Magic Tree House

I am pleased to inform you that the Magic Tree House room is complete.

We want to say a special thank you to our client Deborah who had a big part in the overall direction of the project (it helps to have a client with a great eye for design, color, and space). We hope to do more work with her in the future. THANKS DEBORAH!!

The room now has a swing and a climbing rope for the kids (pulls in the overall look)

The armoire quickly became a large focus element within the room – including with it a fun element for the kids (the library ladder). The armoire was designed to fit within the overall look of the room and was painted with the same techniques used on the floor armoire below the treehouse. The standing armoire was also wired for the families TV in order to make a clean look. Size of the armoire comes out to almost 11 feet by 9 feet (BIG!)

The rope detail at the top of the ladder and the drybrushing on all the hardware was added in order to pull in elements from the treehouse (on the other side of the room).

Other details of the armoire…The lock is so vintage-looking!

multiple doors and drawers.

Yes, that’s a flat screen TV in the middle. The TV makes this room a great location for a quiet night of movies, or exciting Wii competitions for the entire family. You can store your favorite DVDs and Wii games in any of the drawers. Have your pick.

Let’s take a look at the other side of the room.

Note the new vegetable signs we added. Don’t they make that corner much more fun than it used to be?

Looking down from the tree house. The “vegetable buckets” are great containers for crayons, scissors and what not.

The best part is, once the kids are done with drawing, you can just lift the table up and it becomes a magnetic chalk board. A great place to proudly display the children’s artwork. (our client Deborah found a great recipe online for mixing our own chalkboard paint in order to match the sky blue – it worked great) It took 7 coats of magnetic paint and 3 coats of chalkboard blue —- YIKES!

O, and folding the table up is not the only way to create extra space, here’s all the storage space you get.

The inside of the drawers are carpeted, so delicate things are welcomed 🙂

(same carpet as in the treehouse floor)

Older photos…

We will be updating on this project (for the last time) very soon. Please keep checking our blog.

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The Cobbler

Tips for Creating Children’s Rooms

“Tiny Yawns and Sleepy Sighs, Nursery Rhymes and Lullabies.” This nursery welcomes a beautiful new baby with fantasy, fairy tales and imagination. The driving influence in creating this room was a traditional Nursery Rhyme theme that would be appropriate for a boy or girl and could be used for more than one child in the future.

In designing a theme room there are 5 key components to start with: theme, storage, focus, growth, and safety.

Theme – The foundation of this room is a Traditional Nursery Rhyme theme and every element had to tie this theme together. From the fairy tale shoe, to the murals and the patch work curtains this entire room creates a single, cozy and whimsical feeling. Themes are chosen for different reasons, a theme can be unisex, it can provide focus in selecting items and colors, themes provide creative direction and allow for modest or elaborate visions. When deciding on a theme there are the more traditional options with easy to find “do-it-yourself” decorations, colors, and other elements. Many “off the shelf” options make decorating a child’s room fun and user friendly like character wall art, borders, stencils and bedding sets. Be careful with any theme, it can be easy to go over board, running the risk of tiring of the room quickly or finding yourself over run with themed gifts.

Focus – The focus in a themed room must tie into the theme or even be the major generator of the theme. This room was a basic square with high ceilings so the design had to introduce elements with height and warmth to make the room feel warm and cozy. With the height in the room a large shoe armoire was built, homage to the “Old Lady Who Lived in the Shoe”. This shoe was built in place from floor to ceiling with a wooden shingle roof and curtained doors and drawer fronts with a whimsical blue bird resting on the roof. Moving away from the shoe there is a clothes line holding a special outfit and bringing the focus to a mural over the crib of the Cow Jumping over the Moon and of course the Dish Running away with the Spoon. All around the room a stone wall was hand painted to provide a sense of unity and to bring in additional murals like poor Humpty Dumpty taking a tumble off the wall. The floor in the room was originally wall to wall carpeting and there was a desire to add some additional interest without stretching the budget. The choice was made to partially hardwood the room and the seam where it meets the carpet is an organic curve instead of a straight cut. This choice added interest to the floor and provides a play space for those toys that need to be on a hard surface. In any room, including a themed room, there should be a point of focus, it does not have to be a huge shoe in the middle of the room but there should be an element from which the room can center on. In most cases the largest elements in a room is the furniture. Stenciling or painting the furniture with a design, color or characters, or using appropriate bedding fabrics will make these large elements part of the theme and tie the room together.

