http://www.burnttoaststudios.net/design-portfolio/Tue, 26 Oct 2010 20:17:09 +0000en-USSquarespace Site Server v5.11.81 (http://www.squarespace.com/)JennyThu, 02 Sep 2010 18:08:26 +0000http://www.burnttoaststudios.net/design-portfolio/2010/9/2/hey-diddle-dumpty.html229277:2276454:8753651This baby nursery combines two favorite rhymes into one design. Humpty Dumpty and the King's Horsemen are on the daylight side of the room while the cat with his fiddle and cow jumping over the moon dominate the evening side. The fairy tale mural was painted over chair rail so it didn't over power the room and the characters were spread out over roaming hills so that there was a cohesiveness to the painting's story. The moon is a light mounted to the wall. And, a clock hangs in one corner. Above the window shelf, the sky turns from light to night for a very easy transition. The parents loved their nursery so much that when they moved a few years later, they had it reproduced so that each of their newborns could enjoy it as they became part of the family.]]>http://www.burnttoaststudios.net/design-portfolio/rss-comments-entry-8753651.xmlJennyWed, 28 Apr 2010 22:55:13 +0000http://www.burnttoaststudios.net/design-portfolio/2010/4/28/animals-on-parade.html229277:2276454:7473634Simple silhouettes on the bedding call for simple silhouettes on the wall. We painted the images from the bedding onto stretched canvas, and created a dotted canvas banner to hang from the ceiling. It brings a circus atmosphere to this modern ensemble.]]>http://www.burnttoaststudios.net/design-portfolio/rss-comments-entry-7473634.xmlJennyWed, 24 Mar 2010 13:34:37 +0000http://www.burnttoaststudios.net/design-portfolio/2010/3/24/horizontal-striped-walls.html229277:2276454:7113876One of my favorite painted wall patterns is a horizontal stripe. It makes a room seem roomier. It gives character and emphasizes corners, especially when the room isn't shaped like a box (but even then it works well). Here I've taken some really rich colors (mustard and teal) and altered their stripe width and repeated the pattern. This small bedroom lets you breathe instead of closing you in. And, this sporty kid loves the action and dynamic walls in his room.]]>http://www.burnttoaststudios.net/design-portfolio/rss-comments-entry-7113876.xmlJennyThu, 19 Feb 2009 17:55:15 +0000http://www.burnttoaststudios.net/design-portfolio/2009/2/19/big-hard-sun.html229277:2276454:3056557Love that song and this room! Alex, Maria's son (see Cowgirl Princess post), needed a design that would fill up his big open room. He loves nature and the beach and Maria wanted a room for him that he would love to get lost in and be thrilled with for years. We steered our minds away from the typical mural of the sea and concentrated on something he could grow with (he's a tween – not so little anymore and not so big either). His design began with large, serene canvas paintings to break up all the yellow in the room, a magnet board to hang his important papers, and some funky fish paintings on canvas to liven things up a bit. Once we hung those and added the curtains we needed something to tie it all in. We thought of plain rectangles to paint around the canvas, or framing the canvas, but that didn't look like enough when we drew them out on paper. Inspired by a stamp I have of a sun, I sketched a deeper yellow shadow of that behind the bed on a whim. It was unanimous, this was the right answer. It was an easy paint job to add it (2 hours) and the result was even better than the quick sketch. This really big room now feels cozy when you walk in! The finishing touch was to make something personal like we did for his sister's cowgirl princess room.We created two shadow boxes, one of him as a toddler with small toys and one of him as an older boy with shells and a message in a bottle. It's a room to lay back and ponder the wonders of nature.]]>http://www.burnttoaststudios.net/design-portfolio/rss-comments-entry-3056557.xmlJennyFri, 23 Jan 2009 14:06:33 +0000http://www.burnttoaststudios.net/design-portfolio/2009/1/23/cowgirl-princess-collage-art-room.html229277:2276454:2895079 Lately I've been working for Maria. Her daughter, Ashleigh, is quite a storyteller and has a flair for dramatic presentations of the best kind. She's extremely entertaining and needed a room to match her personality. Our first decorating decision was to paint the walls in a distressed way to tone down the pink of the room and bring in some complementary colors. The high vines were added to create a bit of whimsy. And, a magnet board was created so that Ashleigh could hang her art work and her A+ school papers. I met Ashleigh while I was painting the walls one day and was completely inspired to create the art projects that decorate her room. Princess and the Pea Ashleigh sits upon her mattresses. She's a bit of a fairy princess with a body made of Hydrangea petals and buds. I think she would jump off of the top with just a little coaxing. Tiny Ashleigh flies away in a nest that she has climbed into. Unbeknownst to her, there is a baby blue bird inside. Her balloons get tangled up with the nest and lift her and the bird into the sky. And, finally, Cowgirl Ashleigh is wandering through Lollipop Land where she sees a giant butterfly carrying a bunny and another flying off with the heart lock for which only she has the key. This was the best time I ever had creating a whole room design. I'm so into collage and assembled art these days. I'm going to be creating more for customers I meet when my friend Robin opens her shop in West Chester this spring. It's a frame shop and we'll be holding art classes for people who want to explore this art genre. I'll keep you posted when things start rolling there.]]