Creating a Dream Room for the Kids

If all goes to plan, Magic Man and I will be moving into a new home in September.  Of all the rooms, I'm most excited about the kids' room.  Our last one was kind of fun even though we were limited to what we could do in an apartment.  

Their bed is my absolute dream come true: easily sleeps four, works as a guest bed and has storage built in.  Amazing!  I only have a few blurry photos (but it was my favorite place in our apartment):

Ikea fabric is the greatest for easy to hang and then remove decor.

I started to research alternate closets because one small closet is not enough for 4 kids.

Then I started to look at isolated play areas for make believe time (they love their Ikea circus tent at my parent's house). 

Then I started to pull photos for inspiration - and see what overall look I wanted to go for.  Apparently it's chaos and color. Beautiful, beautiful chaos (and color).  Because you know they'll turn it to chaos anyway.

Inspired by the Dreamiest Editor of All

When Magic Man and I first got married I was a new step-mom to four little kids and I didn't have anything kid related - toys, movies, etc.  One rainy day we were desperate to entertain the kiddies and that's when the Audrey Hepburn DVD set came in handy.  

I put on Funny Face and the girls 

(at the time aged 3, 5, and 7) were mesmerized. 

They were so captivated by the 'Think Pink' 

number they started to refer to the movie 

as 'Think Pink' and not 'Funny Face.'  

I loved that they loved Maggie Prescott, 

the Editor as much as Jo, the Model.

Also being obsessed with all things Diana Vreeland I loved how they'd repeat Maggie's catch phrases that were based on Diana, like 'Pizazz.' 

All girls need to learn about Diana Vreeland, right? 

"This world without a leopard . . .

I mean, who would want to be here?"  - DV

  

Argh! Such a genius!

Now that we are in Austin, I acquiesced to some of the local traditions, like decorating trees on the side of Capital of TX Hwy for Christmas. 

But I didn't want to just throw tinsel on a tree so I decided we would decorate a small tree inspired by Diane Vreeland: 

Meaning Red and Leopard and we could shout 'That's got pizazz!' as we dressed the tree. 

However, with four kids (the youngest being a 2 yr old boy), and with a very limited budget, things did not go as planned.  And I'm not just saying that because I ended up going in my pajamas.

First, we decided we would not even attempt to pull over on the highway, so we chose a tree close to the girl's school on a quiet street - so not the 360 Hwy where everyone can see. 

I was hoping we would concentrate all the beads, ribbon and faux red berries in a tight cluster for just a pop of 'pizazz,' but the girls wanted to string the beads and ribbon over a few trees, spreading out the limited decor and diluting the design.  

You could hardly see the end product, but we were doing this for them so I was not going to tell them 'no,' -- we were in it for the memories, not appearances. 

There were no shouts of 'Pizazz!' or singing''S Wonderful' or dancing around, but we did leave in one piece with no fights or meltdowns so I was pleased.

Dreamiest invention yet? Probably Contact Paper

Not only do I line all my shelves and drawers with it - but I can't stop putting in on my furniture as well.
I scoured TJ Maxx and Home Goods for rolls and rolls.  The more patterns and colors, the better.

For my mini-bookcase I used three different patterns (because I can't stop).  Plus, I considered painting the bookcase like the Roll Top but just the thought exhausted me.   

This night stand came off lucky since I only used one and one color of paint.

I dreamt I had money to buy an awesome sofa

I mean like real money, like ABC Carpet & Home money or Anthropologie money (don't act like they aren't high end - their prices and patterns are so alienating they screams 'high end').

But alas, I do not have said money, so I had to settle for a Rooms 2 Go sofa, which was tres comfy. 

And brown.

Again, like the Roll Top (not to be confused with Roll Tide), I do not have a before photo but you can imagine a plain (read: ugly) brown and black fabric-covered sofa.  I dare say it's made of terry.  

So I took two table cloths from World Market (my version of ABC Carpet & Home in AL) and stapled it to the back and bottom frame and wrapped two cushions in it.

Since it's backed against the wall, you can't even tell how horribly I stapled it to the back.
But soon that wasn't enough - with no experience and without reading about upholstery, I bought a few more table cloths and literally sewed it on the arms.

  Suddenly, a thimble sounded like the best invention in the world, but I was working with such bare bones material, I had to suffer instead.  

Of course, if you look closely you see seems don't meet or match but who's looking that closely?

Not this guy, he just wants to cuddle. 

Did I mention that in AL I met and married a MS boy?  He's so patient with my hobbies and interest as I am with his.

(I am still learning how to dress for these activities.)

Zebras might be my dream animal

Ah, zebras, you have everything a girl could want: stripes, black and white and smaller versions of horses.

My mom is obsessed with black and white animals and growing up we were surrounded by toys and pictures of her favorite animals: panda bears, zebras and snow leopards.

Snow leopards and pandas are fine, but zebras are my jam.

So when I saw this white lamp at Home Goods I knew what had to happen.

Stripes

And florals, of course.

And baby zebra matches perfectly in the family room/ parlour/ living room/ library.

And clearly, between my two preferred home decor aesthetics, I've veered more towards the loud, brash, pattern on pattern type.


Now, when it comes to shoes, specifically Jeremy Scott sneakers, then we can talk pandas. 

I'd wear these so fast.

And maybe get front row seats as a Reward.