design process: fit for a princess

The original color of this space was a lime green with a white chair rail. Seeing that we wanted to create this space for a princess it was necessary to repaint the walls to a lighter tone. We decided to go with a pale pink and light green paint using the white chair rail to our advantage as a dividing line between the two colors.

The little girl was two and a half and ready for a big girl bed therefore we decided to purchase new furniture for her room and use the existing furniture for the future child. We decided to go with an antique white collection from Pottery Barn Kids. We purchased a twin size bed, night stand, and double dresser for this space. We were able to purchase matching toddler rails for the bed as well. The homeowners read to their child every night therefore we needed a place to store books in, to bring in the green in the room we went with the dollhouse bookcase from Pottery Barn Kids with a green roof. We felt that every princess needs a full size mirror in their room especially since ours loves to play dress-up. We purchased three pieces of naked furniture for the room, a table and chair set for tea parties, the full size free standing mirror, and a toy chest. Each piece of furniture was hand painted to go with the decor of the room using white, pink, and green in each piece with accents of purple.

Custom bedding was purchased and floor length curtains were made special for this space. A pink shaggy raggy pink rug was also added for a special touch to the room. As for the artwork, we created a mural to go above the bed on one wall with a castle and elaborate landscape. Above the mural a banner was added with 'Once Upon A Time...' written out. Every princess needs a crown therefore we added a three dimensional pink crown above the dresser with two princess frog pictures on each side. Additional pieces of art included; a scroll banner with the child's name on it, a custom painted shelf which displays some dress up clothing, a wall clock to help assist with learning to tell time, and another piece of artwork which match the decor of the room that reads ' And she lived happily ever after.' A custom made chandelier was hung from the child's ceiling, the chandelier shades were made of the same fabric that was used in her bedding and drapery. Custom knobs were also added to the dresser and nightstand.

For extra storage, we placed eight pull out wicker bins underneath the bed and a few decorative ones underneath the dresser. This helps with teaching the child organization while keeping her room clean and tidy.

design process: vintage transportation

The Theme for this particular nursery was vintage transportation. We wanted to take the avenue of antique vehicles from around the 1950s and under and incorporate a variety of memorabilia from that era into this space. We decided to add white wanes coating throughout the room, paint the top half of the wall a vibrant blue color (originally light brown), and build an eight foot high shelf that wraps around the entire room to house an antique running train set. The shelf was painted white to brighten up the room, the crown under the shelf was painted a primary red. Above the wanes coating about a foot of striping wraps the perimeter of the room, the strips consist of white, green, yellow, and red of various thickness.

The furniture in this room is chestnut. The furniture consist of a crib, armoire and changing table. We found some beautiful vintage toy bedding which consisted of tricycles, boats, cars, etc. all in primary colors, the piping around the bedding was a minky dot red as well as the sheets. We had custom changing table covers made in the minky dot red as well. A toy chest and small plant stand painted the same color blue that is on the top portion of the walls was also purchased for this space. The plant stand would pose as a small table to place bottles and a small lamp next to the rocking chair. We topped the toy chest off with a custom cushion that matches the bedding. A custom box pleated valance was made to hang over the window, again, in the same fabrics as the bedding. We wanted to incorporate some consistency in this room as we had in the princess room so we purchased a red shaggy raggy rug to placed in the center of the room and the same custom chandelier but changed the colors and shades to coordinate with the new decor.

The wall decor consisted of a variety of vintage transportation vehicles. There are two tin wall hangings of classic Harley Davidson motorcycles on one wall, a hand painted picture of a classic ford pickup truck over the changing table with the child's name on the license plate, an airplane clock that has a moving airplane pendulum next to the pickup truck, a hand painted picture of a classic cruise ship on another wall, and over the crib hangs a big hand painted renault. On the last wall adjacent from the crib hangs two vintage gas station signs. To the right of the crib is a glider recliner rocking chair and to the left of the crib on the floor is a vintage miniature gas pump with a 55' classic mustang peddle car. A vintage fighter plane hangs from the ceiling in the corner of the room above the armoire We installed metal knobs of trains, planes, cars, and trucks on all the drawers and hand painted custom hangers made of vintage trucks to be used within the armoire. A vintage transportation stool was placed in front of the crib as the little boy grows older he will be able to use that to climb into his toddler bed. To top the room off we added a few antique trucks and vehicle toys in the room in which will hopefully strike a future interest as he grows older.

design process: jack and jill frog bathroom

This space was very challenging. We wanted to create a gender neutral space but also wanted to incorporate a bit of masculinity and femininity to each side of the Jack and Jill bathroom. This particular space had the sink area open to the bedroom and a separate area where the shower and toilet were. On the princess side we created pink and white striping around the bathroom entrance, placing green dashes in between and on the vintage transportation side we created green and white striping with navy dashes. We used the same frog accessories for the sink area on each side and got a few pieces of artwork that matched the rug and hand towels. We had custom knobs made for each side of the bathroom cabinetry that matched the insects used throughout the bathroom. The rug and hand towels on the girls' side are green and pink butterflies and ladybugs and on the boys' side the rug and hand towels are orange, brown, and navy of caterpillars and turtles. We brought both designs together in the center of the bathroom with an extensive mural of a frog in a pond with a variety of pond animals around the room which included turtles, fish, butterflies, caterpillars, and various other insects. We used a simple green gingham shower curtain and decorative shower hooks that matched the sink accessories. As a gift to the homeowners we had custom step stools made for each child with their names on them.

design process: the schoolhouse

We went back and forth on many different themes for this space. When we were hired to do the play area, they only had the little girl so we wanted to create a space that was gender neutral knowing within the next year they would be conceiving another child. Seeing that the little girl loves school, we decided to create an environment that was familiar to her where she could play, do arts and crafts, watch movies, and excel in her developmental skills.

We worked with our contractors to begin the construction of this space. Drywall was put up, recessed lighting was installed, custom cabinetry was created to store toys within and a corner bookcase was made. After the construction was complete carpet was added and a tile floor was put in to create a space for the arts and crafts area. We wanted to make this space bright, functional, and have efficient space. The color scheme for this environment was muted primary colors. Upon entering the room the cabinets and wall were hand painted to create an illusion of an old schoolhouse. The cabinets and doors were painted a confederate red, painted windows were added to the cabinet doors to make the space more realistic. The center had a faux finish door and actual steps leading up to the door which poses as a stage for the child to sing and dance. We hid the T.V. in a built-in cabinet as well so that would not be the focal point of the room and the child would not just watch T.V. within the space. A three dimensional school bell was added so the child could ring the bell as school began. We had five activity centers in this environment; a chalkboard, an arts and crafts area, puppet area, kitchen, and again the stage. The entire room had murals all around it to provide the finishing touches of a classroom, we incorporated the entire alphabet around the room using three dimensional letters and various objects that associate each letter. We installed dutch doors so the children could conduct puppet shows and the parents could leave the top portion open to listen for the children. An activity table and chairs were added to the center of the room, so the children could do puzzles, games, etc. on it. Two cushioned kids' chairs were also added so the children could watch T.V. in comfort.