Fun Finds & Interior Design

My 14 year old daughter Courtney and I are talking seriously about re-doing her bedroom. Now that she is old enough, she has tons of ideas and opinions about how her room should look. She has a very creative mind and thinks alot like I do, so it has been so much fun bouncing ideas off each other. With her extravagant wish list, I decided that it would be better to wait a few more months to get it all done at once. I gave Courtney a few of my sources and asked her to "shop" for the pieces she'd like in her room and this is what she came up with.

The wallpaper she chose for the main headboard wall is this "Skeleton Key" pattern in Fuchsia from Room Service. I was on board with this wallpaper idea, as long as we kept it to one main focal wall. The rest of the room will be painted in white since we will be adding a lot of color later

Next we will add the headboard she selected. We both love houndstooth fabrics, so I was totally in love with this bed from Room Service. Of course we are upgrading her from a twin to a queen bed....Sweet!

We will keep the bedding simple, so we'll go with the sheet set shown. We'll add a couple more layers with a white ruffled blanket from West Elm and a throw. We will add splashes of color through the throw, shams and pillows.

our colorful shams and pillows done in pink, orange, aqua and black will definitely pop against this neutral background

This orange fabric will be made into a custom throw, perfect for those chilly nights

Now we will add our night stands. This beautiful white lacquer bombay chest from Room Service is perfect for either side of the bed. I love the juxtaposition of the classic lines of the bombay chest against the modern white lacquer finish. Perfect for a teenager's bedroom

Above each night stand we will add these bright orange mirrors for a splash of color and a great contrast against the graphic wallpaper

Instead of table lamps, we'll add mini chandeliers above each nightstand. this will free up space on the nightstands for alarm clocks and cell phones and such. This simple chandelier will add some interest without trying to be the focal point of the room.

Next we'll add a dresser for storage. This modern white and aqua dresser from Room Service is the perfect scale to allow for a seating area and a desk/homework area in the room.

Next we will add a piece of art above the dresser. My daughter is a very talented artist, so she may want to create her own. We may decide on wall decals, or a gallery wall with various sized pieces. We may even do a grouping of papier mache animal heads (If they don't cause her nightmares!)

We'll now add a homework station for our straight "A" student. This beautiful mirrored desk and orange office chair from West Elm will be ideal. We'll add three floating shelves above the desk for additional storage. Open storage may inspire organization....we'll see.

Next we'll add a seating area or a comfortable spot for friends to hang out. This gorgeous settee from West Elm is another piece in the room that's a nod to classic design with the tufted back. The contemporary lines plus the fabric we'll use to re-upholster will make it suitable for a teenager's hangout spot.

Of course we will add beautiful pillows to tie it into the rest of the room. We'll repeat some of the pillows we did for the bed area.

Now we'll add a chest to the seating area, to function as storage and a surface to rest books etc. This Lucite chest from Vivre is a fun and unexpected addition to the room. This may be another piece that will encourage her to stay organized. We'll also be adding a rug to define the seating area. Shag rugs will always be cool. This 100% polyester pink shag rug from Surya is perfect for some color and comfort under foot.

Now we'll introduce our window treatment fabric. We'll keep it simple with straight pinch pleat panels. This fun feminine fabric from Clarke and Clarke helps to tie our color scheme together.

Now for the rest of the lighting in the room. This chandelier will hang in the center of the ceiling. The owl lamp from West Elm is perfect for the homework area

Now for some additional accessories.

So there you have it. A fun and colorful bedroom makeover for a teenage girl. Hope you are inspired to create and decorate your dream home.

Now for my top three fun finds of the week:

These perfect bum dining chairs (male and female bums) from Room Service will be definite conversation pieces.

On a recent trip to England, I discovered a John Lewis catalog in the airport gift shop and totally fell in love with the pieces. I'd love to make this chair mine!

Talk about an impressive chair! This tallboy wing back chair from Room Service has really gotten my attention.

I recently received the wonderful news that one of my very best friends, whom I haven't seen in over five years, is expecting a baby girl! Of course we talked about nursery decor, but the reality is that she lives in Florida, while I live in Texas. I decided to do the next best thing, designing a virtual nursery!

I love happy colors in a nursery. The color palette I chose for this virtual nursery design is sure to brighten this space

First let's start out with the background...the walls. We will paint the walls in a crisp white with a green tint which will be the perfect foundation for all the color that's about to happen in this nursery. The color of choice is from Sherwin Williams SW6434 Spinach White

Next we will add a wall decal to act as a focal point in the room. this would be perfect over the changing table. This "Bird in the tree" decal is from Allposters.com.

Now we will add the crib. This beautiful crib is from Young America in the My haven collection. It is available in tons of colors. Our color of choice is a beautiful apple green. Very bold and bright and not very typical for crib colors, but that's why we love it.

Next we will add the fabric for the bedding. These fabrics can be mixed and matched for a fun look

Next we will bring in the other furniture pieces. Every nursery could use a sleeping area for those nights when mommy or daddy needs to crash. A daybed is a great way to bring in a sleeping area without taking up too much space. This daybed is from Pottery Barn.

We will use some of the same fabrics for the bedding.

Next some storage and a changing table

This beautiful accent chest from Steven Shell is the perfect piece that will tie in all the room colors.

This dresser and changing surface from Young America is a perfect match to the crib and will give some continuity to the nursery.

Every nursery needs a chair. This chair is from Wholesale Interiors and will be slipcovered in the beautiful geometric fabric from Kast Fabric

Next for an area rug. rugs are great on a wooden floor or just to define an area in a room. This striped rug from Surya also pulls togther all the colors in the room

We will add the window treatments to the window. In a nursery, having the ability to completely darken the room is not a bad idea, We will do some functional roman shades in this beautiful fabric from Kast Fabrics.