Tour This New York City Muralist's Retro, Eclectic Apartment

"Walk the walk and talk the talk" is the motto of New York muralist and interior decorator Maggie Antalek. On a mission to bring her signature artwork into her own home, the walls of her big city apartment double as a living portfolio, a reflection of work that she most-often provides to clients. Stroll through her multicolor, striped hallway, peek inside her plant-filled, pink living room and see how the artist uses color to create calm, vibrant and energetic spaces.

January 26, 2022

By: Rachael Jones

Show: HGTV Handmade

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Photo By: Stephanie Diani

Bringin' It Home

Maggie Antalek — New York City mural artist, interior decorator and owner of Nestia — is busy filling her work schedule with clients' colorful interior requests. But in her spare time, she takes leftover paint and new ideas and applies them directly to the walls of her big city abode. "I’m not a minimalist in any sense of the word," Maggie says. "I love color. I love big patterns. I love big statements. And if I’m going to be doing this for a living, I have to walk the walk and talk the talk. So I wanted to make sure this space was totally me and totally mine."

Watch the Video: Tour a Muralist's New York City Apartment

24/7 Good Vibes

"My favorite spot is definitely in the living room," Maggie says. "I get the best sunlight in there, so it’s a huge reason why I love that room — and it’s flooded with light in the morning hours. This is really my safe haven, my sanctuary. This is where I work every day." Thriving houseplants, a sunset-inspired wall mural and vintage, glass-lined bar cart are just a few of the design touches that give the space a chill vibe.

Watch the Video: Tour a Muralist's New York City Apartment

Pretty in Pink

On the topic of bright mural walls, Maggie explains, "When it comes down to it, I’m a girly-girl and I love the pink in [the living room]. It’s bright and colorful, and so on the day-to-day [when] I’m in there with all my plants and my pink wall, I’m happy."

Watch the Video: Tour a Muralist's New York City Apartment

Maggie's Mirror Upgrade

Add a happy hue to any room with Maggie's colorful how-to for a basic, wood frame mirror. Start by protecting your floor with a drop sheet or piece of plastic. Next, protect the glass on the mirror by using painter's tape. Firmly press the tape around any edges or areas on the mirror frame that should not be painted. Then, tape off sections to create a fun, geometric design along the mirror's wooden frame.

Watch the Video: Upgrade a Basic White Mirror With Paint

Pink and Orange Reflections

To create Maggie's look, tape diagonals along the mirror frame and paint it with two different colors. Be sure to use acrylic paint or matte interior wall paint for maximum impact on a wooden mirror frame. Let the paint dry overnight, then carefully remove the painter’s tape. Maggie's finished mirror matches her vibrant pink and orange living room mural wall and contrasts her inviting, chocolate brown sofa.

Watch the Video: Upgrade a Basic White Mirror With Paint

Inspiration Information

Her colorful living room also doubles as a home office and creative headquarters. And the colorful rug was her main source of inspo for the mural. "It has some really fun colors — pinks, oranges, blues," she says.

Watch the Video: Tour a Muralist's New York City Apartment

Firmly Planted

"I’ve always been a plant lady," Maggie says. "I’ve had lots of plants in all of my apartments, but this [one] is probably the brightest apartment and brightest room I’ve ever been in."

Watch the Video: Tour a Muralist's New York City Apartment

Junior Jungle

"This was my chance to really make a jungle happen," Maggie continues. Now that she has plenty of light to keep her plants happy, she's steadily growing her collection.

Watch the Video: Tour a Muralist's New York City Apartment

Classic Entertainment

Every home office and living room needs an industrial bar cart stocked with vintage glassware, decorating books and colorful mini pom-poms.

Learn More: Make Picture-Perfect Pom-Poms in Minutes

All the (Leftover) Colors

"Welcome to my hallway," Maggie says. "It's the central point of the apartment, and it’s a rainbow of five colors. Those hues actually draw in the colors of every single room in the apartment. The pink stripe is the pink from the living room. The red and the blue are from my bedroom. The black is from the kitchen, and the yellow is from the bathroom."

