Quinn's Room Remix
There is nothing I enjoy more than decorating a child's room. During my pregnancy with the twins, "they may be born early" was a handy excuse to start buying All The Cute Things and finishing their nursery during my second trimester.
As a little girl, I kept a notebook for sketching my dream house and pasting clippings from the Sears and JCPenney catalogues. Because editing has never been my talent, this dream house and dream life included six children...one for every decor style that I loved. Ruffles abounded and every room was perfectly coordinated.
Ah, how things have changed. In this real life of mine, there's less children and less ruffles. I'm grateful on both accounts. I assure you, Jason is too. And while I may not have six children's rooms to decorate, I've found I can keep pretty busy updating the three I do have.
Right now, our kids are My Little Pony o b s e s s e d. And Jason loves himself a good design challenge. From this was born a promise to Quinn to create the show's Tree of Harmony for her room. For those of you at home who don't Netflix My Little Pony with your Cheerios each morning, here's a picture of the Tree of Harmony. It is rather ............... distinct. As you can see:
But, since I've been lusting over this (from Petit & Small):
And this (from Mommo-Design):
And this (from H&M):
...I decided we could create a Tree of Harmony headboard, giving it perfect context in her room. Here's the video of us creating it:
I love that I got to help with sketching it out. Quinn and I "collaborated" over the paint color...meaning she informed me that it MUST be Light Blue. I was a little concerned. For one thing, a light color against a pastel wall wasn't really going to pop. And what about Aqua Overload in her space? After all, here's what we were already dealing with. I mean, Teal Carpet, folks. Teal Carpet.
My goals for this project:
1. Spend (almost) no money.
2. Tone down the teal.
3. Balance the black dresser and nightstand with a few more dark accents.
4. Balance the exaggerated points on the Tree of Harmony by adding graphic lines and movement somewhere else in the room.
5. Contrast the pastel pink walls and light blue headboard with bold accent colors.
Here's pictures of Quinn's Room Remix:
So, did I spend any money? A bit. I bought the rug ($99.99) and the sheets ($29.99) at HomeGoods. The 16X20 print of Quinn doing sidewalk chalk was a free offer from Shutterfly (I paid shipping). The frames were built from scrap, although we did buy a pack of magnets. Everything else was repurposed from other rooms in the house.
The rug and the Marimekko Melooni print added everything I was looking for...energetic lines and both dark and bold accent colors. Plus it never hurts to hide a few square feet of teal carpet.
There's still things I'd like to add or change. The two dressers and the nightstand are all the same style, but different paint jobs and pulls. I'd love to pull them together better. All black? All white? To distress or not to distress? What about a touch of pattern? Are gold handles too trendy? Then there's the butter colored sheer curtains, installed by the previous homeowner. To be perfectly honest, I can't decide if they're vintage chic or old-lady-awful. What do you all think? These are the things that occupy my mind each night while London takes 7 years....er 45 minutes...to change into pajamas.
For now, here's a few of my favorite details:
The Max Studio rug from HomeGoods. I love everything about it...the colors, the texture, the bold graphic lines, and especially the fact that it makes Jason think of unicorn poop.
Vintage crate turned wall shelf.
Detail of the Melooni by Marimekko, 1963. This fabric was a gift from my Aunt Charlene's collection. Jason made the frame. My original intent was to wrap the frame, the way I remember these pieces hanging in my house as a child. But he did such a good job with the frame, it was a shame to hide it. I like the modern spin with the somewhat industrial frame showing.
Sheets by Bluebellgray, another HomeGoods find. Watercolor is one of my absolute favorite mediums. These painterly drops make me so happy!
I have a roll of these educational posters produced by the Forest Service, saved from my childhood. Looking at them brings back a flood of memories, especially my dad teaching us about how forest fires are destructive, but how the aftermath can also help the forest. It was all very Circle-of-Life, this childhood of mine in the mountains. :) Anyway, I decided the girls are old enough to each choose a poster for their own rooms. Always marching to the beat of her own drum, Quinn picked out the creepy bugs. It's actually one of my favorites because of the bright colors. I made a serviceable poster frame. Today, Jason made (let's be honest...he whipped out) a nicer one. I have my order in to him for about 7 more. I'll get some pictures of a poster frame when I get it hung it in London's room.
Because, *Spoiler Alert* I'm working on her room next!
