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Hot or Not? Painted Stairwell Mural
Washington DC

AmeliaMural1.jpg

We're in Amelia Island, FL for the wedding of two dear friends, and we've been encountering a very different design aesthetic down here. When we happened upon this mural in the entryway of the house our friends rented to host the wedding, we just had to ask our readers - hot or not? We're not really sure ourselves. The mural itself is very realistic in person, but we're not sure if the hanging gulls above throw it too far over the top...

Survey after the jump...
 
 

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Hot or Not?, mural, Washington DC

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Comments (44)

not, but it would be even worse if it was in some hipster place in Brooklyn.

posted by TheoJ on July 28th 2008 at 1:05pm
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there is always a place and a time, i have to say that this is a mar miss... besides, i dont know of a single person who like being around seagulls, let along having two fake one hanging above the landing!

posted by E.M.H on July 28th 2008 at 1:10pm
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Since this is both a vacation rental and a stairwell, I think it's the perfect opportunity to do something fun and goofy with the space. You're not there [in the stairwell or the home] long enough to get sick of it. Yes, it's silly, but I think a light-hearted touch is appropriate in this case. I'd never be willing to live with it, though!

posted by visualingual on July 28th 2008 at 1:19pm
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This is a VERY florida thing to do, unfortunately.

posted by thirdcoastgirl on July 28th 2008 at 1:27pm
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i really dislike the mural but i think the gulls are done in a cute way.

posted by belleyflop on July 28th 2008 at 1:42pm
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ugh! matching birds too, I see.. cause someone might miss the beach reference without them hanging up above... "Honey, is this a Martian landscape? Oh, no, wait! I get it! Look at the whimsical gulls up above! It has to be a beach scene!"
I wonder if there's a "naturescape" sound track that plays every time you approach the landing on the stairs? and, do the gulls start flapping their wings?
MUST our houses be Disneyland rides? Theme room here theme room there? Pirates of the Caribbean tracks playing 24/7 from the speakers hidden in the faux ivy and the Tuscan wine barrel in Tuscan-themed the kitchen?
I want to yak every time I see a design show where the "designer" says,"what theme are you looking for in this room?".

posted by chris_94131 on July 28th 2008 at 1:42pm
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Wow that is UGLY. An embaressment. I grew up in Florida and I left. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

posted by AlexPDL on July 28th 2008 at 1:44pm
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Not a fan of the mural. However, I do kinda like those birdies...

posted by twelvethirteen on July 28th 2008 at 1:44pm
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That is SO FLORDIA!!

Um that said, i think i'd like it if it were done less beachy...

posted by DahliaCactus on July 28th 2008 at 1:50pm
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No... no... no no no

posted by petro on July 28th 2008 at 1:55pm
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Holy Moses! Um, a little on the kitschy side (okay... a lot).

The gulls on the heavy chain are a bit ominous. They look like some poor sadistic soul chained up their bodies for some reason.

But if you like it, hey. Whatever floats your boat, or, uh, chains your gull.

posted by kellylc on July 28th 2008 at 2:15pm
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Ugh.
I actually painted a similar scene like this as a backsplash for the stove in my parent’s kitchen when I was 12 or 13. I thought they would keep it up for a year or 2, tops, but sadly, they have kept it for 15 years! They are finally redecorating their kitchen now and the mural is on the way out. Thank goodness.

posted by hessilou on July 28th 2008 at 2:18pm
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chris_94131, i love you.

posted by g. on July 28th 2008 at 2:20pm
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why must beach houses be so "themed"?

posted by atlantadesigner on July 28th 2008 at 2:26pm
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I'm all for making staircases more interesting, and murals can be cool if done right, but I don't think this does much for the space.

posted by stephaniehf on July 28th 2008 at 2:26pm
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o hell no

posted by pileofkittens on July 28th 2008 at 2:33pm
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Yeah ... no. Don't like the painting, don't like the birds, and what the heck are those things in the corners?

posted by catspajamas on July 28th 2008 at 2:41pm
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LOL, I think those are shells in the corner. Maybe. I cringed when I saw this. My mother has the same theme going on in her bathroom. Mural and 3-d elements hanging all over including a fishnet and shells. And the piece de resistance (probably didn't spell that right) is the ceiling light fixture painted as the sun. Everytime I use her toilet I have to close my eyes. Way tacky for me.

posted by citygirlincountry on July 28th 2008 at 3:33pm
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I really don't like the mural, but I think it was more the way it was done, than the idea. I like the idea. Just not the execution. It doesn't seem to fit the space.

