Birds + Trees Nursery Mural

hi! I hope everyone had a nice weekend. I did!

Last week, I felt like I completed two weeks worth of work into one. It was super-busy. I worked at three different clients' houses, and also at the studio one day on some artwork. 

One of the houses I painted at was this kids room (currently a nursery but converting to "big girl room" status soon ;)). 

We did pretty trees with birds in them. My client had a really beautiful, sophisticated house, and she didn't want the trees to look too child-like or whimsical. She wanted it to be an elegant mural. 

We took inspiration from  Heather's mural I did a few months ago:

It was getting dark in the room by the time I was leaving, so my photos are kind of hard to see. This mural was also supposed to be a lighter and airier, and less contrast than Heather's... so that also doesn't help with pictures!

I did the birds in a really soft gray-lavender, and the tree trunks are a grayish brown. I did highlights in silver (instead of gold like Heather's) to match the soft, cool palette. 

I did one tree in between the windows - your vantage point when you first walk into the room.

Star + Dot Stenciled Ceiling

Hi!

I finished my star and dot stenciled ceiling, and I thought I would share some photos of it with you guys. 

ahhh! It was a fairly large room, and a very detailed stencil. 

Like I mentioned before, I was mimicking a Sister Parish wallpaper. 

But, we did it in silver stars with blue dots. 

and in a larger scale. (I cut the star stencil and the dots stencils by hand)

Then, last night, she sent me this sweet text, which made my whole week (until I literally got another very similar text from yesterday's client and I was just over the moon.):

I can't wait to see how this room turns out. It's being designed by the amazing Jane Goetz, and I love her vision! 

Checking In!

Hi!

I'm going to (hopefully) finish up a fun kids room ceiling today. Ive been working on another star stenciled ceiling for a really cute kids room design. Here's the pattern I'm mimicking:

It's Sister Parish. The designer wanted silver stars and blue dots, so I am doing a custom stencil with custom colors for her. Let's just say my neck isn't too happy this morning.

BUT!

I'm really happy with the results so far. (and yes, that green piece of furniture belongs in the room. The bed and the dresser were sprayed that fun kelly green - I loved seeing it when I walked in there.)

Check it out:

Here is me figuring out the scale for my stencil. The designer wanted the scale a little larger than the actual wallpaper is.

I made my stencil (This time, I cut out five stars, instead of one. Duh. It has made my life much easier and the project go by faster.)

wee! (ignore the crooked ones in the back, they will be fixed. Learning curve, people.)

as you might remember the last time I did a star ceiling, this was what my stencil looked like:

so - I'm learning to work smarter not harder. ;) 

this was the photo I posted on my instagram account:

(@kristenfdavisdesigns if you want to follow me. I post really regularly, and do little peeps into my projects as i'm doing them)

so now, I will go back and add the dots, like the wallpaper. I cut them out for my stencil yesterday. I think it's going to be awesome! Say a prayer for my neck. ;)

Don't forget to follow along on instagram if you care to see some photos throughout the day of this project...

Spruce Up

I know I shared what our back deck looks like last summer, and what the plants I planted in the spring looked like, but I wanted to give an updated look. I try and keep things fresh - like when plants start to look overgrown, or die, I replace them. And, I wanted to spruce up the cement candle holders I bought at TJ Maxx this summer with a fresh coat of paint. They were starting to peel and look gross, so I just got out some Plaid craft paint and re-painted the dipped parts of them.

(before)

During:

Check out how much better everything looks now:

I sort of decorated the back porch like I was having a little party (even though I wasn't). 

 I brought this cute little basket tray out, and put my plants on top of it, just to make it feel a little more special. The candlesticks (from west elm last year) were also from indoors, but I think in a party setting would be great for outdoor use.

I also brought some cute napkins out (from MArshalls) and bowls (Also west elm).

on the opposite side of the deck, are our two orange ikea chairs. 

I brought out a Mexican blanket from inside for some color, along with that glass jug. 

I also replaced all my deadish or overgrown succulents from the spring. The Creeping Jenny is the same from the spring. Overgrown, but I just give her a haircut every now and then. :)

fun. hope you enjoyed my little outdoor tour!

New Stencil Shop

In an effort to expand my business (and to satiate the dozens of emails I get about certain stencils!), I have opened a new Etsy stencil shop. Pretty exciting! 

This is a stencil I've been selling for a long time - The "Moroccan" stencil. 

I have a new one now, too. The "Wavy Gourd Stencil"

This is what it looks like: 

The repeat is about 20". The pattern will look similar to this:

This is apparently a very popular "pin" on Pinterest. So much so, that I get lots and lots of emails about buying this stencil. Ive done all my wavy gourd designs by hand, in the past. But, I decided to draw out the pattern, and have professional stencils cut so that everyone can paint their own gourd pattern. 

The stencils are $70/each, with free shipping in the US. I can ship to Canada and Europe, too, I just have to calculate shipping before doing a private post. 

