(Photo: Courtesy of the vendor)

There was a time when glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling were enough to enthrall a precocious child, but the decorative bar is higher for today’s young aesthetes. The design team behind the weeks-old Ellaphant in the Room (theellaphantintheroom.com) creates wall murals specifically for children’s lairs. Painter Jeremy Alan and his photo-director girlfriend launched the side project after her daughter said she wished her room was underwater. A few buckets of paint later, there was a humpback whale swimming across the wall. “We wanted to give parents an alternative to mass-produced vinyl decals,” says Jeremy, who has hand-painted frogs, cardinals, and elephants, but can also do trees, astronauts, spiderwebs, and whatever else your offspring can dream up. Murals start at $1,000, including materials.

Related:

• Archive: “The Storefront: Openings & Closings”
• Table of Contents: Aug 20, 2012 issue of New York | Subscribe!