Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Step 2: I'm Not a Girl {Babygirl's Room Design: Spatial Planning}

Hey there! If you are just joining us, we are on Step 2 of a series I am calling "I'm Not a Girl" where I am sharing my journey in designing a new room for my 13 year old daughter by going the DIY route on a budget.

You can find the list of links to all posts you can expect in this series here.

Today I wanted to talk a bit about spatial planning. I am an event designer and the concept here is the same as it is in my work. This is key in creating a room with great flow, keeping in mind the use of the room and who the room is for.

In this case, the room is my daughter's bedroom. In addition to sleeping and keeping her things in this room, it also needs to be a place where she can crash with her friends when they sleep over, where she can sit and read and do her homework, and it needs to have a great organizational system to help her keep her room tidy... since she is a teen and cleaning her room is not a priority for her. So she needs function and comfort. Additionally, because she is a teen now, I would love to provide her with a full-length mirror so that she can try on clothes and select the outfit that makes her feel her most beautiful everyday.

Now that I know what I want to do in the space, I need to measure the room so I have a better idea of what I can do and how I can make it work without being crowded or cluttered. I am a visual person, so it helps me to have the room drawn out. I tried out an online program called Sweet Home 3D. Now you could break out the good old fashioned paper and pencil but keep in mind that paper is in 2-dimension and will not look quite the same as it would once you place your actual furniture in the room. That is where Sweet Home 3D becomes handy. I simply dragged my mouse to measure out the walls in her room. I then placed the door, closet and window. Then I was able to play around with the best layout for my daughter's new space by plugging in furniture pieces. Through Sweet Home 3D, I was able to check out the room in.... 3D! Go figure! Check out how it looks:


Not perfect and kind of blurry but still cool, right? The thing is, I get to see how things will fit in her room.

It was very important that the room has as much open space as possible to allow room for friends to crash on the floor when she has sleepovers. Therefore, I only chose pieces of furniture that were necessary. To free up some of her floor space, we decided we will design her closet in a way that allows the proper storage of all of her clothing and place her twin bed against one of the walls in her room. She prefers the bed to be centered to the wall in the same way you would place a daybed. Since her bed has no headboard (and looks nothing like the one in this 3D image),  we  thought placing the bed this center wall was a cool and unique way to show her style. We opted to forgo a nightstand or side table and will instead place a floor lamp in the farthest corner.

I am hoping it will be easy to find a comfy chair to place in the corner next to her window, which will allow her a nice little place to read or talk on the phone or sit with her laptop. I am also hoping to find a nice little ottoman that I can turn into a storage ottoman, giving her a place to store her laptop and giving her friends an extra place to sit when they are over. A nice mirror in the corner near her closet will pick up light from the window, making her room light and airy and give her a place to try on and select outfits.

Now that I know what I am looking for in terms of furniture, it will really help me keep an eye out for those pieces when I go out to thrift stores or browse Craigslist. Sticking to the plan will help me stay on budget.

Now that we have the room all planned out, we can get to work! Next up... we plan to tackle painting over her dark walls. YIKES! I hope to see you there.


Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Step 1: I'm Not a Girl {Babygirl's Room Design: The Game Plan}

We are up to or eyeballs with ideas over here as we dive deeper into creating a room design for the kid. I am sharing my approach to making this happen here in the hopes that you will also be inspired and see how this can be done on a budget. Plus, because I am not all that experienced in this, I may also have some fails to share along the way that we can all learn from. I plan to share step-by-step to make it easy to follow along, should you decide to jump in the water with us at some point in time.  From planning and organizing to sewing and crafting all the way to our finishing touches and the grand finale where you will get to check out the before and after.

You can find a complete list of the projects we plan to tackle here. I do hope you join me on this journey. It would be nice to know I am not alone!

Let me introduce you to the kid aka Babygirl.
{If you are concerned about the Scumbag t-shirt, don't be. Apparently this is the name of her favorite skater.}

She recently celebrated her 13th birthday and she will be entering the 8th grade this fall. She is the sweetest girl with the biggest heart. She loves her sisters more than anything. She is very independent, loves fashion and enjoys creating things with her hands. We just moved into a lovely house and the room that she took belonged to a girl who was around the same age as she was but did not have the same taste that she has. The walls are lime green and eggplant purple with black decals of  the Paris city skyline. Here is what it looks like:

Overall the room is in great condition. The ceiling fan is nice and she wants to keep that. I am so glad that her closet doors are white and newer in design. And her floors are a nice warm wood. I would have preferred a darker wood but we like them well enough to keep them. But she wants the room to be HER space. And since I believe you should love the space you live in, it is equally imperative for me that she has the room of her dreams.

I know you are ready for me to get to the game plan, so here we go. Some of you have seen the inspiration board she created in a previous post, but just in case you hadn't, here it is:
OVERALL
Since we've just moved in, we don't need to throw out anything. We did that before we packed up and moved. But before I begin to purchase and place any furniture or dress any windows, we need to change the wall color and reconfigure the closet. Once the walls are painted, we will then stencil the wall behind her bed as an accent. As I stated, she wants to keep the ceiling fan, which has a light, but we will be adding a floor lamp to the corner and another near her bed to soften the space. And I will be making some really lovely window treatments with a smocking detail.

THE DETAILS
I'll be taking on the daunting task of creating my version of a pricey, ruffly Anthro duvet cover and pillow shams. We will also design several cool throw pillows to add additional texture and paint a graphic rug for the floor to buffer any noise that would potentially bounce off the floors and vaulted ceiling. We'll be creating some really cool feather decor items. And she will get her own chair and ottoman to sit in and do homework or read her books, as well as some really nice inspirational prints for her wall.

Gosh almighty this is a big job but it is the first of many that I plan to tackle in my new home and I am excited to make it happen because my babygirl deserves this.

See you soon where I will talk about spatial planning for her pretty new room.

xoxo


Tuesday, June 3, 2014

I'm Not A Girl {Babygirl's Room Design: The Beginning}

Hi everyone! I took a month-long break because things have been very busy for us! Babygirl and I moved into our new house. And then my business got SUPER busy during the month of May, but we are back in action and ready to make some progress with her room design.

I have a strong belief that you should live in a space that you truly love no matter how much or how little money you have to spend. I love making over thrift store finds and creating knockoffs of big-name designs. And that is exactly what we have planned for this teen girl's room. I hope you will join me on this lovely journey and learn a few tricks.... and hopefully you will be inspired and find ways to incorporate some of these ideas into your own home. I am not formally educated in interior design, nor do I have any real experience. But I know how I want things to look, I am a perfectionist and I love a challenge. And if I can do this, you can too.

Here is a list of the posts you can expect to see in this upcoming series that I am calling "I'm Not a Girl {Babygirl's Room Design}":

Step 1: The Gameplan

Step 2: Spatial Planning

Step 3: Painting Over Dark Paint

Step 4: DIY String Pendant Lamp and Ombre Cord {Part 1}

Step 5: DIY String Pendant Lamp and Ombre Cord {Part 2}

Step 6: DIY Dreamcatcher

Step 7: Closet Makeover

Step 8: Side Table Makeover

Step 9: Window Treatment with Tie Back

Step 10: DIY Feather Framed Art

Step 11: DIY Rosette Accent Pillow

Step 12: DIY Felted Pillow

Step 13: DIY Feather Pillow Cover

Step 14: DIY Smocked Accent Pillow

Step 15: DIY Ruffle Accent Pillow

Step 16: Anthro Knock-off Twill Tie Quilt {Part 1}

Step 17: Anthro Knock-off Twill Tie Quilt {Part 2}

Step 18: DIY Bean Bag Chair

Step 19: Thrift Store Dresser Makeover

Step 20: DIY Table Lamp

Step 21: Sources for the Details

Step 22: The Before and After