night house
Like something out of a storybook, an ordinary suburban house seems to merge with the starry sky, its exterior transformed in blue-purple gradients dotted with constellations. ‘Night House’ by Kate McQuillen was created for Terrain Biennial, a large-scale exhibition in Chicago and other cities scattering art installations in residential areas.
night house - starry sky house paint
While many of the projects created for the event consist of smaller items like mailboxes and lawn accessories in a sort of scavenger hunt, Night House makes a big impact with surprisingly little effort. The home on Highland Avenue gets a whole new look with the application of printed styrene panels, mounted right onto the painted exterior. This image of the night sky is illuminated with lamps at night for a dramatic and eye-catching effect.
Camouflage house paint
While this installation is only temporary, the styrene panels held in place with removable adhesive, it’s an intriguing idea for an artistic house exterior that makes us wonder why more homeowners don’t get a little more creative with their color schemes.
If you wanted to reproduce this effect permanently on your own home, you’d likely be in for a lot more work, as it would require some detailed hand painting. But that doesn’t mean your creative house paint dreams should be dashed just yet. Take these images as house paint inspiration to come up with something that’s both doable and beautiful.
Night sky creative house paint
“Sited specifically within the peaceful neighborhood setting of Oak Park, Kate McQuillen’s “Night House” sparks considerations of  cosmic themes, dreams, and the outsized aspirations held by those who live behind ordinary suburban homes. The image pictured above is at the home of curator Claudine Ise, in Oak Park, IL. McQuillen used a type of plastic, printed with an image that the artist created from Hubble telescope photos, to cover the facade of the home. Having been trained as a printmaker, she has always been interested in printed matter and the beauty of multiples as art for the public at large. She sees posters as an accessible form of artwork that can commemorate an event or  experience.”
night house poster


“To support this project, McQuillen is selling a silkscreened poster, available here. These handmade silkscreens were produced by the artist. The print is made from five screens, and features a number of inks: glow-in-the-dark, silver, varnish, yellow, white and a split fountain. They are 16″ x 20″, and are printed on Neenah Eclipse Black paper. Your support will help produce this public art project!”