Lifestyle
Murals Have Moved Indoors
When Megan Debin purchased her Long Beach, Calif., house in 2020, she found her backyard dreary with its cinder-block walls. Dr. Debin, an art history professor and content creator, was smitten with a light blue crab motif she had come across on Instagram. She asked its artist, Tracy Allen, a muralist in Long Beach, to paint the crab on one of her yard’s walls.
One mural turned into five — all different designs, predominantly blue — and now Dr. Debin, 45, sees her yard differently. “It’s so bright and playful, and it lifts your mood,” she said, adding that the murals inspired her to create an outdoor space where she could entertain among the yard’s orange trees.
Home murals were once relegated to children’s bedrooms, where they often tied into a theme. Today, they’ve grown up and taken over walls, indoors and out.
Technically speaking, a mural is a large work of art executed right on a wall. And while modern murals are typically associated with streetscapes and Insta-worthy backdrops, they’re one of the most primitive forms of artistic storytelling. In Dordogne, France, for example, the Lascaux cave paintings of about 15,000 to 17,000 years ago depicted horses, bison and other animals. And in Patagonia, Argentina, the “Cueva de las Manos” (“Cave of Hands”) is a composite of stenciled human hands that dates back at least 9,000 years.
“I think as humans we have this built-in tendency to share things with other people and do that in a visual way,” said Hailey Widrig, an art historian and founder of Art Partners Advisory in Paris, which advises collectors and appraises art works. “Murals really evolved out of that.”
The sprawling wall paintings have ebbed and flowed out of popularity through the centuries, from religious works in the Renaissance (like the “Last Supper”) to political statements by Diego Rivera in the 1930s and Banksy’s start in the 1990s. In the 2010s, destinations like Richmond, Va., which has hosted the RVA Street Art Festival since 2012, and Wynwood Walls in Miami began welcoming murals to add vibrancy and become attractions.
The rise of murals on social media has inspired homeowners to bring them indoors. “Platforms like Instagram have reframed murals as contemporary visual statements by transforming them from niche to aspirational through sheer exposure,” said Elena DeStefano, an interior designer in Philadelphia. “In response, designers began integrating them as immersive, site-specific works that introduce a unique narrative and spatial complexity into the home.”
That individualized touch is what makes Ms. DeStefano so inclined to incorporate murals in homes. “I think they work in literally any room with walls,” she said. “They are a true representation of the person that lives in that home because there’s no mural that is ever going to be the same.”
Ms. DeStefano is also a proponent of digital mural wall coverings by companies like Phillip Jeffries. She recently worked with a couple who wanted birds in their mural, and the company blended their designs and tweaked the scale of the birds to make a customized mural.
There are considerations to take into account before painting a mural. Diana Hathaway, an interior designer in the San Francisco Bay Area, suggested pulling in colors from the surrounding design to make the space cohesive. “It doesn’t have to be too literal, but it should echo something you already have going on,” Ms. Hathaway said.
Many see hand-painted murals as an alternative to wallpaper, which can be fussy to install — and not as unique. Some muralists paint designs reminiscent of wallpaper, like Kate White who lives in Garrison, N.Y. She specializes in retro hues and geometric patterns, such as a terrazzo-inspired bathroom mural or pink and yellow blocks in an entry hallway.
Even an often-overlooked area, like a stairwell, is not immune to a muralist’s palette. Kreh Mellick, an artist in Asheville, N.C., recently painted one in a family member’s home in Virginia. Ms. Mellick took the stairwell from plain to whimsical, adorned with stars and a dress-clad sun ascending over flowers and a blueberry patch.
In some cases, homeowners empower muralists to think beyond just painting the walls. Christina Kwan, a muralist in Atlanta, installed an oceanic mural-painting hybrid in a client’s dining room. “When I work on canvases, they’re so contained,” she said. “Then when I work on murals, they’re so expansive, but I want them to have the intimacy that a canvas does.” Additionally, if the homeowners ever move, they can bring the canvas with them, too.
Even in the modern era, murals tell stories. Rachel Kerns, a muralist in Sacramento with a flair for boho-chic florals, painted a dining room ceiling in Pasadena, Calif., last year. Among leaves and golden flowers set against a red backdrop, Ms. Kerns painted silhouettes of the homeowner’s children on the edge of the mural.
“We incorporated the silhouettes in a way that was kind of abstract and not too on the nose or cheesy,” Ms. Kerns said. “I just thought it was so special that it was above the table that they’re going to dine at for years.”
Is the internet getting worse?
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Do you ever feel like the internet just doesn’t work as well as it used to?
Or maybe you wish you could go back to the old internet? Where your search queries actually served you what you wanted, and your feeds weren’t overrun by ads? Well, it’s not just you – the internet IS getting worse, and platforms are getting harder to leave. But how did we get here? Journalist and tech activist Cory Doctorow joins Brittany to lay out why in his new book, Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It.
Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluse
For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.
