A pretty pink playroom!

I was asked to decorate a playroom for clients who wanted to surprise their little girls (all four of them) for Christmas. The room was formerly being used as a holding room with a futon, some toys and miscellaneous items...we all can relate! The clients wanted the room to be pretty, represent their daughters' interests, and be different from the typical playroom for kids. Their eldest girl loves horses and was not interested in having too fluffy a room. Horses can present a challenge... they are often brown, big, conjure up cowboy hats and spurs, and do make for a great boys room. Since we were dealing with very pretty, feminine little girls- we had to bend this image and make it work!!

Embracing the brown, we added pink to the mix to pretty things up. The client really wanted to incorporate the girls' tire swing in the shape of a horse so I suggested painting it from black to brown, adding pink crystal knobs for eyes, adding a pink mane and tail and the client found pink tape to hide the rope it was suspended from the ceiling by. The carpenter hung it securely from the ceiling joists and giddy up!! Speaking of Giddy Up, I have a great resource I use for those stick on words/images that are so popular today. They do custom work so we decided on "giddy up" in a rope style font with two horses on each end . We applied this above the chalkboard that the homeowner carefully painted and had the carpenter frame in. A little shelf with a bucket for chalk and we had a great place for the girls to unleash their inner artists!

The two other focal walls were addressed: one wall had shelves hung to display horsey paraphernalia and silhouette pictures that I made for the client. A ballet dress was hung in honour of one of the girls' passion for dance. In the corner, the girls' Dad installed a mini plasma t.v. for them to enjoy with their friends. On the opposite wall I wanted to showcase each girl's hobby: horses, dance, and figure skating. The goal was to hang within their own frames a pair of skates, a pretty cowgirl hat, and a pair of ballet slippers. We had no problem finding a pretty hat or slippers, but the skates weren't pretty enough. I suggested they should be painted pink and relaced with pink ribbon, which the client carefully did ( the things we mothers will do for our children). The result was beautiful even though we were unsuccessful finding the shabby chic frames we wanted. We ended up using the moulding Walmart sells to "make your own wainscotting" - it did the trick! Below this display, we set up a pretty reading nook. This particular client is a great shopper with wonderful taste and searched until she found the perfect chair (pink and white toile) at HomeSense. A leather cube from Superstore to hold toys, a mini apple ladder to hold books and a little reading lamp all added up to a spot where the girls could cozy up and enjoy a good book. The crowning glory to the room was a chandelier with pink crystals. So pretty and the girls were thrilled with their new playroom that reflected all of their tastes!!

Pink is for Sophie

Sophie has loved the color pink since she was able to voice her opinion. On her third birthday she requested a pink party and so it was. When we built this house, we asked her if she wanted to change the colour, and she said yes, BLUE, with lots of PINK!! She has a sleigh bed her Daddy made her that is painted a pale yellow, and a pretty vanity dresser we inherited from a previous flip. I re-upholstered its bench in yellow and pink toile. She has a pink and white gingham chair just the right size for our goldilocks and a pink crystal chandelier. I am actually getting tired of pink and am looking forward to the day she decides she wants to change some of it! The bottom half of her wall is painted in blue as she requested, and I didn't know how I was going to separate the two colours. I absolutely love pompom fringe so one day I decided I would try it as a border. A few hundred (or at least it seemed) pushpins later and I was done. I love the effect and I satisfied my desire for pompoms. It was cheaper than chair rail, and I think, more creative. I will only regret it when she actually does want to change her room and I have lots of little nail holes to fill! Hopefully, that won't happen too soon!!!