Have you ever tried to get a 5 {almost 6} year old to make design decisions?  Take it from me…you’d have an easier time ripping a princess dress from her hands. 

Um, how did she grow up so fast?

For H’s sixth birthday, we decided we would completely redecorate her room as part of her birthday present.  When we moved in, it was pretty hastily thrown together since
a) I was pregnant and also trying to do a nursery
b) she wasn’t really at an age where a big transition made sense.

Six just seems like a good time to make a change.   We never planned on letting her make all the decisions for the room but wanted her to have some input since it likely won’t change for several more years {shudder…when she is a tween/teenager}.   I had a general idea of what to do with the room so I ordered a bunch of fabric samples and figured I’d let her choose a few and we’d work from there.

Indecision should really be H’s middle name because we were only able to narrow it down to like 8.  Using a few of those, I created two mood boards to help focus our efforts.

Mood Board #1

One thing H definitely doesn’t shy away from is color!  In fact, she wanted to paint her room that bright pink but I talked her out of it.  {My childhood memories of the retina searing Strawberry Shortcake Pink on my walls helped make a strong case.}
1.  Her walls are already a bubble gum pink color but, since we are bringing in a lot of bright colors, I think we’ll tone it down and use Benjamin Moore’s Ballerina Pink on the walls.
2.  We already have the Catalina bed from Pottery Barn Kids but in the darker color.  If we go with this design, we’ll just paint it white.
3.  These three fabrics (here, here and here) are a few of the ones she choose.  We’ll use them in some combination on the windows, pillows and a chair fabric.
4.  In place of the giant extra long dresser and little toy bin she currently has, we’ll use a highboy, Billy bookcase and add in a desk {for homework}.  I love the style of the highboy and desk shown here but would want it in white.
5.  We have this Ikea duvet in our guest room and it is great.  I think it would be perfect in her room too.
6.  We’ll add in some artwork to go with the current art already on her walls which is actually just a bunch of pieces she’s painted/drawn over the years that we’ve framed.
7.  I could’t resist throwing in this flocked coin bank! She loves collected coins so this would be super cute on the book shelf.

Mood Board #2 (Currently my Favorite!)

Many of the basic furniture elements are the same in this one.  We still have the same bed {only not painted} and the plan to add a highboy, a desk and a bookcase.  The major changes come to the wall color and fabric choices.
1. The Misaki Throw from Happy Habitat is just gorgeous.  I love the colors and how cheery it is.
2.  Instead of pink walls, we’ll do a combination of Behr’s Silky Bamboo and a grasscloth wallpaper.  I think we’d limit the wallpaper to the wall her bed is on but I think it adds a great texture.
3.  Gold dot sheets would be fun over the plain old white or pink choices. 
4.  The bright colors (which are much brighter in person) of this chevron fabric are so fun.  I adore the combination of pink and orange.  
5.  More artwork gets added to the mix with two abstract paintings with the same hints of pink and orange.

I’m not quite finished with our living yet so H has some more time to change her mine again make her decisions before we start with the actual redecorating.  We’ll see what happens.

Are you currently redecorating any rooms?  Do you usually try to involve your kids in design decisions for their rooms or just do it?