The 2025 1stDibs Interior Design Survey revealed that many interior designers would be embracing painted murals (28 percent) and patterned wallpapers (26 percent) in the year ahead. So, we thought it was time to take a closer look at 10 majestic spaces by designers who were ahead of the curve on this timeless trend.
In the dining room of a family house in Highland Park, Illinois, Wendy Labrum introduced an inky, atmospheric mural to offset the sun-drenched foyer.
“This new-construction home is light and bright,” she says, “and since the dining room sits right off the airy entryway, we wanted something a little moodier to set the tone for the adjacent black-lacquered bar.”
The custom wallcovering by A New Wall depicts a landscape of rolling hills and grazing bovines. “It was the starting point for this room,” Labrum explains, “and everything else evolved organically around it.”
The custom marble-topped dining table was inspired by a smaller antique piece. A vintage cabinet and rustic pottery add character and depth. “When you have a defined space that can handle a wallpaper or painted mural,” Labrum says, “it’s a great way to make the space feel unique and special.”
Murals feature prominently throughout a tailored apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side designed by Kristine Irving, of Koo de Kir Architectural Interiors, for a family of Boston transplants eager for a fresh start. “They wanted a full about-face in decor and design,” Irving says, “and we created a colorful haven full of pattern and texture.”
In the powder room, hand-painted panels by Porter Teleo cover the walls in an earthy abstraction. The demilune silhouette of an Ochre leather-wrapped console table echoes the panels’ curves. “Sometimes, a wall mural is all the room needs,” Irving says, “like being enveloped in a giant pattern hug.”
A similar visual language reappears in the office and guest room, where Porter Teleo’s hand-painted work continues across the ceiling above a custom Murphy bed by Koo de Kir. The multiuse space is further outfitted with bespoke desks, a Lasvit pendant and a Serge Mouille floor lamp from 1stDibs. The presence of a Ruth Bader Ginsburg portrait by June August epitomizes the eclectic tastes of the art-collecting residents.
“We kept layering in more patterns,” Irving says, “and offered surprise moments like the Melin Tregwynt patterned blanket when the bed is pulled down.”
In the library of her Manhattan apartment, Janine Carendi MacMurray, founder of Area Interior Design, coated the paneled walls in high-gloss navy lacquer, then installed a hand-painted mural around the fireplace.
“I wanted to create a moment of impact in a room where the architecture offered only one small wall for expression,” she says. “That limitation became an opportunity.” The scene of delicate white branches and birds offers a peaceful pause within the room’s moody shell. “The mural is by Gracie — a favorite of mine — chosen for its timeless elegance and the way it anchors the space.”
The furniture strikes a balance between refinement and function: A French mid-century brass coffee table, custom Schumacher-upholstered sofa and Lawson-Fenning chairs sit atop a herringbone hide rug. “Beauty and real life can — and should — coexist,” MacMurray says. “This room may seem delicate, but it has also hosted many lively knee-hockey games with my son and his friends.”
In the dining room of Wesley Moon’s 1,750-square-foot Manhattan apartment, a hand-painted mural presents a fantastical counterpoint to the urban view outside.
Devised in collaboration with de Gournay, the customized Scenes of Sicily dreamscape depicts Palermo’s Church of Maria Santissima del Carmelo surrounded by stylized vegetation, water, mountains and glowing sky, rendered in matte pigments over gold leaf.
“I have a love of history and travel, which were the inspirations for the design of my home,” Moon says. A curving banquette — based on one Moon admired in a Parisian brasserie — offers cushy seating for guests beneath an opulent ceramic chandelier designed by Eve Kaplan to hold either bulbs or candles.
“I’m always trying to figure out what the contemporary version of something classical is,” Moon explains, “so I can get that old-world feeling but adjusted to modern times.”
“I envisioned this bedroom as a peaceful, collected escape — inviting and relaxed, with a thoughtful blend of vintage and modern elements,” says Charlotte Lucas, who layered the boudoir of a saucy Atlanta poolhouse with color, texture and personality.
The whimsical House of Harris wallpaper features trees magically blooming with yellow, pink and periwinkle flowers and populated by brightly plumed birds, all on a white ground.
Reinforcing the room’s charm are bespoke furnishings and curated vintage finds: a custom bed in a Claremont fabric with Samuel & Sons trim, a Paavo Tynell floral chandelier, a plaid Edward Wormley bench and a bedside globe pendant suspended from long brass tubes, which was sourced from 1stDibs.
