Froggys for BOYS & GIRLS!

Time for the little guy to graduate from mom and dad's room, to his own...except, he has to share this room with his older sister. How can we combine this little guys new pad with sis?

I started by finding a theme that was not gender specific. FROGS! So, for color, we needed something with some green in it. I found a bedding set at target for sister, that had green, brown, and blue polka dots. Pretty easy to find a neutral brown crib set to match.

For an easy way to use 2 colors in a room, without a chair rail or accent wall, use ribbon to divide the color as done here...I use thumb tacks to hold the ribbon up. If you look, there are actually thumbtacks with some style at the stores! You can go all kinds of crazy!

Small and Simple

BEFORE:

AFTER:

High School Musical

This room is a great example of "bang for you buck!" It really depends on the time of year, but sometimes you can really get great bargains on bedding and accessories. The best time I have found is Fall and Spring. Most of this was purchased at Target on clearance from the "back to school" stuff. As you an see in the before pic, we started with a very clean slate.

I wanted to use the closet (in pink) to use as an accent wall. But to make sure that it didn't seem unbalanced, I needed to think of a way to bring the color to balance out the rest of the room. So I did color blocks around the wall hangings. It is pretty easy to do with a level, tape, and caulk. I also bought some wooden stars from Michael's and painted them with craft paint in the colors from the accessories. I used sticky tack to hang them on the wall to avoid making too many holes. We used the old wood letters that she had and sprayed them white. Then got that handy staple gun out and stapled matching ribbon on the back for hanging.

Another hint for kids rooms is to not get TOO thematic. They do go through their fazes and you want a solid bases for their room that they will not tire of too quickly. I always avoid buying character bedding. It feels like cardboard, what is the thread count, like 25? So stick to good linens and accessorise with some of the favorites. That way it is more cost effective to change it out when they decide, like my daughters, that High School Musical is "So last year!"

Where did our $300 go?

$20 chalk board/bulletin board
$10 HSM framed poster (blockbuster)
$16 2 HSM lamps (Target)
$10 Fabric for nook curtain (Target)
$6 Tension Rod
$25 Throw/Pillow
$30 Bedding (BB&B)
$20 Body pillow w/ cover (Target)
$75 Paint and Supplies
$30 Curtains
$5 Star/Paint/Ribbon
$40 Shelves (not shown)
$8 Hat boxes (TJMax)

Princess Getaway

This little girls room was complete in Fall of 2008. Her mom had painted it a nice pink, but then stopped when it came time to cut in. I have a lot of clients that do this. It is hard when you are dealing with a textures that goes from the walls right to the ceiling. Basically, your choices to get that perfect line is to caulk around the ceiling or use a sureline. I prefer the sureline method. This is a tool that you can buy at your hardware store. It is a bit tricky to learn to use it, but once you have it down, it is a lifesaver!

We decided to savor the moment and instead of just cutting in to the ceiling, we thought we would add a scallop. I did this by using contact paper and cutting out my shape. In between each scallop, there is a rhinestone that I stuck on with sticky tack. You can't really see it in the picture, but it turned out so cute!

I also found this amazing velour print, cheap, at the fabric store. I had to find some way to incorporate it. So I made a "princess cornice". You can purchase these on the Internet for around $300. They are round and a little cuter than mine, especially since it only cost me about $15 to create. I just bought a prefab shelf from Michael's. They also sell wood accents, lattice and stuff that you can glue right on the front of the shelf. Then I used my upholstery gun and stapled my fabric right onto the shelf. Hang that baby upside down, and you have yourself a cornice. I lined the fabric with a striped pink/white material. It was low cost and super soft, since it is right by her bed. You can even find a little trim and add as well, I used little balls on the edges. I wouldn't recommend this on things you plan on washing, but hopefully this wont have to EVER be washed.

She had this fun architectural detail in the corner of her room. I decided to use a light gauzy fabric to hang from hooks in the ceiling. She can close this off and play dress up in there. Then when she gets a little older, maybe put a bean bag in there and make a cool little reading nook. We all love nooks cuz they are so cozy, right? I found a little chandelier at Hobby Lobby for $25. Then I went through her closet and found some cute little dress up clothes to hang in there. Total cost for this nook was around $65 - no sewing required.

Use your left over fabric. It is amazing what you can think to do with it. I used hers to make a little boxed valance. Really simple with cheap (thick) curtain hardware (that you don't even see) and some staples. Use that staple gun too! It has a role in some of my best tricks. I also added a little trim and ribbon. You really can't go wrong.

Other than the pictures to the left, we found these other accessories mixed in with toys and stuff in her closet. Just mix it up. It can be very colorful and bold in a kids room. The whole idea is to give them a space to call their own. Somewhere they can hang out and be comfy. What better than to surround them with things that they love, mixed with a little things that you can live with, right?

Baboria Secret...

BEFORE:

I am trying to get a lot better about taking my pictures on the first consult. I always forget! So by the time I get to it, we have already moved furniture and are ready to go. I don't remember the color names in this room. A good key to go by when picking pastels is to make sure that the color looks a bit muted on the palette. For pink, it should look like it has milk in it. If not, you are going to end up with an easter egg bedroom. When that color gets on the walls, each wall will reflect off on another. The color will be brighter.

AFTER:

This room was done in Fall of 2008. My client had the bedding custom made, so we just went from there. It was necessary to paint the ceiling in this room because pink just doesn't look good with "builder paint", which usually is in the beige family. Just something to keep in mind if you are doing purples/pinks. Blues and greens in kids rooms seem to work okay with it. You may also consider just painting the ceiling white. Either way. But I love color, so we took the pink all the way in here.

Stripes are tricky on textured walls, but not impossible. There are a few tips if you are trying to get that perfect line on a texture. I use clear caulk along the edge of the tap. You can do this on a bull nose edge, or to make a shape. I only recommend doing it if you are pretty committed to the design though. Once it is there, it will need to be lightly sanded before repainting it, otherwise it will leave a line where the stripe/shape previously was.

Obviously, the client had not put her baby's pics in yet, but we got them hung. Always fun to use ribbon and knobs to hang your pictures. You can find knobs like this everywhere, but I got these at Hobby Lobby. Just make the whole and screw the knob straight into the wall. I use an upholstery gun to staple my ribbon to the backs of the picture frames. I also prefer a wired ribbon so that I can shape the bows.

I bought this vinyl at Target on clearance. I have noticed thought that Kohls, Hobby Lobby, and Target are carrying them now. So, you may not have to wait for it to come in the mail, unless you need something very specific. But for $7, this got the point across. We had a budget after all. I added this princess crown Christmas ornament to accent it. Think outside of the box.

These letters were actually purchased at Babies R Us by the nanny of the baby, so we used them. I believe that they were around $6 a piece. You can also make your own in your own colors by using scrap book paper and decoupage. You can do this for around $2 a letter and customize your colors. It is actually really easy and fun.