This episode was produced by Liam McBain. It was edited by Neena Pathak. Our supervising producer is Barton Girdwood. Our executive producer is Veralyn Williams. Our VP of programming is Yolanda Sangweni.
Lifestyle
Three L.A. creatives show you how — and where — to wear La Beauté, Louis Vuitton’s new makeup line
From the cafe to Catch One: Day to night
Amber J. Phillips, @amberabundance
Day
You’ll find Amber workshopping her stories at a cafe in Leimert Park, with a sheer, subtle eye shadow that creates a glow around her almond eyes.
Night
And at night? That pop of blue in the corner of her eye expands. Spot her at the legendary Catch One — formerly the Catch, founded by Jewel Thais-Williams in 1973 — living the life that informs her work, among those who make life worth living.
“When I started adding music into my [writing] practice, it was honoring the fact that I don’t want to just run my political lens through policy, but through how I’m living my everyday life.
Black people, especially Black queer people … dance spaces, play spaces is where we form who we are. It’s where we are testing identity.
I love being able to play with makeup at home and then take it under some blue lights onto the dance floor, where really no one’s judging you.
As I grow as a writer, it’s important for me to not just respond to the world around me, but to tell the story of the world that I’m actually participating in.”
Amber is wearing: La Beauté Louis Vuitton LV Ombres eye shadow palette in Force of Nature 951 and Sky Is the Limit 950 ($250); La Beauté Louis Vuitton LV Rouge in New Dimension 405 and Vanity Beige 103 ($160). Available at select Louis Vuitton stores. louisvuitton.com
Girl about town: Glamour in any weather
Tiara Kelly, @tiararkelly
Depending on the day’s agenda, Tiara may be at the downtown library or posted in Santee Alley. She’s a downtown girl, but don’t be surprised if she pops up in Leimert Park to connect with her community in a makeup look that’s anything but casual.
“I’m either super plain or super dramatic.
If I’m wearing white, I’ll add glitter to radiate a pure energy. If I do pink, I want all shades of pink. I love pink makeup on my skin. If I’m wearing bright colors, I like bright makeup. Blush — lots of blush all over. I want to be as extra and drag as I can.”
Tiara is wearing: La Beauté Louis Vuitton LV Ombres eye shadow palette in Dazzling Gaze 350 and Cosmic Dreams 450 ($250); La Beauté Louis Vuitton LV Rouge in Legendary 503, High in Red 507 and Tonic Orange 601 ($160). Available at select Louis Vuitton stores. louisvuitton.com
It’s date night: L.A. fine
Jenn Torres, @jen4romtheblock
Jenn’s date nights with her girlfriend always revolve around food — and her lipstick is foolproof.
“This look would definitely be for an upscale restaurant, a jazz club or a museum. Very nighttime romance. I don’t drink anymore, but if I did, it would be wine night or a cocktail.
I love the classics: sharp eyeliner, mascara, brown lip liner with pink gloss, some blush and I’m done.” (She makes it sound so easy.)
Makeup artist Dennese Rodriguez Hermoso’s simple step-by-step lip technique on Jenn:
- Line the outer lips with a brown lipliner and blend inward.
- Apply LV Rouge in Cosmic Trip on the outer edges of the lip.
- Blend LV Rouge in Cosmic Trip into the center of the lip. Make sure to leave room for LV Baume in Tender Bliss.
- Apply LV Baume in Tender Bliss.
- Blend with LV Rouge in Cosmic Trip.
- Now smile.
Jenn is wearing: La Beauté Louis Vuitton LV Ombres eye shadow palette in Beige Memento 150, Nude Mirage 250 ($250); La Beauté Louis Vuitton LV Rouge in Cosmic Trip 401 ($160); La Beauté Louis Vuitton LV Baume in Tender Bliss 030 ($160). Available at select Louis Vuitton stores. louisvuitton.com
Creative direction and words Darian Dandridge
Production Mere Studios
Makeup Dennese Rodriguez Hermoso
Hair Elonte Quinn
Nails Lila Robles a.k.a. Nail Jerks
On-air challenge
Every answer is an anagram of something you would or might find in a hotel room. (Ex. MAP + L –> LAMP)
1. RICH + A
2. HORSE +W
3. ANKLET + B
4. RANGES + H
5. OOMPAH + S
6. SEDERS + R
7. CREAKY + D
8. STREAMS + T
9. RIPPLES + S
10. NOVELTIES + I
Last week’s challenge
Last week’s challenge came from Joel Moorhead, of Downers Grove, Ill. Think of a word that means exceptionally good. Add two letters at the end of to make a word that means the exact opposite. What words are these?
Challenge answer
Superb, superbad
Winner
Matt Walsh of St. Louis Park, Minnesota.
This week’s challenge
This week’s challenge comes from Dan Pitt, of Palo Alto, Calif. Think of something to drink in two words. Rearrange the letters to spell a famous prison and a means of getting out of prison. What words are these?
If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it below by Thursday, October 23 at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle.
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