 I hope to come up with a lot more stencil designs for my shop! Stay tuned. 

And yes, I messed up the cute little "stencil shop" banner on the right side of my screen. Whoops! Hopefully Kelly can fix that soon. :)

Selling My CB2 Waterfall Table & Metal Barstools

Sooo, I'm changing things up in the living room - finally making some concrete choices. As my friend told me, "I wish you'd stop  talking about it and just do something." HA! So, I am. 

We are getting the sofa issue resolved with west elm. So far, they have been AMAZING! I will post a full update on everything when it is all resolved, but I will say that we will be getting a new sofa. Woo!

Along with the new sofa, I decided to get a rug in there (finally decided on one and ordered it) and a new coffee table. Both from west elm. I guess I really like their stuff. The rug is on backorder until mid-November, but the coffee table is available now. That being said, I am going to sell my CB2 waterfall table. It's this one from their website. I do still really like it, I am just ready for something different, and decided to help offset the costs of buying new things, I will sell some old things. I bought it for $280, and will sell it for $225. It has small scratches on top, but nothing crazy (something that will happen with all of those tables over time). The dimensions are 37.5"Wx21.25"Dx13.75"H. 

Here are some pics of it in our condo:

And at this house:

Email me at kristen.fountain@gmail.com if you are interested. Local pick up only.


*** UPDATE ***


Also selling these metal barstools that I got off of Craigslist. I am an idiot and didn't realize they were too tall for my counter. They have a couple of scratches, but nothing too crazy. They're 30" and I'm selling both for $50, which is what I bought them for. They are currently selling the exact same barstools on Overstock for $99 for both.

Studio Improvements Part 2

I finally was able to make some improvements at the studio, and get some photos taken. Have a look!

If you remember, this is what it looked like before:

I'd painted the floors three years ago when I moved in, but hadn't redone it since. I have used the like permanent drop cloths, so they've been ready for a new paint job for a while. I love the fresh new white! Feels so clean.

ahhhh!

Repainted floors. I also bought a long desk from IKEA (like I mentioned before) and put it in front of the windows. While I was at IKEA, I picked up that cute gray storage cart for all my junk that I tend to keep sprayed all across the desk. Try and wrangle in my mess a little. We'll see if it works ;)

I also bought a fiddle leaf fig at IKEA for the studio, because doesn't every space need a little green? I think it'll like living in the light-filled studio. 

I got some new storage containers at Ross, admittedly because they were just cute. You can see the two white containers on the table to the right, in the photo above, and then the two blue jugs here. The white containers are supposed to be utensil holders for cooking, but I'm using them for brushes and tools. You need something heavy to keep them from getting too top heavy, so they're perfect. Plus, they were around $6 each. 

The blue jug things were just cute.  Not sure how practical they will be. 

this photo, taken with my wide-angle lens, shows you a little more of the room. To the left, you can see that I painted the cool Morrocan armoire, and also hung a bulletin board. I bought a large bulletin board from Staples, and painted it white. I did this because A) I always have papers all over the place that I need to keep track of, whether they're receipts, notes from clients, notes I make to myself, etc.; and B) I wanted to cover the "window" that looks into the room behind it. 

See?

That's before I hung it. I simply painted it white with white paint I had on hand. Worked like a charm.

I bought a cute(r) Oscar the grouch trashcan for all the trash. My old trashcan was tiny and filled up so quickly... this one holds a lot more. Plus I think the galvanized metal is cute. 

Here's an upclose shot of the cabinet. 

I painted it mint green (It's not a certain color. I mixed a medium green and some white that I already had at the studio!) and put it in the corner, next to my desk. It holds a ton of stuff! Why was I not using it for storage before? Duh!

The pink and black basket on top is also from Ross. And you might remember my giant plastic ice cream cone from the thrift store a while back?! :)

The gold basket was another thrifting find, but I think it is originally from Target.

one of my favorite ideas for sprucing up the studio, was my tray storage/display solution. 

I still plan to do another row above these two (hence the extra pole you see here), but haven't yet. 

I wanted to display them, because they often turn out so cute! I use them as my palettes when I'm doing canvas work, and as regular roller trays. So, I figured they should be seen! :)

I put hooks into the wall, and then used dowel rods into the hooks. Easy. I also bought a cement drill bit for my drill - something I should've done three years ago. This whole time I've been thinking that I can't hang anything on the pretty white walls, and I could. 

I hung a ton of canvases that I have at the studio onto this big wall. 

geez, can you tell I like color?

I hope you enjoyed the new look at the studio! I definitely feel more inspired when I'm there now. 

____

Good news on my sofa problem. west elm seems to really be stepping forward to resolve the issue, so I'm SO happy that you all encouraged me to contact them! I will provide a full update when the issue is completely resolved, but let's just say they are scheduling a pick up of our current sofa as we speak. YAY.