Room Tour: Sophisticated Teen Room

My friend Sarah has an extraordinary home.  It is such fun to visit; every room is infused with personality and color and unique trinkets from ALL over the place.  One of my favorite rooms in her home is daughter Lauren's room.  For a 13 year old, this is a decidedly sophisticated and whimsical place.

The beautiful headboard is a Craigslist find that Sarah stained a deep red.  The neutral bedding is from Target.  The lovely old armoire is from a neighbor; Sarah later repainted it white.

I love that this red isn't a typical "red wagon" or "barn red" RED; it is much more sophisticated hue.  Pillow from Target.

Sarah made this amazing message board center by wrapping cork board with a grey linen birdcage print.  Lauren is an avid artist; this zone is perfect for her to tack up her latest drawings and paintings.

This has long been my favorite piece in Lauren's room.  Actually, it is my favorite piece in Sarah's entire house!  Lauren made each of these gorgeous paper origami cranes.  Sarah then attached them with fishing twine to dowels and configured a kind of chandelier.  What an amazing piece of art!

Another of Lauren's paper crane displays hanging in a corner of the bedroom.

Thank you, Lauren for letting us visit your room!

Room Tour: A 3 year old's space

One of my daughters is 3 and she recently moved into her own space.  She is happier in her own little space and the size of this room suits her well.  We kept it simple, with the things that she likes.

I took this "S" from Michaels and wrapped it in fabric years ago; vinyl wall decals from Target.

This is her favorite element in the room, a thrifted and cleaned up play kitchen.   My favorite item I added was the coat hanger repurposed as a faucet!  I also added trim and bun feet to the base to give it a little more height.  It is REALLY solid and heavy - great piece.

I made this fabric banner garland for the back wall of her room and hung some ribbons from either end.  It is too high up for her to pull on but still adds a little visual interest to an otherwise blank wall.

This quilt was made a few months ago from my stash fabric and backed with really soft minky chenille.  Pink down comforter from Ralph Lauren.

Finally, this has always been her dresser; originally found at a local Goodwill for about $15 I refinished it with a high gloss pink spray paint and then added pink glass knobs.  Its not the sturdiest dresser ever but it functions well for now.

Such a happy little room.

Room Tour: A Girls Room

 

My daughter recently turned eight.  We have four kids...and each currently NEED their own rooms.  So after shifting people and rooms around, my eight year old again has her own room.  And she lucked out in that its the largest kids bedroom.  She requested purple purple purple.  We had a ball getting it all ready and she loves the space.

Her bed is SUPER comfy and has lots of mixed patterns and colors. (Bedding a mixture of Ikea, Pottery Barn, Target, Home Goods.  Bed itself a hand-me-down from a friend and painted purple by moi).

Tissue poofs hanging from the ceiling.

(Horse painting from Target)

 This dresser is as old as I am (37) and has gone through numerous coats of paint over the years (it was my dresser when I was a baby).  Its latest incarnation is a lovely lavender with clear glass handles.  Its a great, solid piece.

And finally a place for all of her trophies and ribbons.  I believe that it is important to display these; sometimes you need to remember how far you have come and what you have accomplished...even when you are only eight.

Children's Tour: Luke's ABC Room

Welcome to Luke's ABC themed nursery. It is a bright, colorful, warm space with thoughtful pops of vintage flavor. Lots of handmade details.

I love this vintage plane detail...

Lukes mom applied vinyl lettering throughout the room and it absolutely makes it.

The truck, plane and firetruck are new but of a vintage design. They add great richness and the "look" of history to the Luke's room. Plus, maybe they'll be fun to play with when he gets a little older :).


This nursery isn't long on space but it's better that way. Nurseries should be small, cozy spaces. Lukes' room contains a crib, a comfy armchair/ottoman , changing table/chest of drawers/bookshelf configuration, another small bookshelf and closet space. There is plenty of room for everything that is necessary for baby and mom.


I especially love this handmade alphabet quilt that hangs over Lukes crib. It is so rich and colorful and serves as a great focal point for the room.

Thanks for joining me on this sweet baby boy tour today.

Children's Tour: Sebastians Room

Sebastian is almost 2 years old. He is mine...and I am so glad :). He is my youngest and I have enjoyed making his room a colorful place that reflects his joyous personality. Most of the furniture in the room is from friends or thrift shops; my favorite thing in the room are the hanging fabric circles that I made. My other kids call them "the planets". Sebie tries to call them circles :). Large room carpet by Lakeshore Learning. Green lamp from Target.

All three of these paintings I found at Target; the smaller two are from about 6 years ago and used to be in my older sons room. The larger alphabet one I purchased about a year ago. Isn't Target perfection?

I found this dresser/changing table at my local Goodwill right before I brought my son home. I fell in love with the glass front drawers. I remember that it was $75 and when I brought an employee over to point out a scratch on the top she knocked it down to $60. It is a really solid piece, very heavy and well made. I still can't believe that I lucked out with it for only $60 (and that scratch is totally no big deal - I just like to negotiate when I can).

