A client of mine asked me a few months back if I could help her and Santa out with a little project. She wanted to gift her daughter a new big girl room for Christmas. So fun! So I went over, took measurements and pictures, talked with my client about what she wanted, and got to work.
Here's where the room started- it was basically a blank slate. She hadn't done anything in here since moving in recently. Blank slates are of course the easiest to design. You can do anything! This client was so trusting of me too so it was a breeze. Love that!
My client wanted a room that felt light and airy, but her daughter loves unicorns, glam, gold, glitter, turquoise, and black & white. Creating a space for a child that they can grow with is KEY. I never want to design a kid space that feels kidish. Have fun and whimsical elements, sure, but not be overall themey or childish. That's not the way I roll. The other specific requests my client had were a homework area, a chandelier, and nothing too busy. When I design for others, I always say let your walls breath. You need some empty spaces so your eyes have a spot to rest in a room. If you hang something everywhere, no one thing is going to shine, everything gets lost. So to me sometimes, less is more. Especially when you are after light and airy.
So, after a little brainstorming here's the design I came up with. I wanted to paint the walls white so that everything we brought into the room would be the stars rather than the paint color. To add to the light and airy look, I suggested painting the ceiling a blue/green to suggest a sense of the outdoors. There's something calming about a blue ceiling that mimics the sky.
A crystal chandelier, gilded mirrors and capiz shell art bring in the bling without being over the top or tacky.
To add a touch of whimsy, a unicorn head is displayed on a small wall next to the bed. This is something that can easily be removed when little miss grows out of the unicorn phase. All of the furniture can grow with her as well.
I suggested moving the bed in front of the windows. The windows look out to the neighboring yard, so it wasn't as if we'd be blocking an important view. To create the feeling of a larger window, we ran a 140" double curtain rod out from the windows, and hung both black out curtains for light control, and patterned sheers for added privacy.
My client painted the ceiling and room about a month ago, and then my team of elves, Santa, and I got to work on the rest on Christmas-eve-eve. What a fun project this was!
The little bench I found discount, recovered in Thibaut herringbone velvet
Target accessories
Home Depot mirror- demijohns from Tuesday Morning
My client's desk and chair from her childhood, passing down to her daughter. Large bulletin board for all the things...
unicorn robe, obviously.
the chandelier is vintage from a local consignment shop. still works, shoo!
capiz shell art, love the way the light bounces around
Nightstands are also vintage.. which I had my client purchase from another client. LOL.
updated bling knobs
Unicorn and mirror from Hobby Lobby
The reveal on Christmas morning was PRICELESS.
Thank you to my clients for trusting me from the start with this design and letting me execute it. I said paint that ceiling blue, and cover up the windows, and they didn't bat an eye. THE BEST CLIENTS!!
Anyone using a designer, this is the best advice I can give you (and I think all designers would agree with me). TRUST THEM!! You hired them for a reason. Trust that they can deliver! And not to mention, you hired them for their FIRST choice, not their third or fourth. That's where an initial design starts to fall away. Don't let yourself down that slippery slope. :)
OK- off to tackle the Christmas decor take down. Ooooph. Will I get it all organized this year? HA. Jury is still out!
~Ashley
