in permanent spaces. And I also get the sense that many of my clients enjoy the mural for what it is in that time of their lives, knowing that when they move, they can hire me again to create something in their new space. People like to change it up, and someone who is interested in having a work as unusual as this in their home will always be interested in bringing fresh creativity into every home they live in.” In a sense, her murals are created for the here-and-now — a daily reminder to stay present while they’re still here.