When my uncle called me in April and told me that he was closing on a house within the next few weeks and it needed my design assistance ASAP, I couldn’t help but panic a little at the quick lead-time.  I was balancing a full schedule of projects already and I knew that the house needed a lot of stuff, and a lot of stuff fast! The main room that I was supposed to be focusing on was his daughter’s bedroom, and as a single man, my uncle had no clue what an eight year old girl’s room should look like and what it needed (but who could blame him)?  I knew this was nothing short of a design emergency, so I scheduled a consultation with his daughter Annie right away to get to the bottom of her design style.

I always find it helpful when a client can give me photos of rooms they like as inspiration.

Annie presented me with this photo from Rooms To Go as something that she really liked…

While I liked the idea of purple, black and white, I thought it needed to be toned down just a tad.  I felt like we should take these same colors but give the room a more sophisticated spin- something she could grow into.

When we met, I gathered all my initial info (photos and measurements) and got to planning.

Here it is as the BEFORE:

Two weeks later, here’s the AFTER:

The project was as quick as Khloe and Lamar’s engagement! I couldn’t believe we pulled it off that fast.  I always tell clients that the time-frame on the project a lot of the time depends on how quickly we can make decisions.  I must say that my uncle was very good about letting me take the design and run with it (and didn’t feel like he had to approve any of the design/purchases in advance) which helped the project move a lot quicker.

The process actually ended up being a lot of fun. I felt like I was on a design competition show, and was just waiting for India Hicks to walk in during the install and tell me that my time was up and the challenge was over. Luckily for my intern Brennan and I, the mad chaos that went on the day of the install, wasn’t filmed and the ultimate judge, Annie, gave it a thumbs up.

We never could have done this bedroom in time if we had gone with custom bedding and custom drapes.  I knew we had to play it safe (time-wise) with PB Teen bedding and drapes.  The bold floral printed duvet was the start of our scheme.  From the bedding, the wall color fell into place, Sherwin William’s Wisteria.  Luckily, the room had wainscoting on the bottom half of the walls, otherwise the purple might have been screaming bright if it went floor to ceiling.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I’m not kidding when I say that Annie barely had anything to start with.  Her old room had taken her from her toddler years until now, so most of her old stuff was too babyish and not fit for a tween!  I literally had to purchase everything new (down to the box spring and pillow inserts) and/or had the existing pieces refinished.  I gave her my own pewter iron headboard from Weir’s (good excuse for me to finally get that upholstered headboard) and we had the painter paint it white.  I must say that I loved it SO much more this way! We then purchased two mirrored nightstands from Pier 1 and accessories/art/mirror/lamps from Home Goods.

I spray painted her old cream colored wicker dresser and bed bench out in their backyard one day (what a difference a $5 can of bright white spray paint can make!).  I then had my workroom make a black/white houndstooth cushion and some colorful neckroll pillows for her bench  We then had her chaise lounge recovered in an inexpensive cotton tone on tone diamond mini print. By the time we were done, even her electric piano matched!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I still think she could use a few more accessories (especially in the bookcase) and a fun piece of wall decor above her bed (which I’m sure my uncle would just love to hear right now… 🙂  but the perfectionist in me has got to stop somewhere…until next time!