what I do

what I do

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Designing children's rooms

It is really fun to work with kids. I think they are my favorite clients! I love hearing their ideas and getting their input; they offer a fresh viewpoint that is uncensored by what other people think and they are not afraid to ask for what they want. 

I recently finished moving three sisters around two bedrooms. You can read about the closet switch here. It was a very big undertaking and basically every single item was moved out of both rooms, edited, and put back together. We moved the 'baby' out of her nursery and into the big girls' room. The oldest sister got to take over the nursery and have a space to her own - her very own 'grown up room' where she can have quiet time to do her homework and have friends over. And the middle sister moved into where her older sister had slept. Musical beds! Everyone was happy with the changes. Even mom who was not so sure she could part with that nursery (I don't blame her it was amazing and precious)!

Disclosure: these rooms are not styled, the photography is not perfect and the sheets are wrinkled. Just wanted you to get a glimpse ;)

Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic Rose Chintz
The existing bedding in the room where the two girls share was from Rachel Ashwell. It was precious and beautiful but young. The middle sister was ready to move up to something a little more fun. She really wanted everything purple, but we needed to keep the existing light pink walls, the pink striped window seat fabric and we were keeping the littlest girl's bed the existing floral. Because both beds were in the same room, everything had to coordinate. Hot pink seemed to work as the common denominator.

This is one side of a very large bedroom
We moved the changing table / dresser from the nursery into this larger bedroom where two sisters share a room and used it as a dresser / nightstand for one of the beds. The black framed bulletin board was painted white and I covered it with a light colored burlap. We purchased an inexpensive round mirror to go above the dresser to give it a vanity feel and added some fun lighting.

A new and improved bulletin board
A new disco light
We brought in elements (wall art) from the youngest sister's nursery to make that side of the room feel like 'hers'.  She wanted her side of the room to be 'hot pink' - walls and everything, but she settled for some hot pink pillows on her new 'big girl' bed (not shown). 


The middle sister moved to the other side of the room and took over where the oldest sister slept before. She helped chose her bedding and I brought in a few purple accent accessories ... a pillow, a shag rug and a reading lamp to give her the look that she wanted. Her mom added lavender sheets as well but they are not in the photos. I had the brown and white dotted pillows made to give it all a little pop. She was happy!

a brand new organized closet
This 'tween' girl wanted blue! She chose the bubble sheets from a PB Teen catalogue and that is where we started. She was very involved in the selection process and had definite ideas of what she liked and didn't like. I gave her choices and she picked what she liked. I love her choice of the ceiling fixture! I added the headboard from West Elm. 

I think the most fun was to watch the anticipation as we went through the process of choosing and ordering and to see the excitement on their faces the day that we did the 'reveal'. We brought everything in and set it up while they were out and when they came home it was all finished. Very fun!

5 comments:

Amy Chalmers said...

Love the updates. The rooms really pop with freshness and zest! Of course I love the RA sheets to begin with, so shabby chic....

traci zeller designs said...

What fun, happy spaces!! I know those girls love them!!

Unknown said...

Gorgeous! Lucky girls :) xo

Kathysue said...

What a lucky little girl, such a fun space!! I am your newest follower!! Kathysue

Luciane at HomeBunch.com said...

Today was crazy! Really, really busy, but I had to come here to see what you were up to! ;-)

You never disappoint me! I love to learn with you... you're great!

xo

Luciane at HomeBunch.com