Exploring a new preschool classroom idea

Do you remember the Pediatric Clinic for autistic children I designed? 

They are expanding and need another pre-school classroom. They currently have three classrooms and each has a different theme.

When we were selecting the themes, I learned I needed to be careful with the wording.  For example, for the room where I wanted to use giraffe and elephant decals and thought it would be cute to call it, "The Jungle Room" but I was informed that no parent would want their child in a "jungle" room. So I re-worded it to be, "The Safari Room". 

My sister made the room signs with the decals as her inspiration. We also had a "Marine Room" and "Forest Room".

As I thought about what we could use for a theme for the new room I came up with dinosaurs, farm, airplanes ... and then saw this:

looksugar via Etsy

The new room will be, "The Explorer Room".

GoatGrinStudio via Etsy

Danadecals via Etsy

These preschool classrooms are for children with autism and I used wall decals so that there was nothing that could be removed, broken or damaged. We kept the rooms somewhat minimal but cute so they would be inviting but with little distraction. 

Benjamin Moore Blue Haze 1667

And because the rooms have two-way mirrors installed in them we had to make sure the paint color inside the rooms was lighter than the walls outside in the hallway. The new room will have the lightest shade of sky blue. 

The space as I first saw it

When I first started this project I was quite overwhelmed. I had done a few medical offices and one pediatric office but nothing close to the size and magnitude of this one. I remember asking the doctor a million questions about her needs and what the various rooms would require and she said, "don't worry ... just treat the rooms like a preschool classroom." I had to laugh because even that was a stretch for me.  

I also didn't know much about autism or the special requirements that would be needed to be taken into consideration in designing this space, but one thing that was really important to me was that the moms and dads would find this place as special as the children they brought. I think we achieved that. 

I'm excited to hear they are expanding!

Do stripes make you look thin?

I think so!

I really wanted to show you the chic decal. Soooo didn't want you to see the ugly 21-year-old granite. Oh well! Thank you Hayley for finding the decal for me ... I really love it!

A lazy Saturday & some decal love

I am being very lazy today. I just got back from driving my daughter back to school and moving her into her new apartment (yes, yet another one!). We are hoping this will be the last of the college apartments. But if it is not ... well, at least she has a mom who loves to help move!

While we were setting up her room, she found a decal that she had purchased for her last place and didn't use. You know how much I love using decals! If my sister who helps install decals for me is reading this ... sis, be grateful you weren't part of this one ... it was not the easiest. See the image above? It came in only two pieces (top and bottom). I cheated and cut it in to smaller pieces after I wanted to say some really bad words (ummm actually I think I did say the bad words) and that made it easier (the cutting not the cursing). Well, maybe both.

The trunk was a bit short and if I had started it on the floor the tree would have been a little dwarfed ... I love that we came up with the idea to have it coming out of the plug outlet. I'll let you come up with your own meaning!

In previous apartments, she has been able to paint but this one came with the standard white walls. The tree really makes it work. And speaking of decals ...

During my lazy Saturday morning spent catching up on some much needed sleep and opening up a few days worth of mail ... I found a fun brown envelope that came from The House of Smiths.

I am going to turn my plain white mixer into a statement piece ...

You know you want one too ... check them out here!
Hope you are having a great weekend everyone!

Finishing up & more decal love

It is so great to be able to actually finish a project. Not that any project is ever entirely done ... because you know, a room is never really done - it is always tweaked, improved on, and added to. But today I can say that I am (at this moment) finished with one of the largest projects I have worked on.

Do you remember the clinic for the autistic kids? I wrote about it here and here. We used a lot of decals and they were so successful that the client wanted to add a few more. That is what I finished today. I cannot say enough about decals.

The dandelion is one of my favorites. We (my wonderful sister assistant and I) added this outside the restrooms - it was a leftover from another room.

All the decals were ordered through Etsy and can be custom made in any color you want. Most can be custom sized as well! They are easy to install - some are just a little more labor intensive than others. 

The decals are an easy and inexpensive way to add interest and color to a blank wall. This tree branch was only $39.00 (from here).

This therapy room needed a little punch to the walls but it couldn't be too overwhelming. The flowers did the trick. It was nice to be in the completed office today and see it thriving and filled with children. It was gratifying to see the rooms that we thoughtfully designed for these kids to be utilized and enjoyed the way we had hoped. And nice to be finished. 

Well ... there is that one spot near the entry that could use a little color ...

Creative risks

Byrdie Graphics

I had a crazy long day today ... it was the first install day of the pediatric clinic (see previous post here). Today was the day to put up all the decals (see my post about them here).

Byrdie Graphics

The decals sounded like a great idea when I was planning the office months ago ... but as this day approached and I had to think about actually putting them up ... I started to worry.

Byrdie Graphics

What if they didn't look as good as I had hoped? What if they were too hard to put up? What if I failed? And I started to think ... coming up with a great idea is one thing. Making it happen is another.

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It turns out that all my fears were unnecessary. The decals turned out amazing and putting them up was not as hard as I had thought.

Byrdie Graphics

Part of being successful is stretching yourself. And also knowing when you need help. My sister came to my rescue (a little moral support and a lot of doing them for me!) and we were able to get them all up without too much drama. I could not be happier with the end result and it reminds me that taking risks is necessary sometimes. I learned something new and next time it will be much easier.

Byrdie Graphics

So this is where I should be putting up the photos showing you how it all looks. But I don't have them. I ran out of time today! I will be back for more installing on Thursday and will take photos then ... stay tuned. And go take a risk!