Kate Dreyer

When we first moved into our home about five years ago, my daughter’s room had bright green walls (complements of the previous owners … how kind of them!) and ivory carpet. Because my husband and I were already overwhelmed with a long list of house projects, we decided to leave the paint as is in her room and I decided to decorate around the green. And so her bedroom became a mish mash of decor and furniture that I lived with but never loved.
Fast forward to today — and in honor of my kiddo’s eighth birthday, we decided it was (long) overdue to give her bedroom a more grown up makeover.
She and I spent a few months going back and forth on the design, and finally settled on a plan that we both loved — one that could grow with her and not become too “young” anytime soon.
First, we painted the entire room white. I stenciled irregular black dots on two walls in her room (so much cheaper than wallpaper!), and we also replaced the flooring.
I kept most of the big pieces of furniture that we already owned, like her bed and dresser (both from IKEA), an aqua Jenny Lind-style nightstand that I absolutely love, and a few accessories like a cute Pillowfort lamp, her Pottery Barn Teen tassel curtains, and a fun, colorful throw pillow.
I added colorful textiles and accessories that would really pop against the backdrop of black and white. My favorite additions include a new colorful area rug, custom art prints (I turned her artwork from school into oversized prints), a cool peace sign mirror, and a vintage wooden crate that serves as her book nook.
Check out the whole room — including before and after photos — right here.

I shared version one of our colorful, modern playroom on Project Nursery a few years ago, but as the kids have gotten older the space has gotten a few upgrades since then!
Our IKEA Kallax shelving unit is still the MVP of the room — it’s the perfect piece of furniture for storing all the kids’ games, puzzles, books, and trucks. As the kids have grown, the cubbies made it easy to swap out the old toys they’ve lost interest in and add new ones to the mix.
We’re still loving our FLOR rug too. The multi-colored carpet tiles are perfect for this high-traffic room in our home, and they’re so easy to clean (a requirement, obviously, because there are a ton of apple juice spills over here).
We’ve since added a desk for my oldest in the corner of the room so that she can do her craft projects without a little brother getting hold of the crayons or glue, and I added some wall-mounted coat racks to one wall as my son LOVES playing dress up (PJ Masks for the win).
For more details on the playroom and the full list of where I bought what, check out my website.
P.S. If you’ve ever considered getting a FLOR rug — or haven’t heard of them and are wondering how they’re different from a normal rug — then check out my review (not sponsored, by the way) of our FLOR rug and how it’s holding up almost 5 years after we purchased it.

When we moved into our home a few years ago, we had no need for a formal living room.
But you know what we did have?
Toys. A lot of them.
And so I created this bright and fun playroom for my kids, ages 6 and 2.
A lot of the playroom inspo I find on Pinterest and elsewhere online is gorgeous, but so many of these rooms seem to have so many decorative items and not enough room for children to actually, well, play.
So I prioritized storage (for everything from Legos to Barbies), along with plenty of space for the kids to build or run or be crazy (usually the third option mentioned is the most popular).
The geometric rug helped to ground the space — AND it’s made from individual recycled floor tiles, which makes it super easy to clean — and then I added an IKEA Kallax shelving unit with storage bins for all our odds and ends. Both my kids love their cute kitchen set, and my daughter wanted a desk area where she could work on art projects and not be bothered by her little brother.
A book nook on one wall, a Land of Nod play table and chairs, and a dress-up corner round out our space.
And there you have it! There’s a glimpse into the most popular room in our home. :)
Wanna see more? Check out my blog over at Kate Decorates.
 

I love coastal style, but when it comes to nautical nurseries, many are often too cutesy for my taste. So I sought to create a modern, preppy space for my son by starting with some neutrals plus shades of deep blue and green, and then added nautical patterns and textures and some natural elements to his nursery design.
When it comes to decorating any room, I always start with one key inspiration piece and then proceed from there. By choosing a single piece that I absolutely love, I can use this as my guide for selecting the other furniture, decorative items, and anything else I need. For my son’s nursery, my inspiration piece was the adorable personalized oars artwork that I purchased from Minted. I just love that print — it’s sweet but also sophisticated and has beautiful, bright colors.
Per usual, I created this room on a budget. The IKEA Hemnes dresser was a Craigslist score (I swapped out the hardware so that it looked less IKEA-ish), the navy rug is from Safavieh which I purchased on Amazon for only $79, and I took advantage of sales and coupons to purchase other key items from retailers like Minted, Pottery Barn Kids and The Land of Nod.
You can see more photos and the full list of sources on my blog, Kate Decorates: https://www.katedecorates.co/decorating-ideas-tips/a-modern-nautical-nursery/