posted by sagekitten85 on July 28th 2008 at 3:34pm
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okay, if it were in my actual house, i would want to vomit a little in my mouth each time i saw it. but in a beach rental? it would probably be funny for two weeks. especially when i'd been drinking! yep, yep. i just convinced myself; it's officially hideous and hilarious!

posted by katiebug on July 28th 2008 at 3:43pm
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I've seen this in cheap seafood restaurants on the Atlantic coast.

posted by Daniel Poitiers on July 28th 2008 at 3:49pm
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Thair sea has no horizon, and there's a window floating in mid air that shows the real sky (for comparison perhaps?)

posted by Daniel Poitiers on July 28th 2008 at 3:51pm
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sorry , "their"

posted by Daniel Poitiers on July 28th 2008 at 3:51pm
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I LOVE the mural, but not the birds and shells.

posted by Pixie on July 28th 2008 at 4:02pm
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tee, hee, hee. funny for a weekend at the beach but really could not take it for much longer. the mural, birds, & weird corner shells might work separately but together I imagine this is what hell would look like.

posted by timmy jr. on July 28th 2008 at 4:31pm
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Maybe he/she could've gotten away if this wasnt on a stairwell

posted by cscamp20 on July 28th 2008 at 5:12pm
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charming! though if i had this in my house my partners rugby league team mates would probably take the seagulls hostage... their football team are called the Seagulls...

posted by venus_thames on July 28th 2008 at 5:33pm
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~faints~

posted by btoddster on July 28th 2008 at 5:57pm
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Colleen, if this mural didn't inspire a late night drunken Mad Lib with your friends, I will will be very sad.

posted by Seaside on July 28th 2008 at 6:27pm
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Spent a long weekend at Amelia Island for a conference once, and kept expecting the giant beach ball from The Prisoner to come bouncing through the hypermanicured landscape, sentencing me to eternal kitsch. Help!!!!

posted by KarenH on July 28th 2008 at 7:03pm
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so we've discovered that the strange things in the corners are cat statues- thought you would all want to know! ;-)

Colleen

posted by CQ in DC on July 28th 2008 at 7:32pm
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The gulls are creepy. And yes, what is with the cat statues? I've never seen cats at the beach before.

posted by somuchbetter on July 28th 2008 at 8:57pm
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haha Chris...I thought it may be 'charming' the mural...but after reading the posts....okay already!

posted by keeks on July 29th 2008 at 3:53am
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"Beach" can work if it is not this literal -- perhaps a paint treatment that transitions from "sand" at the floor to "ocean" then "sky" at the top would be a better application. This is too much.

Oh, and are those cats or seashells on the floor?

posted by robyn on July 29th 2008 at 4:00am
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I can't believe you're on AT and you're "not really sure".

Seriously Coleen?

posted by LBhirise on July 29th 2008 at 4:04am
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super crazy tacky.

posted by superchou on July 29th 2008 at 4:35am
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i can't believe someone actually posted this on AT. Seriously? This looks worse than my parents 1960s beach house that is still out dated. Murals are a no no. And in a stairwell...with real shells on the floor? good lord this is terrible. Where's the talking Billy Bass that should be hanging on the wall?

posted by LittleRock on July 29th 2008 at 4:49am
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I think it is hilarious. I guess I just appreciate a large effort.

posted by brittanykate on July 29th 2008 at 6:22am
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I love it. Beach house chic. (But get those things out of the corners!)

posted by SD on July 29th 2008 at 7:11am
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Exactly what I was thinking, it reminds me of a beach house, very soothing!

posted by da90027 on July 29th 2008 at 7:22am
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If those are cats in the corners, they're clearly facing away from the mural...for good reason!

posted by gordon on July 29th 2008 at 10:45am
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I say not to the mural but hot to the gulls! Too funny!

posted by matchbookhymnal on July 29th 2008 at 3:45pm
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I would never do that in my home, but I still think it's kind of cool, especially in the context of a beach house. However, they should have used a different method for hanging the birds, (or not included them at all).

posted by jilloe on July 29th 2008 at 4:58pm
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My orthodontist, growing up, had a huge beach mural on one of the walls in his practice. It was hideous, badly painted, and had stupid looking umbrellas and furniture on it.

Thankfully my orthodontist was an awesome guy and that made up for it.

posted by Avinony on September 8th 2008 at 1:01pm
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