Lacrosse Wall Art - The latest sports art series.

Fueled by special requests, I'm happy to reveal the latest sports wall art series to add to my collection- Lacrosse.

Live Love Lax!  Lacrosse Collage featuring nine images on one canvas or poster.

Available as one canvas or print in sizes from 12" to 36" the collage wall hanging features Lacrosse terms, slang and equipment.  Also available from my website are individual prints of the images in the collage.

Lacrosse Wall Art - Attack Area  available as stretched canvases and paper prints.

Official Lacrosse Ball Wall Art - available in sizes from 12" to 36"

Lacrosse Canvas and Prints available - Division Champions

Lacrosse Decor - available as prints and canvases - Rip the Duck

Stick Doctor - Lacrosse Wall Art in Canvas and Paper

Lacrosse Painting / Print / Wall Hanging - Bullseye

Yard Sale - Lacrosse Wall Art for Teens, Kids and Home

Lacrosse Ball - Available on Canvas and as Paper Prints

Lacrosse Art Print and Canvas - Slash

Two Embellishments Kids Designs Awarded "Best of Houzz 2014"

Two of our kids room designs have been awarded Best of Houzz 2014.  Our Not-So-Neutral Gender Neutral nursery and the Teen Sports Makeover room snagged the title.  Congratulations to our two room occupants Lucas and Carson.  We always thought your rooms were great but now 16 million Houzz users agree...

Here's our blog post on the Gender Neutral nursery http://embellishmentskids.blogspot.com/2012/09/render-gender-designing-neutral-nursery.html
and on the Makeover Sports Room http://embellishmentskids.blogspot.com/2012/04/teen-bedroom-30000-makeover-challenge.html

Join us on Houzz to browse our posted works- http://www.houzz.com/pro/embellishmentskids/embellishments-kids

Geek Chic - Revenge of the Nerds

 Oh, isn't it cute that little Abby wants to be a princess and Aden wants to be a baseball player?  Those are decor themes we can get behind.  A little Disney gobbledy gook decor and her room becomes a castle.   Paint the boy's room team colors and hang a bat on the wall and it's a MLB paradise.  Brush your hands together, you're done....easy.  Right?  Not so fast....

Well what do you do when your sweet pea proclaims she wants to be a Endomolecularbiologist or your sure to be a little leaguer says Nanotechnological Bioinformatics System Integration Researcher?  Gulp, the silence is prolonged, the stuttering begins and for a brief moment you can hear the squeaking wheels inside parents heads grinding to a halt....errrrrrrrr....klunk.  What?  Sorry, kiddos you're going to have to pick out a predetermined fantastic identity that matches the offerings on the shelves at your local big box store.  Forget astrophysics, come on, don't you want to be a cowboy, Batman, a smells-like -stawberries imp or a one of those 12 inch tall fashion dolls?  Look there's matching sheets!

Times have changed.  While there's no coordinated bedding with accountant or lawyerly like patterns on it, we're seeing the industry mold break in a new direction.  That is one that embraces intellect and celebrates the word Geek as a term of endearment.  If your little one loves to read, enjoys math or questions the wonders of the world with the scientific method, you should be able to decorate their room with those interests.

To fulfill the wish for brilliant mind decor, I've introduced a line of children's wall art that explores inner nerd-dom.  The collection includes ABC and numbers charts in a retro chalkboard style, a new US map and more.

ABC wall art, available from my online shop and boutiques nationwide.

123's number chart available from my online shop and boutiques nationwide.

Genius art for children's rooms

Chalkboard look hand written typography wall art.

Continents Map Wall art available on my site and through boutiques nationwide.

Here's a couple of mood boards illustrating how a room can reflect a Geek Chic attitude.  They're also available for pinning off my Pinterest page.  

Smart Boy's geek chic decor mood board

Genius teen and tween room based around a science theme.

  

New Wall Art and Decor by Aaron Christensen- Perfect for Boy's Rooms

Introducing the American Byways Collection

I'm happy to announce new additions to my wall art and decor line.  The collection explores the ever-popular transportation theme in a nostalgic, vintage way.  With distressed and reclaimed wood imagery in wood tones, turquoises and teals, the pieces are on trend with a color palette and textures popular in kid's rooms.   Featuring a U.S. map and forms of transportation, the collection offers a timeless look that has terrific value being able to transition from toddler room decor to art for adult spaces.

Hopping from cornfield runways to small city airports the American
Byways Prop Plane piece brings to mind the joys of small aircraft travel.

