I’ve been pretty absent lately as I’ve been very busy behind the scenes designing and shooting a lot of projects. We finished shooting three full rooms at my brother’s house, then went to the mountain house to shoot the new rug collection for a week. A lot has happened and this summer is not slowing down, but it’s been so fun and fulfilling. I wanted to give you a little update on the next room we’re tackling and show you more as we actually design it. Here we are. This house has a lot of rooms and it’s so fun and kind of scary to figure out what to get done first. So my strategy is to pitch rooms to the right room partners and once contracts are secured we tackle said room (if you want a full subset within the work let me know in the comments, it’s something I’m really excited to share as I have a wealth of experience, but maybe more specific to those in the business). When I show my partners, I don’t always do it in order, but rather, the contract is finalized first and then based on the partner’s expectations and deadlines—which means that while you might think I’d put together the living room or dining room first, my 9-year-old niece (I’ll call her Kay from now on) is about to get a gorgeous bedroom. She moved into the house with an old bed and dresser, which is fine—she’s 9, but that prompted me to put that on the priority list. I showed Kay’s room to All Modern because her room (like most of the house) lends itself to a more modern design (curvy, graphic, contemporary with lots of flowing shades and organic materials in a non-rustic but warm finish). We negotiated, I put the design together, and I started shooting within two weeks. But even though Kay is 9, she is, like all girls, an ambitious child and teenager. I learned a lot from Elliot’s bedroom (more on that later) in that even though they still play with stuffed animals and crawl into bed with us at night, they are stylistically desperate to identify as pre-teens, if not quite teenagers. And I get it. I have evidence of how I feel this way in a questionnaire from kindergarten and third grade. When asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I repeatedly said “teenager.” So I get it. Ladies, if you want to decorate a “little girl” room, you probably have 6 years to do it. By the time they’re 8, they’re done with anything that looks “little kid” (yes, including butterfly wallpaper… again, more on that cautionary tale later). Anyway, I’ll show you the room and the key pieces. And if you can help me with some pre-teen ideas, that would be absolutely magical.
Room – Headboard Wall
The room is large and has beautiful white oak floors from Stuga and black windows from Marvin. We love the windows and all the natural light that comes in, so I’m going to add touches of black to the room to make sure it doesn’t take over and add window treatments to soften the lines. We chose Drift from Stuga for the white oak ceilings and doors. It’s a beautiful, large, well-lit box that anyone would be lucky to have.
It has a beautiful wardrobe and built-in bench. The ceiling is vaulted (with a really beautiful chandelier that is not shown in these photos).
Storage conversation…
Okay, for the record, the plans for this house were made 3-4 years ago when Kay was 5-6 and future needs were kind of unknown. Plus, these are just kids’ rooms, so the architect designed these niches and Ken/Katie put in benches. Great. But Kay wants a desk now. Do I think Kay will sit at her desk to do her homework a lot? Who knows. But she and my daughter really want a desk in their room (Elliot’s is for crafts and journaling, both of which she does twice a month in her room) mostly to feel grown up, I think. All I’m saying is, “Ladies, you’ve probably been sitting at a desk like an adult for decades, grab a book and relax on a bench!!” Only time will tell if she’ll use the bench much—I stopped pretending to know what kids like or dislike after 2 years. These developing brains/identities and patterns are unpredictable (as they should be). All of this means that even though we have this gorgeous bench, we really need to bring in a storage cabinet and I’m also really excited to put a cute padded cushion on this bench. The sconces are from Rejuvenation and match the chandelier and we love how graphic, modern and a little bit fun they are.
Wardrobe
As you can see, the cupboard was built by a carpenter and then covered with wallpaper (by Second Mile) in a gorgeous large gold Scandinavian pattern. At the end of any renovation you start cutting costs, desperate to stop the money flowing in, and the shelves were a lot cheaper than the drawers – still great, but yes you need some basic drawers for clothes.
What does 9 year old Kai want…
Well, while I obviously want her to love the room, her parents and I are very focused on making sure it’s simple enough that she can add whatever “Kay stuff” she wants over the next 10 years because we know her style will change and we don’t want to limit her. She wanted lime green graphic wallpaper one day, purple the next. She doesn’t want anything hot pink or pink in general (sorry, that’s bad? It’s just the bedding!) so her mom and I settled on green for the actual bed (gorgeous, but not lime green) and some soft purple accents. There will be a lot more to add, of course, but here’s the mood board (mostly from All Modern).
Table mirror | Pink lamp | Wooden tray | Desk | Office chair | Fabric | Bed | Candlestick | Vase set | Square object | Green base | Zigzag mirror | Cylinder side table | Black lamp | Dresser | Striped pillowcases | Pink bed covers | Blue pillow | Floating shelf | Curtain | Floor mirror
All of the major pieces here could be put in the grown-up room (and some could be put in the living room, too). They’re high-quality and fit right in. The accessories are a little more modern, but that’s okay—this room can’t feel like a serious room, so it’s fun to bring in some shapes that feel a little more “modern” (like the zigzag lamp and the handmade rick-rack curtain—this one is from Anthropologie, but we’re making a different version for the blackout curtains). I’ll go into more detail about each piece later (including the gorgeous wall tapestry we’re using as art above the bed—I hope so), but for now, I’m focusing on bringing in the funkiest things that feel the most playful. I’m going to skip the symmetry in this bedroom in favor of a more playful vibe, and I hope the desk (on one side) feels balanced with the dresser on the wall opposite the window. The rug, which we don’t know why it’s from our new collection, was designed specifically for her room, and yes it is the most beautiful sophisticated “purple” (dark purple) rug ever, and it’s honestly the one I will be putting in my room (coming out in October!).
But what do teens and young adults like in their rooms?
So this question is for those of you who have or have had a teen. I’m not on TikTok or following teen influencers on YouTube (obviously, lol) but I have a feeling they want things that feel funky, quirky, and very personal to them. I think they’re still into the “aesthetic” (meaning creating atmosphere) style which might include some LED string lights, faux greenery (do they still do that?), stickers, and little polaroids. We have a fun cork board we’re trying to make and I’m looking for funny shaped pillows for the seat (are food pillows a thing?). I think they love collecting knick knacks (at least Elliot does) so having a more dedicated place for that might be nice. Anyway, let me know if there are any fun themes or ideas they like. Charlie just wants stickers and doesn’t want me to “decorate” them (well, bro, I have other things I want to take care of) and I feel like that’s what they want more of – a color palette to put all their “stuff” on. So it’s always an interesting existential dilemma when you need to reveal a nicely designed room on the internet, but nine-year-olds aren’t exactly thrilled with white oak. I know I can make it look good, but I really want her to feel like she can grow with it and make it her own. It’s really fun to work with such a great partner and then add a really personal touch. I wish her luck!!!
*Photos by Caitlin Green
