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Please visit my Spoonflower shop and explore the latest fabric designs I've added. The latest are yardage that coordinates with my superhero line of wall art. The fabrics are perfect for bedding, upholstery and crafts. You can also buy finished good from Spoonflowers' sister site Roostery. There you will find sheet goods, pillows, accessories and home decor all available in the fabrics I've designed. 
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Faced with an awkward second story rooftop patio that had no practical purpose, my client hit me up with an idea. "Can you build a fairy garden for my daughter?" He asked. Then the cementitious siding, synthetic decking clad box mulled through my mind.
It was a winning idea once it merged with their young daughters wish for a fairy garden and a new dog house for her puppy.
Being a bit of a plant geek, I had fun incorporating some of my favorites and offering lots of texture and color play. For my fellow geeks you'll spot Aspidistra, Clerodendron, Echium, Persicaria Red Dragon, gigantic Ornamental Rhubarb and some annual Musque De Provence pumpkin. Most of the plantings are perennial and winter hardy, although I did mix in some annuals for instant color gratification.
People love to bring the outdoors in and I am asked to play Brutha Nature and create trees all the time. Big ones, little ones, realistic and modern. So here I am poised once again to create a one of a kind piece for a client, I had to go idea browsing. We settled on the idea of a tree shaped bookshelf. One that was modern and architecturally interesting. So I gathered together a Pinterest board with a variety of tree ideas.
 You can see in the tree that I built, there are angles and pieces that point downward. These provide vertical strength, so the shelf can't be pulled down or tip down off the wall.
 I'm a bit obsessive with building things straight and true. So this tree stands perfectly upright, the backing is all on the same plane. Great you think...but no, I mean NO! The wall I was to mount it to had been where a doorway was covered up, so it was really out of whack. I had to loosen my branches to tip them back a bit. This left gaps in my seams... oh hell no! So I went through painstakingly and finessed bondo into every little gap, sanded it and primed it. The final finish was to coordinate with a maple counter across the room so I faux painted the piece using a series of color washes and treatment with faux finishers graining tool. A topcoat of shellac gave it that amber wood tone I needed as well as protect the piece as a non-toxic clear coat. Shellac is safe for little nibblers that put their teeth and mouths on everything. Remember this is a pediatric dental office. I'm sure there's some little munchin munchkins giving it the beaver treatment as we speak....gnaw, gnaw, and gnaw. Jump over to my Pinterest for these and other photographs of inspirational trees. I've included the following tree bookcases we've made here in the studio. Other tree shelving ideas by Embellishments studio  
 Digging through my old analog photos of kids room projects, I realized that I had photos of one project that had never been seen by the public. So, in retrospect here's a project where we built a bed for a boys room that looks like a truck. Circa 2005.  The one of a kind custom bed was for a young man named Zac. Both he and his sister had their Embellishments bedrooms featured in the 2005 Street of Dreams, Luxury home tour.  Despite looking like an actual vintage truck, the piece is completely hand made from scratch. It had to be, in order to fit in his bedroom. It measured 4.5 feet tall.  Each element was hand carved, primed and painted to mimic a old truck. The faux chrome emblem on the hood says "Embellishments" for fun.  Beyond being a show stopper for the luxury home tour, the truck bed and photographs of it topped HGTV's Rate my Space for the number one boy's room for multiple years, beating out its closest competitor by thousands of votes.  The truck bed was under construction before the home was completed. Despite blue prints and on site measurements along the way, the final door opening was 3/4's inch too small for the parts to be carried in. Therefore, we had to take out the second story boys room window, lean two extension ladders and push/pull the piece through the window. From a far, on lookers only saw two men pushing a truck up two ladders. It must have been quite a site.  The bed had enough room for Zac to play truck driver. The studio's faux garage door panels were to give the impression that the truck was in a garage.  In subsequent years, the studio created custom beds and play structures like a train car, princess carriage, tree houses and a pirate ship.  I'm excited to share new additions to my vintage sports wall art line. These three new scoreboards round out my selection to include more color schemes and types of sports.
The images are available as archival paper prints and stretched canvases. If you have a favorite sport that's not represented in my collection send me a message. I'm always happy to receive feedback and inspiration!