I found this little States pillow in an antique store in Orange last summer and fell in love with it. I thought it was the perfect size for a baby and Sebastian agreed with me :). He LOVES his blankies and pillows. Sheet by Serena and Lilly.

And what boys room is complete without a train table? This one belonged to my oldest son who has since outgrown it but it was in such good shape that I held onto it and have now pulled it out for Sebastian. He is just starting to play with his trains and the room is plenty big enough to accommodate the table.

That's Sebastians room! Thanks for visiting.

Children's Tour: Ben's Room

This is Ben's room...and it is such a dream. All boy, all cowboy and indians and vintage. His mom is incredibly talented and put a lot of love and and elbow grease into creating this room for her now 7 year old son.

Every little detail makes the whole room come together perfectly...

His mom describes Ben's room as "complete, family and cowboy amazing". After spending time in this charming room, I agree.

These are vintage barn doors that Ben's mom sourced and used as closet doors in his room. These doors are one of my favorite things about the room - they add such unique charm to the space. I wish I had closet doors like this in my house!

When I asked Ben's mom what she loved most about his room she replied, "I love the pictures. They are of close family relatives. I also love the walls. These took a long time to get just right and I love them". I also asked her about any ongoing projects in the room and she said that some goals were "to get his closet organized. After that, we plan to do a little club house above his room with a ladder going up to it. There is a lot of empty space in the attic and I'd love for him to have a little man cave to hang out in. A boy with 4 sisters needs this". WOW, that clubhouse above his room sounds AMAZING. I can't wait to take pictures of that to share with all of you - stay tuned for when that comes to fruition!

Vintage cabinet painted the perfect shade of red with Ben's guitar resting beside it...

Footboard to Ben's beautiful vintage bed. Notice the walls? His mom handpainted those...

Ben's mom gave me a little additional background on the room to share with you all: "When I found out I was having a boy, I immediately though of a rodeo picture of my mother's cousin from the 1950's. Once I found the photo, I had it blown up as big as I could and framed it. The frame I got from Ikea and stained it with brown stain. The other pictures are of my grandfather. The other frames I dug up at a thrift store and matted all the pictures in a texture rich matting from Michaels arts and crafts store. Next I wanted a cowboy themed window treatment. My father, who works in demolition, just finished a project demoing a 100 year old barn in the central valley of California. Luckily he saves a lot of goodies from his demo jobs and I get to sift through them. I used the wood from the barn to cut the window box out and use the rest to create the baseboards and barn-like door for the closet. On the window box are nailed on horse shoes. My mom bought me one with my sons name on it. Before installing all these goodies, I spent 1 month plastering the walls smooth, and painting them a *Paper Bag brown from Glidden paints. The wall pattern was a great find. I wanted something amazing for the walls and finally found it. The pattern is a copy from stage props of a friend. I copied each hat, cactus, horse, and horse shoe and made stencils. After chalking the walls out in a large grid patter, I traced and painted the pattern all over the wall to give it a wallpaper feel. Time consuming, but worth it. Lots of great treasures are in the room; moccasins my grandfather traded with an Indian woman in Oklahoma, My grandfathers spurs, and many other great antiques and trinkets. The bedding and curtains are made from old jeans, and the bed is from the 1950's. My friend called me and told me that the perfect bed was waiting for my son's room. I drove that hour to Vallejo and picked it up. The red cabinet is an infant dresser that was my mom's as a baby. I painted it watered down red and added a little black to the paint for a stained look. The inside of the cabinet is the same as in 1944. I sealed the paint to protect little ones from possible lead paint. As a child I played hide and seek in it, and now my children do the same".

Inside of the little red cabinet; Ben's desk...

So much history and love and attention to detail all in one childs bedroom! I find this space incredibly inspiring. It just goes to show what you can accomplish with a good eye and a willingness to take the time to carry out your vision.

Thanks for joining me on this tour of Ben's room - hope that you enjoyed it!

Children's Room Tour: Sadie's Room

(Sadie, who turns 2 this month, calls the pink poofs hanging from her ceiling "bubbles")

Sadie is my youngest daughter, and today the light was especially pretty in her room so I shot a few pictures of her space.

(Rug from Ikea, patchwork quilt vintage, white shelving unit from Target, crib a hand me down from a neighbor friend)

(I wrapped this wooden letter 'S' with ribbon. I also made the fabric pendant valance attached to the storebought curtains)

Sadie's room is the smallest bedroom, but seeing as she is a baby I doubt she even notices. She's got a crib, a changing table, dresser and two shelving units for toys and blankets, etc. It's a bright, colorful space and I always like walking into her room - I feel happy in there.

I got this changing table from a consignment store and the various containers underneath from a store called Home Goods. I made the artwork hanging over the changing table from vintage hankies and Modge Podge -such a fun project.

This pink dresser was originally black and I found it at my local Goodwill for like $15. I spruced it up with glossy pink spraypaint, added crystal knobs sitting on top of a red and white lacy print oilcloth and voila! SO much better. Its not the heartiest dresser in the world but it works for now and turned out really well considering how much I paid for it.


And that is my Sadie's room! Happy Friday!