Among the many connections between Hayley Harris and Lynsay Christensen – the identical twins behind the local design business Studio Mel – art has long been at the forefront. Natives of Glasgow, Kentucky, the sisters grew up creating art together. Their mother placed them in adult art classes when they were young – the youngest in the class by 10 years, Christensen recalled with a laugh.
Their connection through art continued into adulthood, with the sisters collaborating on T-shirt designs, screen-printed bags, invitations, custom logos, canvas art and other projects over the years. In recent years, the sisters have turned their collaboration into more than just a hobby with their new business, Studio Mel Designs, which focuses on custom-designed, hand-painted murals and other large-scale paintings for residential and commercial spaces.
One major impetus for launching the business was a home project Harris worked on several years ago. Inspired by the work of contemporary artist Swoon, Harris carved a Southwestern-inspired design on a rubber block and hand-stamped an entire accent wall in her home.
“In the end, it took around nine hours to cover the entire surface, but it has an incredible one-of-a-kind wallpaper look,” Harris explained. “It’s the first thing you see when you enter my home, and it makes such a big statement – it’s unique and sets the tone for the rest of our living space.”
While the project was certainly a labor of love, it was also deeply gratifying and impactful, unlocking a newfound creative passion. Two nights before Harris’ daughter was born, she stamped the wall in her nursery as well.
Christensen also had her own home improvement project for inspiration. Fresh off a home remodel, she started to second-guess her choices for painting all her walls white during the early months of working from home during the pandemic.
“I’m sitting in the dining room all day using it as an office, and it was so boring,” she said.
“So I started by drawing out what I wanted to paint on the dining room wall.”
1 of 5
Studio Mel murals tend to incorporate bright colors, bold designs and inspiration from nature. Photo by Emily Giancarlo
2 of 5
Studio Mel murals tend to incorporate bright colors, bold designs and inspiration from nature. Photo by Emily Giancarlo
3 of 5
Studio Mel murals tend to incorporate bright colors, bold designs and inspiration from nature. Photo by Emily Giancarlo
4 of 5
Studio Mel murals tend to incorporate bright colors, bold designs and inspiration from nature. Photo by Emily Giancarlo
5 of 5
Studio Mel murals tend to incorporate bright colors, bold designs and inspiration from nature. Photo by Emily Giancarlo
On New Year’s Eve in 2020, she decided to start painting and continued the project into the next day.
“I wanted to end one year and start the next year painting,” she explained. “While I was painting it, I thought ‘this is what I want to do.’”
By February 2021, the sisters had formed a new business, Studio Mel Designs, and gotten their first commission. In the past year, the duo has painted more than 20 murals, in both homes and businesses.
Vibrant and bright, Studio Mel murals tend to utilize curved lines and vivid colors. The twins’ love of the natural world is evident, with much of their work including leaves, flowers and, in one installment, art deco-style snakes, painted in the downtown interior design studio Maven.
“People who come to us know we’re going to use big bold shapes, texture and lots of color,” Harris said, “and we like to incorporate nature into our work.”
In addition to their work at Maven, other commercial projects include a hand-painted wall of flowers outside the Athens Schoolhouse and a mural Harris painted in a restaurant while on vacation in Costa Rica. However, the majority of their work to date has been residential, transforming family homes into magical spaces – both inside and out.
One client, Harris said, “…wanted their whole garage painted, because they had a garden out back and wanted to cover the large ugly wall.”
For another client, they not only created a two-story mural inside a home foyer but also chose furnishings to round out the space.
“That was something new for us, to create the whole space,” said Harris. “We definitely see ourselves doing more of the room remodeling along with the murals.”
As far as their process, the duo starts by talking to their clients and seeing the wall they are thinking about painting. After taking measurements and putting together a proposal, the sisters work with the clients on creating a mood board to determine the colors and shades that they want to use. They then prepare two or three designs for the client.
“The client decides on a design, and we make any changes they want to make, and then it’s just painting after that,” Harris said. “From the design phase to the finish can take a month to six weeks.”
Having collaborated on art projects for much of their life, identical twin sisters Hayley Harris (left) and Lynsey Christensen (right) launched Studio Mel, a design business specializing in murals in residential and commercial spaces. Photo by Emily Giancarlo
Christensen added that the sisters’ favorite way to get ideas flowing is to spend time in their studio together making cutouts and collages, then hand-drawing on the collages to add texture and movement.
”Sometimes we take these concepts and develop them more or just use it as an excuse to create,” she said. “Spending time together and creating art has been so rewarding for us both this past year. Life and starting families have kept us busy, and this has given us a chance to hang out together again.”
Working on residential spaces has been rewarding in seeing how these projects “uplift the space and hopefully bring joy to the family” Christensen added. “It’s something made especially for them.”
The sisters have their sights set on some future projects that would involve collaborating with additional artists.
“We do a lot of mockups, like taking one of our designs and mocking it up on something like a bowl, so then we’d want to work with a ceramicist to make that a reality,” Christensen explained. “That’s the kind of stuff we’re dreaming about.”
Though Harris and Christensen are the creative force behind Studio Mel Designs, the business – which is named after their mother – is definitely a family affair.
“We have to mention our younger sister, Sydney. She’s 14 years younger than us, and she got her MBA, and she kept pushing us to start a business,” Harris said. “She is so helpful. She shows up with her tools and pitches in on any project. She also takes care of our website.”
Since starting their business, Harris and Christensen now see potential everywhere.
“We drive down the street and send each other pictures of places that would be neat to paint,” Harris said.
While the two hope to do more commercial projects, they love being invited into homes to create.
“We love doing home murals because it’s breaking the mold of art just hanging on the wall,” said Christensen. “It makes a statement. When you walk in and see something original, it speaks about the person who lives there.”
