Saturday morning was a wildly exciting one in our house! The kids have been anxiously awaiting the story of their rooms in the Dallas Morning News….and it ran this weekend! They raced outside to grab the paper and practically ripped it open to the Lifestyle Section, and smack on the front page was Babygirl’s grinning face and room, with our Son featured on the back page.
You can see it online here, but since you have to create an account to read it, I’ll share the article and pictures with you: (I changed our last name because I’m scared of freaky-deaks).
Sloan, 5, and Jackson, 10, have stylish spaces with lots of special details to call their own. Sugarplum, 38, overhauled the bedrooms with the future and a budget in mind, and she gave the children lots of opportunities to get involved and personalize their rooms.
Cassie, who chronicled the bedroom projects and more on her blog, found much of the inspiration for the rooms online and from heirloom pieces and accents from her grandparents. Rather than starting with themes, she chose color palettes to build the rooms around. Sloan’s is a soft aqua with dramatic splashes of radish pink and a high-gloss yellow. Two pieces of furniture with classic shapes got a youthful new look with a fresh coat of paint. Cassie snagged a full-size bed off Craigslist for $60 and added a major shot of personality with deep, intense pink paint, and a high-boy chest of drawers that belonged to her grandfather became the room’s focal point after it was painted yellow.
“It helps that I had good bones for this room,” Cassie says. “The bed and high-boy are serious, sophisticated pieces.” The other statement-making piece in the room is the homemade pelmet that the room’s only window wears. Cassie built the piece out of foam-core board, duct tape and fabric. Then she personalized the bright pink piece by adding a felt monogram.
Cassie found inexpensive options for art by framing pages of a vintage Parisian calendar, post cards and even magazine ads that she personalized. And though she was fearless when it came to adding a faux molding treatment or taking the closet doors off the hinges to create a reading hideaway, Cassie wasn’t about to take on projects that required sewing. She found ways around it by using hem tape to create no-sew floor pillows for an art station and on Sloan’s bed.
There’s lots going on in the room, including a gallery wall with mirrors, art, photos and a place for Sloan to keep her treasures, but Cassie made sure to keep everything in the same color palette so it wouldn’t get overwhelming. Playful details such as pom-pom fringe, rick-rack, polka dots and fabric bunting keep the room from getting too serious. “I didn’t have to shop in the kids’ department to find ways to add whimsy,” Cassie says.
The same decorating philosophy is exercised across the hall in brother Jackson’s room. Rather than furniture getting the dramatic treatment, it’s a wall. The room is anchored by an accent wall with orange and brown stripes. “I’m kind of addicted to stripes,” Cassie says.
There’s not much pattern anywhere else, though. A simple brown and white comforter dresses the bed, and linen-colored drop cloths trimmed with grosgrain ribbon serve as drapery. “Keeping everything in chocolate and white unites it all,” she says.
Painted shelves and a mini desk that doubles as a nightstand give Jackson plenty of spots to show off his trophies and other goodies. Cassie wanted Jackson to have lots of places to add his own touches to the room, including his ever-evolving gallery wall. She also made sure to give him lots of baskets and buckets for storage.
“If you give them a space and place for where things go, they are more likely to put things away,” she says.
Cassie says Jackson couldn’t be prouder of his high-style room, which she surprised him with while he was away at his grandparents’ house. He’s very particular now about making sure things are where they belong, and he keeps things picked up and the bed made, she says.
Don’t think in terms of creating for a child; think of creating a great space. “I didn’t shop with a 5-year-old in mind,” Cassie says, “I shopped for things with impact.”
Find items that can grow with the kids. Cassie skipped the cartoon-y themes her daughter first asked for, and instead went with a subtle Parisian theme.
Think outside the box. Find uses for an object beyond what it was intended for. A magnetic strip meant to hold knives and other kitchen utensils became a storage rack for trinkets and art in Jackson’s room. It was such a hit with him that Sloan requested one, too.
Have fun with color. “Kids love color, and you can get away with it in a kid’s space,” Cassie says.
We had so many calls and well-wishes from friends and family who spotted us, and my son already has a copy pinned up in his room. Thanks to the fab reporter, Jamie Knodel, for helping me to sound somewhat coherent!
Then after the excitement died down, we put our son on the bus for his first overnight Summer Camp! *gulp* He’s been away from home before, but always at a friend or grandparent’s house. I fear this pang of panic is the first of 1000s to come as he gets older. And in four weeks, Babygirl starts Kindergarten! Life is moving much to fast over here. Lucky for you, painting is always a good distraction! First Living Room Project coming up tomorrow!
