My Girls' Bedroom Gets A Makeover

I really enjoyed creating this pink-a-licous bedroom for my daughter when she was really little.   We would snuggle on the bed and read, and on Saturdays we could take a nap together (Mommies need to nap more!)

BEFORE

But six years later she is all pinked out and the room needs to function better for her age.   I have held off on re doing her room because I know it can be hard to compromise with a kid.  I was sure she would be my toughest client yet!  

In the end we actually had a lot of fun with the makeover, and I am sure she will write me a glowing letter of recommendation. 

AFTER

So let me tell you about this space: My kid loves art; anything crafty that she can get her hands on like the sketch she did of the zebra you see on the wall with the purple gem eyes.  It was done on newspaper!  So of course, color was a major theme in this room makeover.  

Instead of repainting the bedroom, we added more thin stripes to the pink stripes already there.  I think we used seven new colors.  I am a decorator by trade so I had so many quarts to choose from.  It was fun.  We painted it together while singing along with our favorite bands on the ipod.  

The new day bed was my gift to the room.  I fell in love with it the moment I saw it in a furniture catalog.  I have never seen anything like it.  I do love white leather!!  Also day beds with trundles allow a guest to sleep over so they are handy! 

I can't believe how much stuff my little one has collected, and of course, nothing can be thrown away, so we went to the ever popular IKEA Expedit bookcases for storage.  One doubles as a window bench for more toys (ahhhh!)

Although I have a really cute owl lamp in the room, we realized we needed better reading light so we added a wall light with a movable neck.  It is really great.  I thought choosing the bedding was going to be almost impossible but we did not even need to compromise.  She loved this purple velvet cheetah patterned comforter, and I had to agree that is was funky and soft.

tip: if you have a piece of homemade artwork you want to hang but it is rather small, go get an extra large mat and frame for it (we had to get this one custom made but it was not expensive). 

We kept the dresser (CLICK HERE to see how this dresser was refinished) and added a little desk.  The wall flowers were a fun gift from a friend.  We placed them all over the wall and at night they glow like stars! If you noticed I did not add more colorful stripes to a good chunk of this wall, the reason is that we grew tired-plain and simple!  And when I went back the next day to paint more on, I liked it the way it was.

A Man's Master Bedroom Re-design

I was hired to re-design a master bedroom for a gentleman in Allentown PA.  This was the first man's bedroom I had done and I did not want it to be overly monochromatic, and NO BROWN! I asked him "What inspires you?"  and he mentioned the Scottish painter Jack Vettriano.  Perfect jumping off board.  The great contemporary artist Vettriano (born Jack Hoggan) is also an inspiration to me for the romance he creates in his work, and for his belief in himself and his art.  He chose art; it didn't choose him.  

Jack Vettriano left school at sixteen to become a mining engineer. For his twenty-first birthday, a girlfriend gave him a set of water color paints and, from then on, he spent much of his spare time teaching himself to paint. He put his artwork out there, and it paid off!!

-For those who dream of taking a different path in life, think of Vettriano and go for it!

MY DESIGN PLAN AND FLAWS:

I didn't let the traditionally mission style furniture he already had stop our plan for a contemporary feel. We 'contempo'd' it up with steel grey walls, lots of chrome, including three new framed Vettriano's, deep 'manly' eggplant window treatments, and of course a bit of zebra and mink.  I also added a wall tattoo to cut the squareness of all the hard edges and add 'whimsy' and interest (the decal was bigger than me).  

When I presented my ideas to my manly client, he said 'Shosh, that's not eggplant, it is purple."  I said 'eggplant is the new purple'.  Then he said "Shosh, animal print?" I said "Grrrr...don't get me mad."  And he shook his head and rolled his eyes when I showed him the decal idea.  Design should be fun; there is no right or wrong-just opinions.  He gave me the green light and I went to work.

Here is the before and after:

BEFORE

AFTER

These drapery rods were a splurge but so worth it!!  To bring the budget back down I found the pillows on sale.  Changing the doors and door hardware made a HUGE difference.

BEFORE

Bye bye blue walls and doily sheers.....

AFTER

BEFORE

"Is that the sun rising from that faux stucco sconce?

AFTER

 

A sleek Zylinder satin black with chrome wall sconce fits in like a long lost friend.

 BEFORE

This dresser was actually against the closet wall first. I recommend placing a high piece of furniture under a high window to conceal the awkwardness, then ditch the doily window treatments!  Also what you can't see is an unorganized closet that we quickly addressed. And are those doors or shutters?

AFTER

Roman shades are more functional on a high window.  And for this long and narrow window, they add height and fullness.

Bring on more glitz with this mirror and chair from Pier 1.

I found this decal at www.walltat.com and thought it was beautiful.  It is called‘Graphic Floral 3-Wall Decal’ and is 63" x 40".  I played with the positioning of it using painters tape, and I have to say, it was easy to put up (just took an hour to make sure I didn't rip it and to get all the bubbles out).

So how is my manly client enjoying his bedroom?  He chuckles and nods which is his way of saying 'he digs his new 'diggs'.  Actually we just made changes to his upstairs bathroom and he was all for more purple-