THE RAINBOW ROOM

Does your church have a “Cry Room”? You know—a place where moms can take their babies and toddlers when things go (seriously) South during church services?

Cry Rooms are always pretty fun to design and decorate, but also vary in overall vibe and style.

Some are minimalistic—to the point—only providing basic “cry room necessities.” Still, other churches go a bit more in detail, requesting a space that feels welcoming, relaxing, and helps to promote a stress-reducing environment. Afterall, the sole purpose of these rooms is to let those sweet babes “cry it out”…or give precious mamas a calming spot to nurse (in private)…or quiet the most rambunctious of toddlers.

Cry Rooms are a multi-purpose room, must be super functional, and in my opinion—crazy cute.

But enough of that, here is where we started:

Okay, so by Cry Room standards, this room was totally functional. However, aesthetically speaking, it needed a little help. The green and yellow paint—while gender neutral—wasn’t calming. And even though the furniture served a purpose, it lacked in style.

But all that was about to change.

Cue the vision boards.

For this specific space, I created two vision boards simply because there were two different directions we could go: Rainbows or Sunshine.

When I posted these options on the ‘Gram, the overwhelming majority were in favor of some sunshine, but knowing that the stairwell directly diagonal from this space sported rainbows and kites, I along with the church Kids Director agreed—rainbows it would be.

So I got to work.

The base coat of the mural wall became Sherwin Williams Silver Peony while the remainder of the walls got decked out two shades darker in Sherwin Williams Grape Mist. The goal was to provide a greyish-lavendar base prior to all that color coming in…

Once the base coat was painted and dried, it was time to start the mural.

Using my Sherwin Williams paint chips, I opted for more muted colors as opposed to the bright, traditional colors the rainbow usually boasts. This was to keep the space more calming…warmer, even.

Look at those colors! Swoon-worthy for sure.

You know, creating somewhat symmetrical arches is no easy feat but it does become slightly less daunting by using the pencil technique. Have you heard about it? It went a little something like this:

First, I found the center of the wall.

Next, I used a piece of string and eyeballed how high and thick I wanted each arch to be.

I then tied the string to a pencil on one end and fastened it to the wall (via thumb tack) on the other. By pulling the string taut, and applying pressure to the pencil, the arch was formed.

By cinching the string and movie the tack, each arch was created.

Then it was time to fill each arch in with color.

The goal with this rainbow was to create an imperfect, watercolor look. I started filling these areas in thin and then expanded using a dry brush technique and the ole eyeballs for good measure.

I worked and reworked each section over and over again until I was happy with the end result.

Done!

And it’s perfectly imperfect!

Now it was time to pull the whole room together by bringing in the furniture, and adding all the little details that truly make a space special.

Seriously—my job is so much fun! But it gets even better…

We outfitted the North-facing wall with a new loveseat and rocker, along with some sweet throw pillows and reading material. The South-facing area went a little something like this…

The Cry Room underwent a major transformation and all it took was some paint and a few furniture pieces for it to happen. simple and easy but yet so fun and colorful.

I dig it…do you?

THE DETAILS

Paint: Sherwin Williams Silver Peony & Grape Mist

Paint Labor: A Fresh Coat

Rainbow Wall Mural: A Fresh Coat

Pillows: Target, Etsy, Hobby Lobby, Amazon

Love seat: Wayfair

Rocker: Wayfair

Changing Pad Cover: Target

Lamp: Target

Shelving: Hobby Lobby

Wall Art: Target

Mirror: Amazon

Decor: Hobby Lobby

Toy Crates: Target, HomeGoods

Book Case: Amazon

Poufs: Amazon

Love, J

Fun at the Dr.'s Office....

I love when I get “the call.”

I love answering the phone and hearing a request for a wall mural. Whether it’s a tree, or a skyline, or some adorable pooches in their element, I absolutely adore being able to create a one-of-a-kind, custom space for a client.

And this time was no different.

YRMC recently acquired the pediatric offices of Dr. Subbu here in town (Yuma, AZ), and asked if I would paint a tree book nook for some of the cutest patients in the Southwest.

With the bookcase still under construction, I quickly got to work on the mural. This is where we started:

The outline of the bookcase was already in place so the first step in creating this mural was to begin sketching the canopy of the tree—-the foliage and the branches. Once that was completed, I used an angled brush to go over my lines in color in order to visualize the final project a bit better and fix any imbalanced areas/funky spots.

Next up? painting. By filling in the canopy with a first (followed by a second) coat of paint, the tree was beginning to take shape.

Next up were the branches.

Once the branches were filled in, it was evident that the right side of the tree needed some tending to. Just as this baby needed another coat of paint, some depth added to the branches, a bit of highlighting here and there, and a bird. Yah, a bird was definitely needed.