>http://www.burnttoaststudios.net/design-portfolio/rss-comments-entry-2895079.xmlJennyFri, 26 Sep 2008 17:18:38 +0000http://www.burnttoaststudios.net/design-portfolio/2008/9/26/mr-salt-and-mrs-pepper.html229277:2276454:2334041My son Gunnar loved Blues Clues as a toddler. I had an old toy chest with a wooden house applique on it that I wanted to refinish for him with a Blues Clues theme. It worked out perfectly when I turned the cottage applique into Blue's house. On the other long side of the chest I painted my favorite characters Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper doing a happy dance over a spiral wallpaper. On one of the short sides you see Blue sitting in his thinking chair with the song's "Think, Think, Think" verse floating around the edges. The top is a blue chalkboard with the Blues Clues swirly frame framing it. I doubt I'll ever change that toy chest since it brings back great memories of my little Gunnar – :( he's eleven now.]]>http://www.burnttoaststudios.net/design-portfolio/rss-comments-entry-2334041.xmlJennyFri, 29 Aug 2008 17:31:08 +0000http://www.burnttoaststudios.net/design-portfolio/2008/8/29/we-love-penn-state.html229277:2276454:2199870Our family loves football and many of us are PSU grads so it was only natural to pick the pristine white uniform for the football player to wear in my nephew Chase's bedroom. (As much as I wanted to make it black and gold for Pittsburgh, I had to be diplomatic for my brother-in-law who is an Eagles fan.) The blurred crowd idea was inspired by a sketch I saw in Sports Illustrated. I really wanted to make the field encompass most of the room so skewing the lines helped to achieve this goal. The funky black outlines really made the field pop. I got the idea from the show Ed, Edd and Eddie -- the lines on that show are always moving and it really is a great visual. Painting the double white closet doors like a locker was a quick and easy solution for the enormous white space that was a distraction as you entered the room; had we kept them white, they would have been the first thing your eye saw instead of the football mural. A fellow Penn Stater hired us to paint the Lion on a finished basement wall so that there was no doubt about what team he supports.]]>http://www.burnttoaststudios.net/design-portfolio/rss-comments-entry-2199870.xmlJennyFri, 29 Aug 2008 17:12:14 +0000http://www.burnttoaststudios.net/design-portfolio/2008/8/29/moon-looms-large-over-wynkin-blinkin-and-nod.html229277:2276454:2199762Some nurseries are for sleeping and that was what I had in mind when I painted this night scene at Oh, Baby! I loved the moon face as soon as I saw it and had to paint it; and the clouds that swirl like waves flowed right off of my paint brush.The dark blue sky set against the yellow moon was a great color combination for coordinating bedding and furniture. The two photos show you how well the colors adapt to the chosen combinations.]]>http://www.burnttoaststudios.net/design-portfolio/rss-comments-entry-2199762.xmlJennySat, 02 Aug 2008 19:52:10 +0000http://www.burnttoaststudios.net/design-portfolio/2008/8/2/a-walk-in-the-country.html229277:2276454:2053982A sweet, vintage storybook with pencil drawings inspired this country nursery. Throughout the book ducks marched in a row, as ducks often do, so we painted them doing just that under the large picture window as if they were setting off on another adventure. A large summer tree was painted near the corner with a bunny reading a book while sheep grazed on the hills.]]>http://www.burnttoaststudios.net/design-portfolio/rss-comments-entry-2053982.xmlJennyFri, 01 Aug 2008 13:44:42 +0000http://www.burnttoaststudios.net/design-portfolio/2008/8/1/odd-sloped-roof-transformed.html229277:2276454:2048137It's not easy to know how to paint a sloped roof but if you can determine what you want to achieve, you can find a solution. We wanted the room to appear larger but more importantly we didn't want to feel like we were going to hit our heads on the low ceiling upon entry! The answer was to paint the ceiling the same shade as the wall to open up the room more and fool the eye. A flower-covered lace border was painted on the wall. Green paint was added below the lace to coordinate with the bedding fabrics and to ground the room. Well chosen accessories (chandelier and ribbon board),and painted furniture added to its shabby chic charm. To serve as a focal point since there was no headboard, we painted an initial medallion in shades of pink over the bed.]]>http://www.burnttoaststudios.net/design-portfolio/rss-comments-entry-2048137.xml