Flagstaff LIVE! featured an article about Studio 4 foot 2 in the July 2008 issue. To view the reprint, click the magazine cover below or the article (pdf):

See the article on Flagstaff LIVE!.

Reprint used with permission.

Posted on July 30th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: In the News | No Comments »

This is a continuation of the series, How to Successfully Design a Non-Themed Kid’s Room.  You can read the Introduction to this Series under the category “Child Inspired Design.” 

We are all familiar with the numerous themes for children’s room décor.  Popular themes include race cars, trains, princesses, safari, and characters from children’s movies and television.  Some themed rooms are taken to an extreme with every detail, from the shape of the bed, the matching lamps, bedding, curtains and children’s wall art, all reflecting the theme.  The dressers, desk and night stands have matching colors, and sometimes, the alarm clock and nightlight complete the child’s themed room.

Then, within a short time period your child’s interests have changed and you are faced with either redoing the room, from the bed, to the child’s wall art, to the nightlight or deal with the fact that your child is no longer inspired by his or her room, because a complete bedroom remodel may not fit into your budget or schedule every year.

If this is a situation you would like to avoid, a non-themed room could be your solution.  Right now, you may be thinking, “but my daughter loves butterflies” or “my son loves trains.”  Or you may be thinking, if I do not have a theme for my child’s room, then how will I create a direction for the design.  My response is to let your own child be the theme.  I feel that a visitor should get a feel for who your child is and where his or her interests lie just by stepping into the room.  My four year old son, for example, enjoys short hikes, looking for bugs and animals, along with picking wildflowers for his mom.  He loves trucks, trains, tractors and cars, whether they are toys in his room or driving beside us on the highway.  He enjoys sports and loves his Steve Nash jersey.  He is always asking us to read his books to him.  And, by far, his favorite way to spend his time is to visit and play with his four cousins who live about two hours away from us in the in Phoenix area.

We just recently moved into a new house and are currently in the process of putting our son’s room together.  With all the interests he now has and the new interests he is constantly discovering and developing, we do not want to limit the design of his room to one theme.  Our son is the theme and his décor and wall art will evolve with him as he grows.

Some of the items we are including in his room are: 

• bookshelves at his eye level, with a comfortable place to read his books together,

• a low table for playing with trains and cars,

• his own set of family photos to hang on the wall,

• a toy box for larger toys and bins to organize and store smaller toys,

• an indoor basketball hoop,

• his first terrarium to nurture his interest in insects and animals, and

• some children’s wall art, including his favorite illustration from Studio 4 Foot 2, the Monster Truck,  

Monster Pride, Copyright 2008 Studio 4 Foot 2, LLC.  All rights reserved.

In the near future we will be taking on a small construction project in his room that will create some special spaces for our son and his cousins and friends.  My next post on this topic will be entitled, “Scaled Spaces, Our Nesting Instinct” and I will explain our project and why we feel it will have a positive effect on how our son uses his room.  Please join our RSS feed to receive messages announcing our new postings.

Please feel free to comment with your thoughts about themed or non-themed rooms.  If you have an example of how you have let your own child be the theme for her room, please let us know!

Don’t miss any tips from Dale Patton.   Dale has a successful residential design firm, Stone Light Studio, and also is an artist specializing in children’s wall art.  You can see his artwork for children at www.studio4foot2.com. 

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Posted on May 26th, 2008 by dalepatton
Filed under: Child Inspired Design | No Comments »

Illustration Friday is a weekly illustration challenge. A single word topic is posted every Friday and then participants have all week to come up with their own interpretation.

Don’t miss any new releases or tips from Dale Patton.   Dale has a succesful residential design firm, Stone Light Studio, and also is an artist specializing in children’s wall art.  You can see his artwork  for children at www.studio4foot2.com.  

Posted on May 23rd, 2008 by dalepatton
Filed under: Illustration Friday | No Comments »

A popular trend among parents in pulling together a child’s room is designing based on a theme. However, with all the choices of children’s decor and children’s wall art on the market today, I tend to feel that an overly themed approach to the design of a child’s room can too severely limit your options. But, perhaps this is why so many parents choose to strictly follow themes. Some people may find it easier to make decisions on children’s art, furnishings and accessories when they can rely on a theme to provide a clear narrow path upon which to base those decisions. So, I have to ask the question…why box yourself in? Some of the most successful children’s rooms have absolutely no theme at all, yet have an incredible feel that draws a child in and fuels their imagination day after day. Other successful rooms are loosely based on a theme that reflects an interest of the child, but the selected theme does not drive every decision from the bed to the nightlight.

If there is no theme to rely on, how do you: (1) make your child’s room look great so that you are proud to show it off to your guests and (2) create a room for your child that will make him or her feel comfortable, sheltered and inspired?I am going to post a series of blogs with some hints that will help answer these questions. The topics I will be covering are:

Posted on May 21st, 2008 by dalepatton
Filed under: Child Inspired Design | No Comments »