Here she is! All painted and ready for her bookcase trunk! Seriously, these murals bring me so much joy to create and I love that this piece will be enjoyed by the youngest in our Yuma community.

But wait! After viewing this tree, YRMC asked if I could add more. They wanted a sky in the background, an additional tree, some clouds, and grass in order to make this little nook really special and to help it become even more inviting.

Of course I was game!

Part 2 started here:

I completed the same steps as outlined before, but decided to add a tree swing for just a little more fun. After eight more hours of paint (yes, eight!), the mural was complete. It’s a special spot just waiting for some cute kiddos to make it even sweeter.

So very excited I could be a part of this project! Oh, and I couldn’t forget this fun guy. Say “hello” to my little friend…

One more glimpse of the before and after of this quaint little space:

Colors:

Valspar’s Vegas Green—Canopy

SW Lime Rickey-Highlighting/Grass

SW Alabaster-Clouds/Grass

SW Soar-Sky

SW Avocado-Highlighting/Grass

Valspar Turkish Roots—Trunk

Love,

J

A Room With a View

Make that a medical office with a “view.” Get it? Okay, maybe not.

Anyways, I was first contacted by “M” during this past summer. As the new director of Pinnacle Medical Center here in Yuma, AZ, she wanted to update their waiting room, add additional seating, and address a major issue that needed to be dealt with.

Ready for before and after pics? They’re my fave.

Before, the waiting room was nice but a little bare. With Venetian plaster covering each wall, the previous administration of this medical practice had invested a number of dollars into making this space beautiful. The problem? Venetian plaster in a commercial setting isn’t always the best idea. See the area on the wall that appears stained? Well, that’s exactly what happened. After years of patients resting their heads on those walls, this was the end result.

And it needed some fixing.

My first thought was to run board and batten moldings 3/4 of the way up the wall. This would cover the area that needed to be covered and look really nice as well. Throw in some pictures of our local Yuma landscape, along with a tad bit of faux foliage, and bam! Maybe something like this:

However, after receiving the quote to do so, moldings were not in the budget, but (!) after scrolling through my Instagram feed a few weeks back, I found an idea that would work perfectly—a mountain landscape. This would not only deal with the main issue of those stains but also liven the walls up, introduce some serious pops of color, and make the overall space fun.

After seven hours of priming and painting, here is the end result:

Thanks to Sherwin Willaims for the inspiration and Pinnacle Medical Office for allowing AFC to create this mural. Did I mention they give tetanus shots, too? So if you happen to step on a rusty nail while cleaning your chicken coop, this place will definitely help you out…wink, wink. True story.

The Details:

Paint: Sherwin Williams (Distance, Baked Cookie, Cavern Clay, Caramelized, and Moth Wing)

Mural: A Fresh Coat-Yuma

Trees, Trees--and you guessed it--More Trees...

Over the past year and a half, I've had the wonderful opportunity to create a number of trees in people's homes, places of business, and even a shelter or two. Trees are are so much fun, and thanks to the popularity of Pinterest, also in high demand. There really are so many different ways to customize these feature murals. Know what else? They totally transform the space they're in, making their rooms all the rage.  

Family trees are awesome, aren't they? But how about a mango tree? Solano's Ice Cream in Yuma, AZ was gearing up for something new (and big) in their business and they needed a mango tree to kick off said campaign. Pretty and fun!

P.S. Doesn't mango ice cream sound so good right now? Yum.

The Humane Society of Yuma (HSOY), wanted a Legacy Tree in the main corridor of the facility--right when you walk in. They selected this tree from a slew of options because they wanted the ability to honor as many donors as they could both now and well into the future (which meant they needed looooong tree limbs and less foliage). Plaques will soon adorn these branches and this tree will serve as a wonderful tribute to many. HSOY also chose a beautiful orange background to compliment their silhouette tree.

These twin girls had a major room makeover and in doing so requested a tree...but the tree had to have flowers...and their names on it somewhere. Ask and you shall receive. ;)

This was fun! My client asked for a fairy-friendly, whimsical tree that her mushroom stool could sit under. And she definitely needed a snail while I was at it. She selected the leaf colors and the style of tree she was interested in and AFC (that's me!) did the rest. **Notice the fairy door located in the trunk of this ecclectic arbor. Fun, right? 

Located right in the living room--as soon as you enter--this family tree is the focal point of the whole room.

And how about this one? You can find this family tree in the resident's hallway, located right outside the kitchen and leading into her grandaughters' play room. She even had their names and birthdates added to the trunk. Cute and totally custom!

What do you think? Are you feeling the trees? Could you see this in your home too?