“I love using expressive walls to bring a little personality and playfulness into a space,” Lucas says. “It’s an easy way to set the tone for a room and make it feel layered and unique without being too serious.”
In a 1907 Edwardian house in San Francisco, Noz Nozawa conjured what she calls a “big wow” with a spectrum-spanning scheme in the entry that sets the tone for the rest of the home. A rainbow stair runner by Stark cascades from scarlet to lavender, culminating in a purple cut-to-fit pool-shaped rug on the ground floor.
Joining the riot of color are hand-painted murals by Caroline Lizarraga, which transfer the rug’s sense of fluidity onto the walls. Three geode-inspired forms— rendered in pink, red, orange and turquoise, with gold veining rippling across the surfaces — create a painterly tension with the home’s traditional millwork.
“A part of me wanted to tone down that grandeur,” Nozawa says. “By disobeying the architecture and softening lines, I knew we could knock it down a bit.”
A blue-globed Murano-glass chandelier, hanging like a jewel from the ceiling, is echoed by a Jonathan Adler Globo console beneath the stained-glass bay window. “Nothing in our portfolio looks quite like it,” Nozawa says of her design for the foyer, and for the house as a whole.
“This Atlanta home was built in the 1930s, and for the bathroom, we wanted to honor its Regency-era roots while giving it a fresh, modern twist,” Melanie Turner says of a jewel-box powder room in a lively project full of color. Working with architect Yong Pak, Turner created a space that balances ornate detail with contemporary effortlessness.
A hand-painted chinoiserie mural by Penshaw Hill envelops the room in black and gold. A vintage brass-and-velvet chair along with a Waterworks sink and fittings have appropriately trad forms in modern-day finishes, while a crisp round mirror and Jiun Ho pendants present more Space Age silhouettes. Still, everything plays nicely within the color scheme.
“We love using murals — especially in smaller rooms — because they instantly give the space a sense of drama and story,” Turner explains. “A mural can transport you, make the room feel layered and soulful and give even the tiniest powder room or hallway a bold, unforgettable personality.”
In the dining room of a sprawling traditional house in Manhasset, New York, Hilary Matt served up a bold, playful aesthetic, using a royal-blue botanical wallpaper by de Gournay filled with graphic white branches and vibrant birds.
“This client wanted a fun and colorful pop when you walked into her home,” Matt says. “We loved the idea of doing a colorful and whimsical space.” Continuing the organic theme is a live-edge dining table, surrounded by brass-legged Gubi Beetle chairs upholstered in ocher velvet.
Above, a Lindsey Adelman branching globe fixture in brass picks up the chairs’ warm metal tones, while its armature advances the visual rhythm of the wallpaper. A tan Stark rug produces a soft shift in texture and hue underfoot.
Amy Kehoe, cofounder of Nickey Kehoe, designed this home office in California’s Santa Monica Mountains as a place of calm and separation. “The room is at the far end of the house, allowing for inherent peace,” she says. “The idea was to play into the serenity.”
A sepia-tone pastoral wallpaper by Susan Harter, with fading trees and soft groundcover, creates an immersive environment. A wooden desk by Lawson-Fenning is paired with a Summer Studio lamp in a matching finish. A Nickey Kehoe credenza lines one wall, topped with a vintage brass-and-leather lamp by Einar Backstrom. The brick flooring adds an outdoor-patio vibe.
“With anything bold,” Kehoe says, “we ask ourselves a series of questions: Does the expression feel dynamic and signature, or does it interrupt the home’s atmosphere?” In this case, the mural functions not as an exclamation mark but as a gentle wash of emotion meant to produce tranquility.
“A series of antique hand-painted chinoiserie murals was the original point of inspiration in this space,” Corey Damen Jenkins says of this parlor in a traditional home on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. “The entire color palette was informed by these panels.”
The interior, featured in this year’s 1stDibs 50, was designed for multiple functions — playing games, reading, noshing and lounging — with distinct furniture arrangements.
A 19th-century English library table is paired with spoon-back armchairs by Dessin Fournir, while a Syrian Moorish tray table from 1stDibs anchors a more relaxed sitting area near the fireplace.
“Although very traditional in style,” the designer says, “this room is certainly not lacking personality or a distinct point of view.”
Period details, like a Regency-style convex mirror and a knight-themed 18th-century secretary, mingle with clean-lined club chairs, also by Dessin Fournir, and sleek brass desk lamps, creating what Jenkins calls “a wonderful tension point between antiquity and modernity.”