Storage – This Nursery Rhyme room does not have a closet and therefore storage had to be brought in or created. The shoe was built as the main storage for clothing and linens with a separate dedicated changing table brought in to house diapers, wipes and all other items. Shelving was installed around the room and above the changing table to display pictures, stuffed animals and other toys. The placement of the shelves and the items selected for the shelves add to the theme and provide additional color and interest to large wall areas. It is important to remember that this little person will accumulate a lot of stuff and will go through it quickly and there is almost never enough storage space. Keeping like sizes and items together will help in rotating items in and out of every day use.

Growth – This can be the most difficult component of a themed room as a theme chosen for a nursery can be very specific to a baby and not provide a lot of growth flexibility. When choosing a theme it is important to be conscious of this and set your expectations and budget. Many themes however, can make the transition from a nursery into a toddler’s room with only a few minor updates the obvious being the transition from a crib to a bed. If the expectation is that the theme can grow with the child then consider purchasing bedding for your toddler’s bed when you get the crib linens. Quite often the bedding you have chosen will not be available when you make the transition.

Safety – A child’s room can never be too safe. There are standard precautions to take including securing all power outlets, keeping exposed shelving out of reach of little hands, and keeping any medicinal items in a secured location. Your child’s room should be a place where they can play safely and in this room there should be no limits to their fun or your sense of comfort knowing they are safe.

Whether your little one will be sleeping under the stars in a chuck wagon bed, playing among the flowers in a garden room or living a fairy tale, starting with these 5 components will help you to create the room of your dreams for your little dreamer.

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Sunshine

Anatomy of a Child’s Room

Time to welcome another addition to the family and yet there is still a little princess in the nursery. She needs a room special enough to take the place of the most loving nursery in the world. A place so special she will be excited to leave the only room she has ever known and pass it down to her new baby sister. How about a secret garden, her own private sanctuary for big girl stories and big sister toys, a place where she can begin to grow just like the flowers in her garden.

In designing the room there are 5 key components to start with: theme, storage, focus, growth, and safety.

Theme – What could be brighter, more inviting and enchanting than your own private garden. This room had to be bright and inviting, a loving room to welcome a little girl moved from her nursery just before her baby sister came home. The only limits in this room is the fence around the walls that appears to hold back the larger than life flowers growing out of the wall and over the pickets. Large painted flowers and fabric flowers grow out of the walls to create special spaces perfect to sit under and read or daydream. The center of the large fabric flower is also a sunshine nightlight, keeping the dark out of the garden. The colors and fabrics chosen all coordinate. The quilt purchased for this room was also used as the fabric to upholster the window seat.

Focus – From the fluffy clouds in the sky to the window seat bench to the petal covered reading area this room focuses on a little girl who wants to be surrounded by life and beauty. The garden theme provides design focus and nothing more than the larger than life flower blooming from the wall. This flower provides a covered area to read or dream during the day and at night the center of the flower lights the room keeping some day in the garden.

Storage – Needing room for memories, old favorites and new additions – this all means storage space. This room had a large closet space that was maximized with the addition of closet organizers. In addition to the closet storage in room shelving was added as well as the custom built seat and covered storage under the window and along the wall. The built in storage unit includes sections tailored for little hands and other sections designed for seasonal or occasional needs.

Growth – This whimsical room is playful and cheerful enough to welcome a toddler while warm and mature enough to keep her comfortable and happy for years. The furnishings and design elements all adapt and develop with this little gardener. Her bed set up for a safe night sleep fresh from a crib becomes a twin bed welcoming her, as she gets bigger. The padded window seat is the perfect space for a story or quiet time with mommy and a great place for a personal moment, as she gets older.

Safety – This room had a keen eye on safety not only for the main occupant but also for the younger sister joining the family and certainly a constant visitor to the garden. Along with some technical inclusions including audio and video cameras set up to allow for monitoring from anywhere in the house, additional customizations were made. Electrical outlets were moved to higher locations on shelves and out of reach of little hands, placed strategically for known requirements. Everything placed on lower shelves is toddler safe saving the higher shelves for mom and dad.

Moved out of a nursery and needing a growing space – a secret garden can grow with this little flower. A quiet story under her own private petals or a fun play date with a baby sister, this room welcomes everyone with a sunny bright day.

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