How the project came about

A mum (or mom for American’s!) reached out to me- she and her family were moving to a new home in Park Slope, and they wanted something extra special for the daughter’s bedroom to ease the move. The mother had seen my bold, nature-inspired mural for the neighborhood cafe Volare and wanted something similar- but lighter and less serious! A custom design that could grow up with her daughter and wouldn’t be limited by being too age specific.

I popped to meet the client, see the space and chat over what type of artwork she would like. She asked specifically for lilies to be incorporated into the design, and her daughter had chosen a light yellow as the background and was keen to see lots of butterflies within the design. This was our springboard for the next step!

Designing a Luxury Floral Mural for an NYC private residence

Next, I created a mood board, looking at bright, cheerful designs and dynamic compositions. Mood board’s are an important part of my process, as it’s so much easier to understand what the client is drawn to with visual examples. Below is what I thought would help inspire the project. The images are not my own and belong to amazing artists like Ouizi.

floral Inspiration mood board — The inspiration moodboard

Sourcing fresh flowers

Wherever possible I work from life, and in this case I popped to my local Florist Zuzu’s in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Below you can see some of my photographs of the flowers.

The Mock Up

Next up, I used Adobe Photoshop to collage together the photographs into a fun custom floral bedroom mural. I personally love to wrap a design around a corner, and this one felt like a hug of flowers! While I like to leave some creativity on the wall, this stage helps to concrete what goes where and give the client a good idea (and time to make any tweaks) before moving onto the wall.

Botanical Bedroom Mural Design — The mock up

Mural shown mocked up in bedroom — The mock up in the bedroom

Hand-painting a custom floral mural

This project was particularly special, because my mum was visiting New York while I was creating this design. A big part of the reason I ended up in the arts is because my mum has always nurtured my creativity. From painting my bedroom walls as a teenager, to assisting me on mural projects (and even getting up to the third step of the ladder!) she’s been a solid support over the years. I’d really wanted to get a paint brush in my mum’s hand while she was over, and this mural allowed us to spend a few days together, chatting and painting. Below you can see behind the scenes.

Mum helping sketch up dahlia on wall art

Colourful flower in front of mural of flowers

Martha Antonelli standing in front of colorful children's bedroom mural

I was also able to have the daughter paint a butterfly with me, something extra special and I heard she told her friends at school! I love that she’s been part of a big art project at a young age.

I finished the mural in five days, and created a piece of work I’m really proud of. I’d love to work on more floral project and go bigger and bolder! You can see the final project here .

Martha Antonelli posing in front of colorful hand-painting floral mural in girl's bedroom — Me posing in front of the final floral mural!

Would you like a bespoke Children’s bedroom mural?

If you’re interested in a custom hand-painted children’s bedroom or nursery mural feel free to reach out for a no pressure chat about how we can make that happen! You can fill in the form here and I’ll get back to you quickly.

Painting a Floral Mural for a little girl’s bedroom in Brooklyn