While Hot Air ballooning is no longer a current form of transportation,
the image of a balloon evokes thoughts of traveling amongst the clouds and
soaring the skies in days bygone.

Hitting the dusty back roads in a Pick-up truck, visiting every small
town in-route is inferred in this nostalgic piece.

Clickety clack, clickety clack.  The Locomotive image reminds us of
the glamour and intrigue of transcontinental railroad travel.

With it's road signs and vintage ephemera, the American Byways map pays tribute
to the cross country road trip.

The American Byways Lampshade/Lamp set coordinates with the collection.

My new introductions are only available, for the first six months, artist direct through my website or exclusively through brick and mortar stores that carry my line.  This gives Main Street America a chance to present and sell the pieces before the online retailers.   

Superhero Worship- Decor Ideas and Character Study Part 2

I went digging around the internet looking for inspiring products for a boy's superhero room and came away with a collection of things that would be perfect for an adult's room or man cave.  So for fun, I've compiled three story or mood boards exploring the imaginary interiors of a few favorite superheroes.

Number two, of the series of three, is a design for whom is probably the most revered and loved superhero of all time, Superman.

Superman might have a fortress of solitude but I'm sure he'd prefer to hang his cape in a suped up man cave.

Throughout the Superman genre of comics,  movies and cartoons, you never quite get a glimpse of him taking time off, sitting back in his apartment Skyping Ma and Pa Kent, napping with Krypto the Super Dog or having the Justice League over for a potluck and poker game.   Even the Man of Steel needs to some down time.  So, to outfit his urban Metropolis bachelor pad, I've assembled a few components that I think speak to him as a supehero, mild mannered reporter, alien with advanced powers and conservative farm boy, at heart.

With his well tailored, classic look as Clark Kent, I felt he'd gravitate toward a neo-classic and art deco style befitting his metropolitan persona.  This style also gave room to explore, through decor, his origins as a cross universe, rocket sent orphan.  With his x-ray capable vision, how would he see the world?  Would he switch back and forth and see the inner workings of things and come to embrace that revealed vantage point?  I thinks so, so I've included an amazing x-ray couch with a transparent covering, a "see-through" chair and a couple art posters which may reveal his view of everyday humans when his powers are kicked in.

Some of the items may be a bit spendy, for a reporter's salary, but as a faster than a speeding bullet kinda guy, he could be the ultimate in Craigslist shoppers, searching bargains and being the first to show up worldwide within seconds.  Lifting a concrete and steel chair up to his twelfth floor apartment wouldn't be issue either.  The American flag is an art piece made from melted plastic army men, which I thought might have some kind of psychological meaning to him with regard to his powers, balance of intervention and his allegiance.

Unlike his Justice League partner, Batman's pad featured on the storyboard Post #1 , Superman's man has a slight bit of whimsy and "boy scout" optimism to it.

With the new Superman movie reboot coming and its likely conforming to the less-cartoon, more real-life approach to heroes trend, will we catch a glimpse of his bachelor pad?  Time will tell.  In the meanwhile, I hope you enjoyed my exploration in Supe's decor.  Next up is Spiderman and his Peter Parker persona.

Now back to designed a boy's room....

Batman's is up at http://embellishmentskids.blogspot.com/2012/06/superhero-worship-decor-ideas-and.html

Spiderman's is up at http://embellishmentskids.blogspot.com/2012/06/superhero-worship-decor-ideas-and_20.html

Teen Bedroom $300.00 Makeover Challenge - Today's Creative Blog

A dear friend I worked with years ago turned creative blog high priestess asked for a favor and presented me with a challenge.  Could I take over her $300.00 gift card budget for a sponsored room makeover and transform her son's room?  And in 72 hours?

Tattered and loopy from a 14 day commercial project that whacked out my body clock with graveyards, swing shifts and too many hours in traffic, I must have been in YES man mode.  Why YES Kim, I'd love too.  Why YES, I'll scour your sponsor Lowe's store for ways to spend the moolah, create unique items and install in 72 hours.  YES, YES, YES.....

Kim's son Lucas' room was trapped in transition.  The explorer theme had yet to evolve to match his young teen soccer loving bravado.

All kidding aside, my friend Kim Demmon and I have reacquainted via our social media endeavors with hers being top notch and mine part of my jack of all trades learning curve.  Her love and labor Today's Creative Blog features an array of talented bloggers, creatives and puts the artistically challenged in touch with tools and technology to make their creative whims easier, better and smarter.