$30.00 - $179.00
$30.00 - $179.00
$30.00 - $179.00
 Kids and Teen room designer Aaron Christensen offers his top bedding picks for sports enthusiasts. I'm always on the hunt for new bedding styles and designs for my customers and I often get asked what bedding works with my sports wall art lines. So here are my picks for new and tried and true pieces from my favorite haunts. I rarely use themed bedding with sports graphics on it, for me it's usually too expected and often tacky. In contrast I applaud my friends over at Land of Nod have done a great job of offering up some very simple understated pieces, I've included below. The top picks include bedding from Restoration Hardware Teen, PBteen, Ralph Lauren via Nieman Marcus, Rejuvenation Hardware and Schoolhouse Electric. Having worked with several large retailers on the development and coordination
Okay Lax lovers, here we go... I proudly present my lacrosse wall art series collage. Available as a one piece, nine image design or you can pick and choose any of the nine as individual prints in canvas and on archival paper. According to Thomas Vennum Jr., author of American Indian Lacrosse: Little Brother of War "Apart from its recreational function, lacrosse traditionally played a more serious role in Indian culture. Its origins are rooted in legend, and the game continues to be used for curative purposes and surrounded with ceremony. Game equipment and players are still ritually prepared by conjurers, and team selection and victory are often considered supernaturally controlled. In the past, lacrosse also served to vent aggression, and territorial disputes between tribes were sometimes settled with a game, although not always amicably." With it's rich history and evolution into one of the fastest growing sports here in the States, it's time to be wall proud and art up! I hope you enjoy them, I'd love to hear your feedback.
Need some inspiration for your lax loving walls? Here are three style mood boards to give you ideas and inspire. Feel free to pin, post and print!  Lacrosse wall art and decor ideas for a sophisticated boys or teen room. Reproducing and selling my own artwork direct and no longer licensing it out was the greatest of decisions. One of the biggest rewards is the direct communication line to my customers. Never before have I had so many ways to meet and discuss my art with those who enjoy it. Within these live, phone, email and social media interactions I've heard a lot of feedback, requests and ideas that inspire.
Here's what I currently offer I've been painting sports art for 15 years. While many pieces are in private collections or are commissions, I enjoy selling my canvas and paper reproductions to the public. I've touched on many of the popular sports and decor themes. Some are more vintage some are more modern. Many of my sports wall hangings end up in boys rooms, teen spaces and areas of the home where sports fans gather. Given all of that, have you any requests? Do you have a particular decor style or color scheme you'd like to see? I'm painting now for my 2018 releases, I'd enjoy hearing from you.
I love the opportunity to bring a clients vision to life. When my clients, whom home school their children, moved into their new place, they called looking for my help. You see, they had a huge room over their garage and wanted to convert it into a classroom for their kids and maybe other cooperative homeschoolers. Waving his arms around Micheal, the owner, asked how can we make it bigger than life, something the kids would go crazy over. Well... I was happy to oblige. Here are some first round photos. I need to go back with a wide angle lens to capture the entire room.  Creating a simple sketch to communicate ideas is a great start. Here is mine for this project. This concept won their hearts. It's a pretty grand in scale so I broke it down into parts.  A glimpse of the mural depicting around a hundred years. One thing that is not illustrated in my sketch is the stair well leading to the classroom. We decided on a mural starting at the base with the dawn of time, and winding up through the years as the stairs ascend. Here I picked out some notable events, interesting facts and persons to illustrate a time period. The video below captures most of it.
If I were to identify whom might be my number one influence in my artistic endeavors, it most certainly would be Dr. Seuss aka Theodore Geisel. While Walt Disney the man, not the brand is close, Seuss was a bit more of a rags to literary wealth success story, which for me embodies the American dream. He single handidly changed the way in which young people learn to read and in turn see the world around them.
"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose." - Dr. Seuss
On this special day acknowledging Mr. Geisel, please allow me to geek out for a bit and share some of my favorite Seuss and Seussisms.
The task: Create a loft bed, fort, reading nook incorporating two double beds. The clients: Two young twins- one drawn to performance arts, the other drawn to horseback riding. One wants pink, the other says yuck. Ones a bit tidy the other not so much. The challenge: The mom wants something unique, more fort than furniture! She loves modern yet has a rustic touch to her style. The girls need organizers bulletin boards, space to stash their collections of things and an extra bed for sleepovers. The result: A studio built grey and white washed horizontal planked custom bed loft fort unit. Custom wall organizers with pegs, dry erase, paper and storage. Extras: a display wall for art and a whimsical mount of their senior aged basset hound Clementine.  Custom loft, fort, reading nook bed unit for two double beds by Aaron Christensen By popular demand, I've added a new series to my Speedway Racing Collection of wall art. The new pieces explore the thrill of speed with images of a race car, mx motorcycle, mechanic type ephemera, vintage signage and more. The works are available as individual images or combined into a nine image collage with either a cream or black grid border.  Racing Inspired Wall Art Decor "Throttle" by Aaron Christensen. Available in a nine image collage and as individual pieces in stretched canvas and poster print. Visit my shop's Transportation category to see this piece and many more race inspired pieces perfect for boy's rooms, teen spaces and of course the man cave.  Mx, Motorcycle, Race Car and Auto Ephemera Mood Board with ideas for Boy's, Teens and Men. Featuring wall art by Aaron Christensen.
