Choosing a palette for a girls' room

You know that 9 year old girls are my favorite clients, right?

Well, 5-year-olds aren't so bad, either.

I recently completed a plan for a Big Girl Room in a newly renovated house.  Mom spent loads of time and energy managing a gorgeous renovation, and she just needed a little help rethinking her daughter's space.  She wanted modern preppy (leaving the PB Kids and pastel gingham behind), and her daughter's main requirement was bright pink.

With pale grey walls and carpet and white trim and bed, I had a nearly blank slate to work with.  We discussed doing some custom elements, and that meant one thing: starting with fabrics.

I presented my clients with a number of color options, including:

Pink and Orange

Pink and Aqua

Pink, Red, and Navy

And a multi-color approach

As well as pink and grey and pink and navy, not pictured here.

It can be really fun to present options like this.  Some people can be overwhelmed, but it was quickly clear that this client knew what she wanted and we were able to zero in on a scheme.  

Often, I find people just need something (some GOOD things) to react to to figure out what they really love.

What do you think: any favorites?

Desperate.

I'm getting desperate for spring.  DESPERATE.

We have enough snow on the ground that it could be February.  Or November.  Or really anything but SPRING like it's supposed to be.

I want--no, need--bright.  And fresh.  I want to wear my new white jeans and put on my sunglasses for once.  I want to hear the birds chirp and start the garden and go for a bike ride without needing snow tires.  My brain is a muddle as if I have been blinded by the whiteness of it all.  I am so desperate that, in an act of superstition, I had my husband remove the paper snowflakes that were still adorning our doors this weekend.  Because maybe it's our fault and our little papercuts are summoning the real ones.  Right?

Hey, how about some bright, cheerful pillow pairings?

The pinks and blues on the right are destined for this living room.  So fresh and bright I will live vicariously through them.  

Which would you choose?  Is is Spring where you live?  No, wait, don't tell me.  Of course it is.

A Trend

I have a post in the works, one in the What I Learned From Decorating a Rental series, that talks about using what you have. In it, I list some of the things I am drawn to over and over again: the color orange, shiny things, chinoiserie, campaign furniture, bird motifs, and so on.

Meanwhile, I've been trying to hunt down the perfect wallpaper for my dining room accent wall (tricky in part because the dining room is chartreuse, coral, and teal, and looks into the living room which is more or less orange and brown, but nicer than that sounds), and I found myself noticing this chrysanthemum in a bunch of supermarket flowers I used for a dinner party.


It kind of reminded me of the shape and texture of the chandelier.


And as I started looking at wallpapers with big, round, petally flowers (mums, peonies, magnolias), I started to notice a theme around the house.





It is likely no coincidence that I recently read an old post on Little Greene Notebook in which the designer is selling off her stock of fabric and mentions her love of stylized flowers. I did not at that moment go, wait a minute, I love stylized flowers! But I suppose it is no wonder that I love her blog when she loves stylized flowers, did an entire post on campaign-style dressers, and picked the very same Domino inspiration-photo of raspberry headboards in a pale blue room for a blog post that I singled out to guide the design of the girls' room.

At first I thought, the chandelier is new, the flower itself is new, all these wallpapers are things I am looking at right now: trend. But in fact, I have been digging stylized flowers for years now.

The tour:

A velvet pillow from Urban Outfitter, circa (approximately) 2000 and in and out of the living room since then.


Linen fabric purchased in 2000, used to reupholster a pair of vintage 50s cane-sided armchairs. The fabric left over is in consideration for use in the girls room (Oh my, it just came to me: Shower curtain!)

Chinoiserie headboard and armoire, purchased by my parents a long time ago, inherited by me in 1999.


Hand-blocked pillowcases from ABC carpet and home, purchased for said headboard around 2001 (I wanted an entire set, but the pillowcases were all I could afford! Now in the guest room but, sadly, disintegrating)


The Dwell Studio for Target bedding chosen to update said headboard, 2007 or 8 (I was so desperate for this bedding that, when it sold out immediately in Brooklyn, I had my mom pick it up in the Twin Cities and mail it to me. Don't I have an awesome mom?)


Anthropologie Eternal Blooms hand towels and vintage Magnolia prints in the girls' bathroom, purchased this year.


Isn't it funny when we have a thing but don't see it? Look around your house: any themes you weren't aware of?

I guess I better officially add stylized flowers to my list of love-it-forever decor.

Unless, of course, recognizing it is the first step in moving on. Hmmmm..... in that case, what's next?