Tour Painter and Muralist Rachel Gloria Adams Home in Maine

For artist, muralist and designer Rachel Gloria Adams, art is at the heart of her home. She and her husband Ryan Adams, also a muralist, and their young daughters Zoe and Norah live in a three-story townhouse in Portland, Maine, that they consider a work in progress.

“We knew that with having four of us live here that we could never really fully commit to this one space always being one thing, and we had to be open to the fact that our needs were going to constantly change,” Rachel says. “They’re the things that happen within our artwork, but it’s now kind of translated into the home. And as artists, we’re maybe doing things an interior decorator might not think to do just because of the way we process color and process pattern and texture, and just not being afraid to put it up, whatever that may be.”

It shows in the bright prints and bold colors throughout the rooms and the pattern matching and color stories that she refers to as “vignettes” around the house.

The artists have lived in their townhouse in Portland since 2017. “The first thing we did when we moved in was scraped off the popcorn ceiling,” Rachel says. Since then, the rooms and decor have evolved and changed as needed for this creative family.

“My mom’s an artist and an art teacher, and I think that I kind of bucked against the reality that I had it in me, so I didn’t really start making art until my senior year in high school,” Rachel says. “I went to a college fair and talked to an art school and they said they didn’t have homework. And I was like, that’s the school I want to go to!” With her obvious talent, she got into all the art schools she applied to, “And I just haven’t stopped since.”

Rachel’s love of color and pattern is evident as you walk in the door to the living room. The walls are filled with art, including a quilt-like piece of her own in shades of green that she says “straddles the line of quilting and painting.” It's made of painted fabric pieces stitched together and mounted on canvas stretcher bars. An accent wall is also painted green: “I was kind of going through this green period, so you’ll notice that this wall color is the color that I used on six or seven, or eight or nine or 10 murals last year. It was just kind of my go-to green.”

The inspiration for the living room colors is a vintage silkscreen print of a mask in bright greens on an orange background. “It’s the first piece Ryan and I agreed on and bought,” Rachel says. “We were drawn to the pops of color and the graphics. It felt like a unique piece.” It also challenges her to work with colors she generally avoids. “I actually don’t like the colors red and orange that much, so I knew that I needed to warm it up a little bit,” she says.