 
Soccer Art - Line Up Collection
$30.00 - $169.00
Football Art - Line Up Collection
$30.00 - $169.00
Baseball Art - Line Up Collection
$30.00 - $169.00
Rugby Art - Line Up Collection
$30.00 - $169.00
Cricket Art - Line Up Collection
$30.00 - $169.00
Home Visitor Arrows Sports Wall Art Decor for Baseball Football Soccer Basketball
$20.00 - $249.00
Rough Game Scoreboard Sports Wall Art by Aaron Christensen
$30.00 - $179.00
Rough Game Allstar Sports Wall Art
$20.00 - $249.00
Sports Wall Art - Rough Game Sports Motivational Poster Prints by Aaron Christensen
$7.00 - $15.00
Home Visitor Sports Pillow
$32.00 - $39.00
My Home Visitor pillow cover is available made from 68% cotton, and 32% linen natural fiber (shown) or 100% Polyester Velveteen. It is from my Sandlot series which can be found here. Coordinating fabrics are available in my Spoonflower shop: The image is also available as a stretched canvas or paper print. Available in sizes 18 x 18 and 22 x 22". We use YKK zipper enclosures. The pillows backside is a coordinating neutral. Launder inside out, tumble dry on low. Iron inside out using your irons polyester setting. Price is for enclosure/case only. 
Sports Art - See the Win Prints and Canvas Wall Art Decor
$25.00 - $189.00
Lacrosse Art - Line Up Collection
$30.00 - $169.00
I hurriedly met with Mr. D as a response to his heartfelt plea for help. You see, he and his wife just divorced and their three year old daughter was not adjusting well. Her world of routines, togetherness and familiar places had just been turned upside down. The sale of their home had mom and dad leaving for separate new places. Mr. D found a quaint farmhouse to rent. He had one week until Jane's first visit and that's where I come in. His plea- "will you make her room amazing?"  Finding myself with little notice and a newly divorced man's budget I scoured my retail haunts for furniture and findings that would fit lil' Jane's personality. She loves to draw, make forts, play dress up, be read to and the colors purple and pink. The plan was for me to help her adjust to her new home by making her room "hers". Outside of a few stuffed animals and some dress up clothes, I had to find treasures to fill the room from floor to ceiling, and stay on budget.  One week later, the white walled, dark floored room was filled with what I would hope she would come to love as "her room" and "her things". The end result....well.... Rather than my babble further, here's what Mr.D sent me- "Aaron, I wanted to extend to you my sincere appreciation for your hard work with Jane's room. There are so many wonderful options for Jane and her new room signifies the wonderful girl she is. At one point while she and I were in the room playing I almost broke down crying because it just felt so right, right for Jane and I in this moment. She adores her new room and I can't even tell you how special it is to have you come into our life at such a difficult time and help make it better. We couldn't be happier!" I'm happy to report that Jane is doing much better, she and her new kitty "Tiger" are enjoying her and her daddy's new home. Mr. D, having experienced this makeover, now has me working his new bedroom into a manly refuge. I'll post about it soon.
To fill Jane's room on a modest budget, I relied upon some big bang for the buck items and a few fast and effective fixes.
If you have a trick or tip on transforming a plain white walled rental, I'm sure my readers would love to hear about it. Your comments are welcome!
 My friends at Boy's Fort in Portland referred a wonderful family to me. They wanted a loft bed for their daughters room, one that was rustic, modern and that worked well with the other furnishings in the room. After a couple rounds of drawings and pouring over finish samples, the idea came to fruition. It was to be made of reclaimed old growth fir. I designed into it a headboard that had a classic shape to it. The horizontal lines from the boards were highlighted by not butting the boards together. The finish complimented the bed underneath and drew in the variations of cream and gold around it.
My clients loved being part of the design process. The final product definitely reflected the points they were enthusiastic about. I also loved the opportunity to put my personal spin on those elements.   The finishing techniques allowed the grain, vintage saw cuts and character to come through. Light sanding and application of multiple coats of matte clear and a final waxing assured that the texture would not be rough to the touch.
It's always great bringing to life the dreams others have. In a way its like being an interpreter of sorts. Translating vision into reality. I love my job. |
Welcome to Aaron Christensen's Embellishments Studio Blog.
Welcome to my Embellishments Journal, it's a new feature. I will be posting about some of our projects, sharing pictures and interesting things. Chime in, ask questions and keep your arms and hands inside the ride until it comes to a complete stop. -Aaron
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