Pilot's Powder Room

A friend of mine was remodeling her entire old beautiful home into an amazing and fresh, new beautiful home. One of the projects for her new finished basement was to create an interesting powder room to go with the airplane theme of the bar and recreational space.  Her husband was a pilot and she had fun plans for the room including a lit up airplane sign and a good sized model plane for over the bar.  She wanted my help for the bathroom after she saw some inspiring wall paper that resembled the riveted metal panels of an airplane cockpit.  The wallpaper was soft and "carvable," allowing for fingernail graffiti- not good.  So, we came up with a design where she would paint the entire room metallic silver (ceiling too) and I would do the rest.

I painted two windows looking out over the ground, capturing the patchwork feel of the land below.  I included  her tiny house and other little dwellings.

The instrument panel was basic, as she planned to get her hands on actual old dials and controls.  I did include the attitude indicator, though, and other official looking gauges.

The tromp l'oeil bomber jacket and goggles hung on the opposite wall, ready for an immediate take off.

And the faux seams and rivets that I painted ALL OVER the walls and ceiling made you feel like you were in an actual plane, not just using the potty.  It made it look authentic!

The bathroom is a hit and is often enjoyed by guests visiting the biggest hang out room in the house.  So, don't neglect your basement bathroom, as it often gives you a chance to do something fun and unique with the decor and have personal meaning for you!

Toy Boxes!

Have kids?  Then I know you have toys.  And they are most likely scattered everywhere.  You have a pile of stuffed animals in the bedroom corner.  There is play food scattered around the house, not even close to the play kitchen set.  And you have a no idea where to put the "dress up" clothes.

Most of us have our kids' toys in the main part of our house, tucked behind the la-z-boy, or in the front room where guests walk past.  Or maybe you have a few toys that stay in their bedroom the rare times your kids are not playing right under foot.

The bottom line is you can always use a place to store toys and why not have it be in a unique painted storage box that will look great for many years to come?  Don't you remember YOUR toy box from your childhood?  Mine was a greenish painted wood with a spindle back and a cushion on top.  We used to ride that cushion down our stairs (whee)!  The toy box is still at my parents' house, still holding our favorite old toys.  So, think about what you would like to give your kids to always have and cherish.

Currently, I have 4 toy boxes that are looking for a home.  They are all solid wood and very durable. They will not slam shut.  I can personalize then with your child's name and make them truly unique.  Their style and theme will last for many years to come and they will serve perfectly as memory chests as your kids grow.

 This baseball themed box is sharp and slick and your little guy will go nuts (your big guy will go nuts too). 

I can paint their name in the scoreboard too!

  Go team! 

And for girls, I have two styles.  One that is yellow with an arrangement of flowers.

And a white box covered in butterflies.  Again, I can personalize!  These suckers are big (36" x18"x 18") and will hold those dress up clothes nicely!

And this turtle toy box is used (I wonder whose toys it held before?) but is ready to serve.  Again, it is solid wood and is painted with a charming turtle and wrap around pond scene.

  How can you resist this?  

All of my toy boxes are sealed with 4 coats of a protective finish, inside and out.  Prices range from $185-$300, so please contact me at coriekline@mac.com if you are interested in purchasing!

Thanks for looking and LIKE me on FB, You're Art by Corie Kline!

Shades of Blue Gray

How do I know what to paint on my furniture?

The pieces of furniture that I paint are meant to find a home, YOUR home, and I paint them in a way that might match your taste or decor style.  A lot of the time, the pieces lend themselves to certain designs based on their lines or function.  Sometimes there is a trend I want to try out.  Sometimes I feel like painting a bunny or frog on something.  Regardless, they all turn out unique & and serve as focal points in any room.

Sometimes they become inspiration for pieces you might already have.

This end table I picked up at a garage sale.  Everyone can use a stand like this SOMEWHERE in their place, right?  And I recently bought a copper/patina faux finish kit that I wanted to try out on something small and safe.  This stand seemed to be the perfect guinea pig.

It invloved painting a layer of copper metallic paint, spraying it with the magic potion it came with & then watching the copper paint turn turquoise.  Except the turquoise was a little ugly, so I blended it down with some sea foam blue paint & came up with this pretty cool faux finish. 

 

 Because I wanted to feature the finish, I didn't do a lot of decorative painting, just linear flowers. 

 

But I did add something else I wanted to try: a top full of text.  I have been saving quotes & decided to run them all together to fill the top surface completely.  Notice the touches of copper, too.

 

The sea glass knob was a perfect touch (purchased at Anthropologie- an AMAZING store).

A customer saw this piece & decided it wouldn't work for her, but loved the finish and the simple painting style...and the glass knob.  This gal went home, looked at her old buffet in the breakfast room & decided I better paint it for her.  I'm ticked that I forgot to snap a before picture, but it was stained a dark brown with gold hardware.  Not too exciting, but very functional in the space she had.

I visited her house and memorized the shade of blue she needed, while still planning to replicate the copper/turquoise faux finished from the nightstand she liked so much.  I took a few pics of her rug and existing furniture & hoped for a good match once I walked out of there with her piece.

Here's the final.  She was thrilled and admittedly relieved.  In her words, I "nailed it."  Whew!

Hello Kitty!

Let me know if there's something I can paint up for you!

Recycled Ornaments

I'm very excited about my spoons.

I have painted Santa and snowman spoons, forks, and knives for several years now and always enjoy their unique expressions. 

 

 

I eventually branched out to Santa keys and the eventually the sought after skeleton keys.

 Each key is so cool and unique, I love to feature them as an ornament.

Then I stumbled upon souvenir spoons, you know, the ones that old ladies have on display in their dining rooms showing all of their places of travel?  

 

 I decided to paint those up for the holidays too, featuring little scenes on the spoon tip.

Beach scenes for the Florida, Hawaii spoons, lighthouses for the Maine spoon, Central Park ice skater for the New York spoon.

It is addicting to hunt for the spoons & then paint them up as one of a kind keepsakes, souvenirs all over again!

Stop by my show this weekend in Loveland, September 9, 2012, 11-5pm to pick one up for yourself!

Loveland Art Show

Sept 9, 2012

11-5pm

Nisbet Park, Loveland Ohio

Or you can purchase one from my etsy store: www.coriekline.etsy.com!

 Thanks for looking!

Fantastic House Bed

I recently had the pleasure of working with a family who has a daughter with special needs.  Kendall has Angelman's Syndrome and for her health and safety, she needs to be confined to her bed overnight.  Because she outgrew her crib, her parents needed her to have a fun and loving place to sleep without it seeming like she was in a cage.  

The family had carpenter friends who were able to build them this amazing house bed.  Pretty cool, huh?  It houses a twin sized bed, ventilation fan, and is equipped with all of Kendall's overnight medical needs.  

Kendall's dad base coated the house.  A ton of work!

 

 One of the carpenter friends knew me, so he contacted me to come in and paint the fun, decorative stuff.  I painted the stoop to look like stone and roses growing up the chimney.  

 

The dormer windows are removable, but for now feature a bird and a sleeping calico cat.

 

 

There is an actual flower box (they plan to fill with silk flowers) that sits below a dog greeting all visitors.  There is even a side storage closet that I painted with a topiary tree.

     

 The finished product!

Her initials on the front door finish the look and the house is absolutely charming!  An amazing project for an amazing little girl!

 

Thanks for looking!