Kendall’s Big Girl Room – One Room Challenge – Week 1
Well, I done did it. I pushed that “enter” button. That very scary, utterly intimidating, and fully loaded “B” of a button. The button that officially entered me as a guest participant in the One Room Challenge. I filled out the form 3 times before going all in. The first time my phone died on me. The second time I got “distracted” (cold feet) and never pressed enter. The third time I said “Screw it! What’s the big deal??? I’ve already done two of these! What else do I have going on anyway?” Note 1: the “two” I did were documented here on my blog, but were never officially part of the ORC. Note 2: I actually have a whole heck of a lot else going on like two kid’s birthdays to plan and host in the same timeframe.
ANYWHO if you are unfamiliar, the One Room Challenge is exactly like it sounds – a forum for interior designers (professionals and novices) to transform one room over a period of 6 weeks. Each Thursday the designers provide their weekly updates which conclude with a week 6 full reveal. The idea is that this is less about competing and more about fostering a sense of community, inspiring each other, and channeling our own creativity. In reality it is a grueling and stressful process so apparently it makes for some epic Insta-story meltdowns. 😉 Either way, I’m here for it and I’m just praying that person melting down on social media isn’t me. I’ll save that for my kids and husband.
So now let’s get to the GOOD stuff – since the ORC wraps up May 9th and Kendall’s 5th birthday is May 10th, what better birthday present for her than an updated bedroom??? She is actually thrilled – and so am I. Her room is one of the last remaining rooms in the house that hasn’t been touched since we moved in 2 years ago. And even then, she inherited the previous owner’s window treatments, paint colors, wall decals and chandelier.
At the time she was super pumped because the room had belonged to a little girl around her same age so the aesthetic was something she really liked. And given that we had just been through the ringer with a stressful contingent sale, packing up a house including all the superfluous baby and toddler things, and schlepping a 3 and 1-year-old into a new abode, I was TOTALLY fine with her adopting the room just as it was. On moving day we literally moved her furniture in, nailed a few things on the wall and called it a day. I don’t think it has been touched since then. (Except that one time she taped a bunch of paint-sample cards to her wall… that was cute.)
Here is the thing about Kendall – she is super girlie. She loves to get really dressed up (her Christmas and Easter dresses are a daily staple) and change her outfit an average of 5 times a day. She loves to wear lip gloss and have her nails painted. She loves unicorns and really obnoxious shades of pink. Here is the other thing about Kendall – she is fierce and fearless. She loves to get wet and dirty. She is a tree climber and a wrestler. She won the Incline Village Ice Cream Eating Contest on her first try (see trophy on bookshelf above). She is a cheetah in human clothing; sometimes a cheetah in cheetah clothing.
So herein lies the challenge – to have her room be a reflection of her multi-dimensional and sometimes oxymoronic personality – without looking schizophrenic. I want it to be whimsical but not dainty; ethereal feeling with a punch. Sweet and also dangerous – like a baby wild animal. Also totally selfishly I want to like it too. So naturally when I asked for her feedback on decor, I only showed her options I had carefully curated. Fortunately there is this other thing about Kendall – she loves almost everything. 🙂
I almost started to write “this is actually a pretty simple project” but I know better – the second I think something is easy is when it blows up in my face! And I don’t have any time for mistakes! So what is my game plan? First I need to iron out all the wallpaper details ASAP to get everything ordered with time to install. Currently I’m thinking the fox paper will go behind the bed, and the leopard paper will go on some other wall. (Is it a faux pas to do two different wallpapers side by side? Need to check on that…) Anyway the wallpaper is dependent on finalizing where all the furniture will go (or remain) so I need to figure that out in the next day or so. Speaking of furniture – all the furniture is staying except the big Pottery Barn chair and ottoman (that’s moving to another room.) I’m also planning to keep her bedding mostly as is since we dropped some serious dime on that 2 years ago. Finally this week I need to decide on paint colors for the remaining walls and ceiling and start knocking that out. I would LOVE to paint the ceiling a fun color. I found this palette on Pinterest and am kind of obsessed.
How cute would “Duck Egg” be on the ceiling with blush and gold diamonds or something? I’m hoping by this time next week I will have checked all the wall decisions off the list. Oh boy, here we go folks! See you next Thursday!
Kristen
P.S.- Kendall was looking over my shoulder as I was reading about the ORC rules on my phone this morning. She must have seen the logo. Without saying anything she went downstairs to draw and came back upstairs with this. She is FOUR, people. Heart her!!!