Our project at hand was to transform her son's room utilizing her blog sponsor Lowes $300.00 budget as part of a blogosphere challenge.  Top on Kim and her son's list were a desk, some storage and a fresh teen attitude.  He had existing bedding from Target and lot's of sports memorabilia, but that was about it.  Pretty much bare bones.  Part of her reluctance to further his room was the disconnect between the bedding and the wall color.  She felt they didn't work together.  I resolved the issue with an unexpected solution.  Can you spot the change in either the bedding or the wall color from the before and after picture?  It's a subtle change that made all the difference in the world.

The bedding was too vibrant, the colors on the verge of fluorescent.  The stark difference between the brilliant white, hunting vest orange and other colors fought with the neutral wall color.  My solution was to treat the bedding in a custom blend of Rit Dyes.  Adding an antiqued over-dye to the bedding enriched the colors, changed the white to cream and toned down the kid-like color palette, making it more mature for a teen.

Sticking to the $300.00 budget I devised a way to cut up and assemble hollow core bi-fold doors into a desk, a headboard, shelving and create a casing around one of those clever ClosetMaid storage cubbies.  Would you believe all of those items cost under $90.00?  The remainder of the budget was spend on paint, sundries, lighting and materials for the custom bulletin board and hexagon shelving, I designed for Lucas.

I had Kim and her husband paint the wall stripe, his existing dresser and name cut-out with a spicy orange.  

Given the room's size of 9.5 feet by 11 feet, the dimensions for the desk and cubby worked out great.  Just enough room for his laptop and effective storage.  I crafted the hexagon shelves out of a new pre-cut lumber Lowe's has, it's a super high quality plywood trim with a birch veneer.  I left the edges unpainted to showcase the pattern of the laminated ply.

I took creative liberty to work in one of soccer pieces from my line of children's art.  The Soccer 100 Yards piece is available nationwide through retailers the stock Oopsy Daisy Fine art or online via my website or online retailers.

I enjoyed designing and creating the memo board.  As a matter of fact, I'll provide a D.I.Y on how to make your own turf board in a future post.  I had Kim, with her technological craftiness cut out a vinyl #14 (her son's player number) with her Silhouette Cameo cutting system.  It was a great way to personalize the desk chair.

All in all, I think for $300.00 and within 72 hours we gave Lucas exactly what he needed- a teen room with attitude, a desk and much needed storage.  If you'd like to dive into the details closer, here's a outline for you.

If this makeover's inspiration isn't enough to talk you into making over your child's room, relax I can help.  That's what I do, I create children's rooms.  Visit my site for details and give me a call for a free in-home estimate or to discuss e-consult recommendation.

Teen Bedroom Makeover- Goodbye Kid, hello Young Adult!

Back in July, I opened up a contest on our facebook page asking for submissions of kid's rooms for a makeover. Having a hard time deciding on just one, I chose three winners. The first of our three winner's, Nick has been anxiously awaiting the reveal of his new room. As a Birthday gift to him, yesterday we completed the room while he was at school. Now, I'm happy to share with you the finished project. We've taken Nick's room from a messy, eclectic one he's outgrown and turned it into a more modern, sleek, storage filled one with plenty of room for friends to hang out.

If you want to follow the progress of the makeover from the beginning, I've posted links to the project beginnings at the end of this post.

First, and most obvious from the original pictures of Nick's room, he needed storage. One of the leading causes of a messy room, other than age appropriate procrastination, is inadequate storage. To remedy the issue, I designed a wall storage niche, desk and headboard configuration which we built on site with the table saw artistry support of Nick's Dad. We then removed the legs from his 2 x 6 constructed bed and mounted it "floating" between the headboard and the walls. To dress it up we created a "weathered steel" facade which mounted over the face. The accent wall of red was highlighted with a custom 3D, backlit piece of art comprised of 5 dimensional letter "N's" of various typestyles. This was an abstract way to express Nick's various interests in science fiction, music, theater and acting.

Our secondary storage goal was to get his closet back into working order. The bypass doors had been removed by this parents to create an area for his TV, and AV equipment. In doing so it left his hang bar and other shelving open and exposed.

To return order to his chaos, we installed and finished out a new wall in the middle of the closet niche. This would serve as a divider between the two revamped areas. To the left, shelves were installed to hold his electronics. To the right a hang bar and shelving was reinstalled, restoring his closet into working order. We reinstalled one of the bypass doors with a facelift of blackboard paint and new trim.

