Chloe’s Mermaid Inspired Big Girl Room

Description

When we started this project, the room was in a very common state – they had already made the big move from crib to big girl bed but most everything else in the room was leftover from nursery days.  Her changing table was the first thing to go and we knew we needed to upgrade the lighting, window treatments and seating in the room.  Overall her mom wanted a bright, fun room full of colorful accents and with just enough sassiness to satisfy her little girl’s hot pink and mermaid fantasies.

Design Inspiration

The Nora sheets from Pottery Barn with their multicolored florals in hues of pink, blue and green inspired the happy, bright color palette.

Project Details

I made this sweet glitter letter name garland for her door using Pottery Barn German glitter alphabet ornaments but I’ve seen similar letters in the dollar bins at Michael’s!

The chandelier is an Overstock hack that I blogged. How ridiculously perfect is that mermaid C above her bed? I mean for a little girl named Chloe who loves mermaids, that was a no brainer. I think I squealed when I found it.

It’s framed in an IKEA Ribba that we sprayed gold. Her headboard is in sandstone linen, chosen specifically for how neutral it is and its ability to grow with her. The bedding is a fun mix of styles, not a matched set which I far prefer.

LOVE the nautical map. Because obviously a mermaid needs to know about the oceans of the world, duh. Kid’s nightstands always seem to become the dumping grounds for everything from books and drinks to toys and crayons so whenever possible, I try to forgo tabletop lamps and use wall mounted sconces instead.  Same bedside light without giving up that valuable nightstand real estate. The Astrid wall lamp is from IKEA and I love them because they don’t need to be hardwired and the pull cord is easy for little ones to operate.

The nursery toile curtains got swapped out for some IKEA panels that I embellished with hot pink pom pom trim. Instead of doing a pair of nighstands on either side of the bed, I did a desk on one side and pushed it up against the bed.  So technically it’s another bedside surface like a nightstand but it does double duty because it’s also a little vanity. This one is an Overstock hack that we painted a pretty Tiffany blue. The Victoria armless chair is a great scale for a kid’s chair that will also transition to teen years. I covered that cork board in this great metallic gold dot burlap.  It was one of those totally unnecessary things that turned out so great, it was obviously necessary.  I made the silhouette embroidery hoop.

Happiest chair in the world from World Market.  Admittedly, it’s the furthest from neutral you can possibly get and I did present a neutral option but I’m so happy they went for this big splash of color.  Amazing price too for an upholstered chair and very befitting an adorable Blabla mermaid doll, don’t you think?

The rug is the Martina from PB Teen (discontinued).  Rather than get a huge 9×12 and put most of it under the bed, we opted for a 5×8 to ground the area beside the bed as a play spot.  The colors are gorgeous!

Favorite Items

The hot pink chair and the sequin bow on top of her bed are my favorite things in the room because they are so over the top perfect for this little girl.  They are so un-apologetically girly - one of those things you can only get away with in a little girl's room.

Advice

If you have a very opinionated little one making requests like mermaids or fire trucks for their room, your best bet is to introduce those elements in the cheapest/easiest to change parts of the room.  For this “mermaid” room, I kept the mermaid elements restricted to just art and accessories.  That way, when she decides she hates mermaids and is all about butterflies, you don’t have to re-do the whole room!

Book storage!  Ack!!  Every kid’s room I work on is struggling with this.  Big bookcases are great but they eat up floor space and they need to be wall secured to be safe.  Whenever possible, I try to incorporate book ledges instead.  They let you store the books facing forward which is much easier for kid’s and they keep floor space open.  This one I mounted below the window which is an often forgotten piece of wall space.  In a kid’s room it’s a great height!