Watch the Video: Tour a Muralist's New York City Apartment

Small Space, Smart Trick

Maggie's idea for a mirrored hallway offers much more than a beautiful reflection — it showcases her interior decorating savvy. "The reason that I wanted to do the mirrors [in the hallway] was for two reasons," she says. "First, to reflect the mural so you can see [it] through the mirrors, which is very fun. It almost alleviates a little bit of the work on my end. I could have muraled the entire hallway, but that seems like a lot more work than just reflecting it."

Watch the Video: Tour a Muralist's New York City Apartment

Mirror Magic

Maggie continues, "The other reason is because [the hallway] gets tons of natural light. Especially in the morning, as the light is shining in really bright, [the mirrors] bring a lot of the light into this part of the apartment."

Watch the Video: Tour a Muralist's New York City Apartment

Mellow Yellow

Unsurprisingly, Maggie's bath is also bright and happy. Yellow painted walls pair with a bold yellow shower curtain in the single vanity bath that promises an effective wake-up call. She cleverly brings in subtle peachy pinks with bathroom accessories that continue the apartment's color scheme.

Watch the Video: Tour a Muralist's New York City Apartment

Bold Entrance

A funky, state-the-obvious bathroom mat perfectly blends the blue, pink, orange and yellow tones seen all around her apartment. Guests will also notice the classic black and white mosaic tile floors in the small bath, too.

Watch the Video: Tour a Muralist's New York City Apartment

Calmer Color Retreat

"I really wanted to create a more relaxing sanctuary," Maggie says of the more toned-down bedroom. "I love that my space is so colorful and lively, and I want people to feel excited, but I did want to relax when I come to bed at night. So I chose some blue tones to make it feel calm."

Watch the Video: Tour a Muralist's New York City Apartment

Significant Sconces

Maggie's narrow headboard dilemma evolved into another design decision. "I did the headboard [mural] here because it’s a tight space and I couldn’t fit my old bed frame in here that had a headboard on it," she says. "And I really wanted to make these fake sconces work, so I planned it all at the same time.” Hand-painted, blue florals accent the corner of the bed and continue over to the matching mural above the vintage dresser.

Watch the Video: Tour a Muralist's New York City Apartment

Blossomy Finish

Blue painted florals flank the orange mural around Maggie's round bedroom mirror. "I still wanted to work in the blue somehow, so that’s where the florals came in," she adds.

Watch the Video: Tour a Muralist's New York City Apartment

Between the Lines

Exit the calming bedroom and find the next Maggie mural: a black-and-white striped dining arch. "Honestly, it was kind of a last-minute decision," Maggie explains. "I hadn’t really planned out any mural for this space specifically. I was open to it, it just wasn’t something that I had made a plan for until I saw things in place."

Watch the Video: Tour a Muralist's New York City Apartment

Monochromatic Mural

"I just went with a black-and-white, simple, geometric [mural]," Maggie says. The mural "connects around the window a little bit and it kind of leads you into the bedroom by ending right here in the corner."

Watch the Video: Tour a Muralist's New York City Apartment

For Everything a Reason

Much like Maggie's bedroom aesthetic, her kitchen is fairly free of bold color on purpose. "I wanted this room right in the center to kind of have a little bit of that neutrality, knowing that there was going to be a lot of fun colors happening in all the other places," Maggie explains.

Watch the Video: Tour a Muralist's New York City Apartment

Moroccan Memories

"The statement in the kitchen is this rug, which is a rug I bought when I went to Morocco a few years ago," Maggie says. "I love this rug. It’s a keepsake for life, and it has a lot of amazing colors in it."

Watch the Video: Tour a Muralist's New York City Apartment

Everyone Calls Them That

During a previous design overhaul, Maggie decided to tackle the old lighting in her new space. "All of the light fixtures in here were your typical — I’m not sure I’m allowed to say this — boob lights," Maggie says with a laugh. "I’ve always just been fine with it in old apartments, and I’ve never thought about replacing them, but it was so worth it and I love how all of the [new] lights look."

Watch the Video: Tour a Muralist's New York City Apartment

The Greek Goddess of Hearth

Maggie draws a lot of inspiration from the gods — and this particular mug shaped like the Greek goddess of home and hearth, Hestia. "My business name is called Nestia, [and] it’s about nesting and feeling settled in your space as I have obviously done. I have really nested into this apartment, and so that’s where the business name came up. I love having [Hestia] on display because she really was the 500 Operands are not of the same type: comparison is supported for Number types only.

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