Our neighbor, whom I adore & want to be just like when I grow up, has the most amazing daughter, Rachel. Rachel is kind, polite, sweet & yet strong. She’s exactly what I hope my girls are like when they get to be middle schoolers. There’s one problem with Rachel though, she’s going through a phase that I’ve been dreading since giving birth to Samster. She’s growing up. I believe they call it a “tween”.
The dolls are starting to collect dust & ‘mommy’ becomes ‘mom’. Sigh. Along with that her adorable girl’s room just doesn’t quite fit anymore…that’s where I come in. Her mom Kelly asked if I’d help makeover Rachel’s bedroom into something a little more grown up but still loads of fun & personality. The only stipulation, it had to be TEAL. I totally jumped at the challenge of course, I had such a great time making over Sam’s bedroom & have been dying to do it again!
Normally when I decorate a room (and here’s my full disclosure, I am NOT a professional decorator nor do I claim to be) it starts with a favorite item that inspires me & I work from there out but with Rachel’s room, and with Sam’s, the inspiration was a color. In that case you first have to start with one important decision…will that color be on the walls or will it be the basis for the decor?
If your child has a favorite color than you might just assume that you need to paint the walls that color. There’s one problem with that, it really limits everything else in the room. For example, Sam really wanted pink walls when I painted her room but I knew if I did that I wouldn’t be able to use the fun pink rose bedding or glittery pink picture frames…it’d be pink overload. The same goes with teal, or really any strong color. Not to say strong colored walls aren’t possible, they can be totally & utterly amazing, as long as your cool with keeping the rest of the room pretty neutral. I scoured Pinterest and came up with two idea boards to show Rachel so she could choose which route to go, teal walls or teal decor.
all images sourced on this Pinterest board
Which do you think you’d go for, walls or decor??
Kelly & Rachel were supposed to come over my house yesterday but I had to cancel at the last minute because we’re currently under possible Hand, Foot & Mouth quarantine. Sophie Monster has the sores/bumps all over her rump, a low fever & is the grumpiest clingiest little human. I have a bad sore throat & P is also not quite himself. Soph has a pediatrician appointment today so we can find out for sure. Cross your fingers it’s just a diaper rash/common cold coincidence. My girls are supposed to be in a fun camp this week & for now I’m keeping them home. I don’t know who’s more disappointed, me or them.
I’m actually a little shocked. Before I looked at the pictures I was pretty sure that I would prefer the neutral walls with teal decor but after looking at the pictures, I am IN LOVE with the teal walls and neutral decor. There’s much more flexibility than I expected. In the spring and summer you can use white and light colors like wheat or ecru for a little warmth and then in the fall and winter when you want to snuggle down, you can use greys or browns. I bet though that your neighbor will go with the neutral walls and teal decor so she can change it up a little more often. Can’t wait to hear and see the finished product.
I love the teal walls and neutral decor! And as for HFM – my girls (3.5 & 20 months) had it 2 weeks ago. It was awful. They were crabby and just a mess. Plus they broke out in the sores ALL OVER. It’s definitely going around the area.
We just redid our bedroom a few weeks ago and our walls are teal. I love love love how it turned out. We have teal walls and wood gray furniture.
I like the first one! I’m all about neutral walls in my new house so I can decorate in my favorite color scheme… Rainbow thrown up everywhere 🙂 also my boys had the exact same thing last week, low grade fever, sore throat and whiny clingy boys… Turned out to just be a virus!
TEAL walls! Only because we just painted our daughter’s walls a nice “tiffany” blue color and haven’t yet done anything else.
This was our pinterest inspiration…debating ordering the prints and just copying this room or doing something different…
http://ginnyphillipsphotography.com/blog/?p=430
Oh my goodness, I cannot even IMAGINE how long that wall must have taken them!
Teal walls, neutral decor for sure! Can’t wait to see the finished product. Let me know if you are taking on any more ‘clients’- I’m in the planning stages of my toddler and new born room for my boys and would love your opinion! It’s a Turquoise/Green/Neutral theme- here’s my one piece inspiration http://www.etsy.com/listing/73178884/handmade-large-owl-pillow-plush-stuffed that’s as far as I’ve gotten- pinterest is my new bff 🙂
Ooo, what fun colors! I love his rainbow legs!
Love for my room and unfortunately I am no longer a tween 😉
Good luck with the hand foot and mouth! That hit our household over the winter and it is no fun!!!! Keeps lots of children’s Tylenol and pop-cycles on hand! I hope she feels better soon!
I checked out the Houzz link you have on the right side of your blog one day and this project just reminded me of that. I like the idea of neutral walls with the color coming from the decor but I’d like to add the idea from your Houzz account: a teal ceiling! It’s a great compromise to not being overwhelmed by the color when you go into the room. The “paint inspiration” that you have of the pink ceiling and neutral walls (website says it’s photo 9) shows exactly how awesome this look is. If they plan to be in this house for some time I’d say go for it, but if they plan to sell any time soon they may want to be a little cautious because although subtle, it’s still a polarizing thing–some may think it’s fabulous, other will only think of the expense to repaint.
Oooooo! I never even thought of that! It’d be like being under water when you’re laying in bed looking up! GREAT idea!
And here I thought I borrowed your idea hahaha. Sometimes it takes someone else to tap into your own mind I guess.
I love the idea of color on the walls. However for a tween, whose interests are bound to change, I say go with neutral color and teal decor. If she ever gets sick of the color, then she can always change it up, or introduce another color to coordinate with the teal. The bright wall color really does limit the decor. My whole house was teal and brown, so I am partial to that color (whether it’s on the wall or in the decor)!
HFM is the devil, praying it’s not in your home!! Thankfully the older they are the quicker they get over it.
And teal walls, duh… 🙂
Are you on Polyvore??? If you are I must know your username immediately! On one hand, I’d tell you if you weren’t to get over there right now and sign-up…. On the other hand I know what that website has done to my life (made it non-existent) so I should say stay away…. Haha regardless it might help you with the design/layout portion! DEFINITELY try it out!!
As far as the room above – go for one accent wall only for painting. I’d also find one fantastic item in a coral shade as a “pop” item (maybe the light-up canvas could be it?). Coral is a complimentary color to teal so it will serve not to overshadow the main color – but to “compliment” it (I’m sure you know all this haha). Just a suggestion. And definitely definitely don’t forget a spot for makeup and jewelry and all that fun stuff she’s sure to start hoarding (as we ALL did at that age). Good luck! I’m excited to see the outcome!
Ooo, good tip with the coral & I didn’t even think about giving her a vanity area but that’s SO SMART!
I am not actually on Polyvore but I’m thinking maybe if baseball is on Fox tonight instead of my usual shows again (stupid baseball!) Then this is going to be on my schedule for tonight’s entertainment!
Did you ever end up doing this?
We’re in the works now, the mom is working on getting the room painted & vanity ordered while I’m going to be doing the dresser. It’ll probably take a few weeks but I’ll definitely do an update soon! Thanks for asking! (: