Emily's Room Makeover - the real story

As many of you know, for Christmas my daughter Emily wanted to give her room a makeover.  This all started when she graduated from a twin bed to a double bed which happened within a few days of  a visit to the new Ikea store in Charlotte, NC sometime this past summer.

Emily is 15 and is a big fan of Pottery Barn Teen.  She had seen black, white and purple bedding in a catalog that came in the mail and fell in love with it.  She loves purple.  She loves black and white graphic images and she loves the "teen" look of this bedding.  I, however, had a different idea in mind.  As with any interior design job you have to meet the client's needs and I had two "clients".  The first was Emily with her style and desire for a very cool room.  The second client was my husband, Scott, the one paying for this makeover.  He, of course, wanted to keep me on a tight leash knowing my tendancy to want high end items.  This makeover was a challenge in more ways than one!

Scott and I had agreed that we didn't want to replace the flooring upstairs with more carpet.  He and I both prefer fiber free options.  We decided on laminate.  It is a scratch resistant surface that should hold up beautifully to teens and pets.  The room needed a new paint job.  We asked Emily to pick a purple that she would like to use.  We then chose a lighter shade of that color for the walls knowing we could bring the darker shade in with accents.

Emily had seen a desk at Ikea that was black glass with a clear floral pattern stenciled in.  We used that desk as the inspiriation piece for the rest of the room.  While I was at Ikea, I saw a black and white fabric that looked like it was designed by the same person that created the pattern on the desk.  This became the canopy and bedskirt. 

I had seen wooden wall cut-outs in an online design project and I knew that I wanted to incorporate that into the room.  I drew branches loosely based on the pattern in the fabric and my dad cut them out with his jigsaw.  God bless him.  We then painted them the dark purple Emily had chosen.  We added rope light to the branches so that they would cast a soft, moody glow on the walls.  What is not shown in the pictures is a canvas of the Eifel Tower that hangs on a dark purple cut-out that highlights the art.  My mom, bless her heart, sewed the bedskirt, canopy and all the pillows on the bed.

Emily didn't want any of her old furniture in her new room.  As a matter of fact, she didn't want anything but a desk and a bed because she wanted her room to feel spacious.  I knew she would need a night stand, so we repurposed a cube that had served elsewhere in the house for storage.  We added a base and the small size, 22 inches, makes the perfect compact night stand, just enough for a new lucite lamp, a book and a place to put a glass of water at night.

Some art by a local artist and a bookshelf above the desk to house Emily's favorite books finish out the desk area.  The windows were treated with a stripe on stripe sheer in white that softens the window and breaks up the light purple wall.

My two "clients" loved the result.  My daughter is thrilled and already has invited friends over to "sleepover" in her new room.  My husband was happy because I achieved what Emily wanted at a price he had specified. 

A friend of my commented that the room was very clutter free and that Emily would likely add her own touches.  It was as if she read my mind!  I purposefully did not add picutres, desk accessories and decorative items because I knew that Emily would want to put her own mark on the room and that is just what I want her to do, only then will it be perfect!