Home Tour: Alaina's room

I finally got around to taking photos of Alaina's room! Her room was a work in progress there for awhile - then again, aren't most kids' bedrooms? My philosophy behind decorating a child's bedroom: no choosing a particular theme. Sure, Alaina likes Tinkerbell this year but 2011 was the year of little kitty cats and next year will most likely be something else. So rather than having to purchase a new 'theme' each year for her bedroom, I came up with an eclectic room that includes all of her favorite things (horses, maps, pink, flowers, elephants.... and the list goes on) but that was a bit more grown up and super functional and if she doesn't like... say elephants next year, we removed and replace them with the new animal of the year. ;) 

Choosing a color palette was first on the list of her room re-do. We decided on a few shades of pink with light blue & coral as our accent colors. The white walls and neutral carpet really made it easy to combine so many colors together! 

We already had the bedroom basics; bed, bookcase, dresser, art work, frames, pillows. nightstand, lamp but Alaina had a few requests of her own too, like extra storage and a dress up area. So really, I was just looking for new bedding, curtains and a large art piece to cover all the existing holes on one wall. I also knew she really wanted a chair for her room (I had already found one for Chase's room) and a poof - we love saying that word! :)  Once I was able to decide on the comforter and rug, her room came together surprisingly fast! 

 You can call me a pillow collector or hoarder, I don't mind because I wear the title proudly! I love accent pillows and am always looking for different fabrics and prints to combine with one another. I loved these casual white brocade pillows paired together with an Indian elephant print linen pillow. Alaina chose the small black lace pillow from Kohl's some time ago ~ she says it's the "final touch" to her bed. 

 This white tiered stand was originally bound for the kids' bathroom but A's red jewelry box fit perfectly on the glass shelf along with some extra picture frames and a small accent lamp.

The blue slipper chair was my last purchase for her room. It wasn't our first choice but the blue in the chair does work really well with the blue in that oversized world map and I really do like the pattern. 

This little wooden side table holds a box of A's craft supplies; markers, colored pencils scissors and inside the cabinet is her extra drawing paper. Chase tends to help himself to her art stuff while she's away at school   but he's always quick to show her what he created with her markers! 

 

I let Alaina choose some of the new art pieces, which explains the LOL. She has the same eclectic taste that I do... almost. Both the elephant and parasol on top of her bookcase were recent antique store finds as well as the cute little parakeet music figurine! 

I really wanted to find a couple of floor pillows for her room, her and her friends spend alot of time sitting on the floor playing barbies or singing on the karaoke machine - I might just have a future singer living under my roof ! I found 2 Amy Butler Euro Pillow cases and you can't really go wrong with Amy Butler! Turns out I adore her fabric as much as I love her scrapbook paper! and the best part? They were reduced to just $2.99 each! 

The map canvas ended up being the focal point of her room and it's pretty impressive! I think it measures somewhere around 7ft. wide and 5 ft. in height. Both kids love maps and globes and with the vintage globe collection downstairs, I liked that we were able to carry the map trend throughout the house.

Oh! Almost forgot, - Alaina's closet! She's at that age (7) where she's becoming increasingly more aware of how her friends see her and her stuff. I've noticed more lately, especially since we've moved into the new house, that she's hidden some of her toys away when her friends have visited. She's not quite ready to let go of her Strawberry Shortcake dolls or the My Little Pony collection (really, can you blame her!- ode to the 80's :)) but she also doesn't want her friends to see them in her toybox. So, I've put my hat-box collection to good use in one half of her closet. Each hat box stores a different play/toy set inconspicuously hidden away and yet still accessible in case she wants to play. I've also made sure to create the dress up area that she wanted complete with an old vintage suitcase filled with fairy wands and princess tiaras.

So, there's Miss A's room! Thanks for taking a look and I'll be back to share the photos of Chases room this weekend. His little room is much like Alainas only little boyish and overflowing with matchbox cars. Have a wonderful Friday!