"Project Teen Artist Reveal"

Several months ago, I was contacted by a past client who was looking to gift her teenage daughter with a total room makeover for her 14th birthday.  Surprisingly with all the kid rooms I've completed, I'd never actually had an opportunity to design a room for a young girl.  Sure, I've done some pretty cutesy baby spaces, but never for a teen.  As a self professed "girly-girl", I'll admit the prospect, in and of itself, was exciting.

"Doorable Stop" Doorstop by Dunes and Duchess

After meeting with the client and her daughter and getting a better understanding of the needs in the space, I was off to pull together a plan to present to them in a couple of weeks.  We knew we needed, a more updated bed, nightstands, a desk area and storage for art supplies.  Additionally, I thought it would be great to have a little seating area for reading and hanging out.  She just happened to be a pretty talented artist and had some pretty clear ideas of the look she desired for her space.  

She envisioned soft pastels for the color scheme, balanced with lots of clean white surfaces and touches of black and that's just what she got.

 

Here's where the space began.  Pretty difficult to imagine a young artist being inspired here, right?

 

 

First we needed to address the wall color.  Not a bad color, just not all that appropriate for a young creative.  After recommending several whites, the client landed on Sherwin Williams' Alabaster.

Paint never ceases to amaze. 

I don't know that I've EVER been more pleased with a project before.  I can honestly say, I did NOT want to leave this room.  Let's take a look around, shall we?

I'm pretty obsessed with the pattern mixing in this project.  There are no less than six different prints at play here and they all work wonderfully together. 

It all began with the sketch above and this beautiful watercolor print from Yao Cheng.  You'd be surprised how difficult it is the find youthful prints in pastel colors.  Apparently, more often than not, teen home décor items are made in bold colors.  Boo. 

With the inspiration pillow in hand, it was pretty easy to coordinate fabrics from there.

The headboard was designed by yours truly and handcrafted by Baity's Custom Upholstery, world's greatest upholsterer. 

You know he's good when a rough sketch (with jacked up dimensions) and tons of text messages can yield that beauty.

The JuJu hat was a must from the start.  Such a fun way to add color and texture to a wall.  The color was a little deeper than I initially wanted, but it actually worked quite well. 

It's not a Dwell by Cheryl project without a furniture makeover, so I went with a classic camelback settee on this one.  We'll talk more about that a little later.  For now, can we talk about how cute that vintage picture light is above the Yao Cheng watercolor?  Love it!  We opted for a small scale print on the drapery panels and this Ballard Designs Piper Mineral struck the perfect cord in the space.

If your client is an artist, you might as well commission some art for the project.   I love that these large frames give her the option to change out the art whenever the mood strikes. So fun!

We knew we needed a workspace for homework and art projects so a large desk with ample shelving was key.  However, we disagreed initially on what that desk should look like.  I wanted to added some warmth with a wood piece, but the client insisted that she needed a white desk so that she could photograph her artwork. 

I'll admit, I was wrong.  This large white lacquered desk by SunPan Modern Home is perfection. 

I went with long floating shelves and had a blast filling them with all sorts of girly goodies...

..including a few of her art supplies.  I'm all for displaying the things you use regularly in a fashionable way.  A couple of apothecary jars were the perfect place to store markers.

And since we all know that design is in the details, here are a few that helped bring this project together.

 

 

 

So that's it, well at least for now.  I'll be back to share the bath a little later.  What do you think?  Doesn't it just make you happy? My goal when I began this project was to create a space that she never wanted to leave.  Mission accomplished!

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Special thanks to Cam Richard's Photography for beautifully capturing the project.