To free up floor space and create seating opportunities we removed the roll top desk and replaced it with a revamped and restyled chair. The newly found space also gave room to display his guitar and a personalized piece of art we had Nick create. The art is a collage presentation of his goals, dreams and images to motivate and inspire him (see detailed photos at the end of this post).

Pictured below are details about the room including the custom roller shade and cornice.

This 10 x 9 foot room went from very crowded and underutilized to seemingly spacious and clutter free. It's personality reflects that of Nick, a young man with aspirations and confidence in who he is. It was a terrific project and I'm glad to have been of service. I'd like to thank Nick's parents for their faith in my ideas and their hands-on assistance during the project. The following images offer some details about the individual features of the room.

If you would like to see more of our custom bedrooms be sure to visit our website EmbellishmentsKids.com. Aaron Christensen's Embellishments is based in Portland, Oregon and is available for consultation/hire throughout the west coast. We also offer design packages created remotely with correspondence via internet and phone.

http://embellishmentskids.blogspot.com/2010/07/kids-bedroom-makeover-with-ryan.html
http://embellishmentskids.blogspot.com/2010/08/before-to-after-teens-bedroom-makeover.html

A Teen Room Makeover in Process

A continuation of our kids room makeover series of posts.....

We are in the midst of turning Nick's teenage room from it's blue and green disorganized state into a stylish, storage filled hangout. Gone are the chunky furniture pieces, replaced with a sleek headboard and space divider that melds into a floor to ceiling desk and storage area. The multi colored scheme of blue, aqua and white has been buried for good under a contemporary gray and red palette. The 9 x 10 room has grown in scale, visually, due to the reduction of those colors and the unifying of walls and ceiling by using a single color. At our studio, his new art monogram wall art is underway. It will mount relief style in front of the red wall, reducing the red to a graphic border. With the help of Nick's Dad, we are returning his open closet to a closet with a rolling door, with one alteration. We are shrinking the closet to half it's original width. The unused half will be home to open shelving to be used as his media center.

Next up...

1) Transforming his existing 2x6 wooden bed frame into a floating faux metal masterpiece utilizing paint techniques and Hollywood movie prop style embellishments.

2) Creating a one of a kind work of art by making tangible Nick's goals and dreams to become a Broadway Singer and Actor!

3) Bedding - a touch of plaid honoring his Scottish heritage, but with a rock and roll edge.

And more.....stay tuned.

Before to After - A teen's bedroom makeover in process.

Today, I met with Nick and his family to review my ideas for his teen bedroom makeover. He's the all american 15 year old. He loves music, plays the guitar and the violin. Hanging with his friends, computers and science fiction are a big part of his life. His room is his hangout, it's filled with glimpses of his younger years and aspirations for the future. Wanting to be an actor / musician he's got his eyes set on performing in the theater, hopefully on Broadway. During his remaining years at home and through high school, I look forward to him enjoying his soon to be made-over room. The before pictures can be viewed on my previous post.

Nick's room is only 10 x 9, so utilizing every inch is the easiest way to improve his conditions. We will replace his oversized writing desk and hutch with something more efficient. I've proposed building a custom headboard and desk storage area to accommodate the book collections and memorabilia he has. We will be altering his wooden bed to make it look made from metal. A unique backlit, relief mounted piece of focal art will enhance the red background behind his bed. It will feature five custom 3 dimensional "N"'s of various typestyles and colors to express his interests in Rock, Classical, Modern Technology and Sci fi in an abstract way.

His window wall will be dressed up with a cornice board to hide his louvered blind mechanism and hold his new custom roller shade. It will be painted with a NY skyline. Small holes, resembling stars and little windows will be cut out of it to allow light to shine through. Giving the illusion it's a night sky. Art and a mount for his guitar will round out this view.

His closet wall will be altered from an open closet niche to an enclosed closet with adjacent storage shelves for his media components. A reclaimed, reupholstered chair and a wall shelve will flank a unique piece of art that I will be helping Nick create. It will be a realized projection of himself in the future, using photographs, magazine clippings and some of my painterly touches. It will serve to remind him of his amazing personal goals.

The color scheme for the room will be warm tone grays with antique reds and hints of denim/chambray blues.

Nick has been packing up his things, getting ready for the process to begin. He's very excited as am I. It's a pleasure meeting and working with such a fine young man.