Artfully GLAZED

We're mesmerized by painterly tile murals that lend a decorative touch to typically utilitarian spaces—whether the composition wraps the room or acts like a framed piece of art.

- MARNI KATZ

Artist Anna Glover’s climbing botanicals were translated onto a hand-painted ceramic tiles by Balineum. Bucolic scenes like this one are typical of delftware, which originated in the Netherlands in the mid-1600s.

1 SCENE SETTER

Think of a mural as a supplemental view. Sophie Ashby planted a magical garden that breathes life onto a windowless wall, previous page, while designer Charles Hellmersson cues from ferns in a nearby park to direct the focus of a Portland kitchen (towards right). “With the ferns surrounding you, it’s like being outdoors,” she says. In a Palm Beach kitchen, below left, designer Craig De Biasi initiated a scenic option: Dutch panels that plays off the Danish modern dining chairs.

2 WELL PLACED