Statement Murals Transformed These 5 Rooms, Starting with a Fun $10 Refresh

A wall is the quintessential blank slate, full of potential for any design vision. When it comes to pulling a room’s look together, it can either be a subtle background, or quite the opposite. 

A great yet often-overlooked way to turn a wall into a statement is by creating a mural. Whether you’re an avid collector of large-scale artwork or have a design you’re hoping to replicate (or have someone paint for you), a mural can add its own special spin to a home — and deliver a show-stopping conversation piece to boot. 

Perhaps a mural is just the character detail your walls are looking for. Want to set the tone through a striking pattern or design, but don’t know how? These five spaces embrace eye-catching murals to give you just the inspiration you need. 

Ariel was faced with a challenge: military base housing and a bathroom described as “tiny, cramped, poorly lit, and very bland.” It had to change, but on a budget. A major element that helped give the awkward space shape? The removable striped wallpaper she used, which also helped accentuate other wall art layered on top of it. The statement wall is a clear reason behind why Ariel describes the space as a “Kate Spade-inspired powder room refresh.”

When Katherine Thewlis redid her dining room, wallpaper played a major part in achieving the vision she had for the space, which was to transform an eating area into a more formal dining room. After Thewlis and her husband, Andy, painted the walls red, they reserved the spots within the frame moldings for wallpaper depicting herons. 

Thewlis said the mural served as inspiration for the whole room, and interestingly enough, an impulse buy. “I made that decision in less than five minutes, and then figured the rest of the room out from there,” she said on her blog. “I suppose this is how I usually approach my designs. I need to have that moment of reckless abandon in order to really enjoy the rest of the process.”

Emily Parlove turned to “a lot of paint and small plumbing updates” when it came time to freshen up her guest bathroom. Among the painting tasks was a hand-painted geometric mural that used triangular decals made by Parlove’s Cricut machine, which was a DIY alternative to going with the more expensive wallpaper she’d been eying. 

Parlove said the mural remains her favorite aspect of the revamped space — and it taught her to embrace imperfection. “The number of times I’ve already heard, ‘How did you get the decals on the wall so straight?’ is the best proof,” she said.“They are FAR FROM perfect, but no one will notice but you.” 

Elara Mari was renting, and her bathroom had a couple major flaws she wanted to address, including the back wall of mostly staggered towel rods. With her landlord’s blessing, she gave the room a fresh coat of background color, and then painted a mural on the problem wall. Now, the towel rods are a thing of the past — a confident black-and-white design that’s full of motion is what catches the eye. 

“This part was fun and went very quickly, Mari, an illustrator by trade, said. “The key to a pattern like this is to be bold and brave.” Mari added one carefully placed towel rod back to the wall, but it’s clear the mural is captivating enough on its own. No additional racks needed!

In this bedroom, Sujata Sharma transferred the art of a traditional geometric wall mural to sliding closet doors. Previously the doors were a solid shade of white that showed obvious wear and tear from years of use. Sharma created a graphic out teal, gold, and white that injects mid-century modern style into the space. 

To achieve the design, Sharma spent less than $10 to apply a tile pattern and paint the doors. “Have loads of patience,” she said. “Chances are you will mess up and then will have to start over.”