Invest in Your Environment: The One You Live In!

If there is one place on this earth that you have complete control over, it is your home's living environment. If you think of it as your oasis from the chaos and noise of life, you should make it your priority to enrich it with the elements that make you comfortable and relaxed.

When I step into my home, I am immediately happy and comforted. I have surrounded myself with my favorite things, and yet have removed all the clutter that years of collecting can bring.

There is a storage facility holding all the collections I have accumulated, and someday I will figure out what to do with all that; but for now, I have designed my space with elements of our lifestyle that bring us peace and tranquility. Color is primary in affecting mood and energy. Sometimes it only takes the addition of one wall of color to accomplish this. Just enough to bring some attention to the space and join things together. Many times, less is more!

I am a muralist by trade, and have seen hundreds of homes in my career. The one thing I have come away with in the almost 20 years of painting in other people's homes is that when I step into someone's house where there is order and space, I am free to create and can do my best painting. If there is clutter and mess around, I struggle with ideas and sometimes cannot even communicate with my clients because they are not clear or open to ideas themselves. I may compensate for their clutter by creating a simple design so there is a visual escape for their minds to go. On the other hand, in an environment where there is order and harmony, I can create incredible scenes with much detail because there is ample space for such design.

A mural can enhance a space like no other design element. It is part of the architecture - part of the house itself - so it has a sense of belonging when a painting seems to be borrowed from somewhere else, and lent to the space it inhabits. A mural can be a visual escape, and dreamscape, landscape, or seascape. It will transport your busy mind to a place of tranquility and ease, if that is your design wish.

All I can say is to consider a mural in your home, as it is an investment which lasts a lifetime and can be the difference between a blank wall of boredom and the visual transportation of your mind to more pleasant times.