Playroom becomes a Teen Room

One of my clients contacted me after SK Designs had completed work in her kitchen, daughter's room, study and master bathroom.  She was ready to update her kids' playroom to become a "Teen Room" for the kids to study in, watch TV and hang out with friends in. Her priority was that the room be updated, comfortable and attractive to both boys and girls.

The room has two very large sets of windows.  Shown below is the smaller side window before we got started.  The walls were a pretty pale blue, accented with hand painted stars and an inside mounted lambrequin style cornice treatment, which was recessed in the inset windows and mounted close to the glass. The window in the photo below is about 106" wide. The front window is even larger.

The homeowner replaced all the windows in the house and removed the existing metal protection bars, and added new pleated shades to provide light control and privacy, as well as to reduce the glare on the TV in the room.  The new windows and shades look great inside and out!

We debated whether the new treatments should be mounted inside the window area (as they had been previously) or above and outside the window opening, on the wall.  We would be adding comfy window seat cushions for the kids to sit on while they were reading or studying.

My client had the room painted a different shade of blue and added a fun rug with chocolate brown, cream, green and blue circles accents in a variety of sizes.

We decided on outside mount cornices with a shaped hem and contrast banding and cording. We would also have plush 4" high density window seat cushions which were wrapped in Dacron for extra softness and loft. There were 3 cushions on the front window, to tie in with the breaks of the windows and also to allow for flipping the cushions in case of a spill or stain. The side window had 2 cushions. The cushions were made in a great chocolate brown and blue check fabric with a contrast brown velvet cording. They are soft and super comfortable.

Several pillows were included, in a variety of fabrics and styles, to add comfort, interest and color to the seats.

Here are the fabrics we used; it looks like a lot of fabrics! But the room is large and could easily accommodate a variety of fabrics, textures and trims. We used a mix of taupe, browns, greens, and blues. I love this combination of fabrics together.

Here is the newly installed cornice on the large window.  This cornice was 155" long - a big beast!  I opted not to hinge this cornice for transportation.  I knew I would be able to move it out of my workroom and into the client's home without having to use a hinge.  But it was bigger than my 12 foot long work table, so I did have to add side tables to my workspace so that I could work on the cornices effectively.

I really do like the effect that the outside mounted cornice has in taking advantage of the height in the room and also creating a cozy seating area for reading or studying.

Hope you enjoyed this project!

Susan

Mary McDonald at the Houston Decorative Center

I went to the Houston Decorative Center (HDC) yesterday to pull some fabric samples for a client who is updating her childrens' playroom to become more of a "teen room".  Luckily for me, I discovered the night before that HDC was hosting their Spring Market 2013 yesterday also.  It was lucky that I found that out ahead of time because 1) the parking situation was going to be challenging and 2) I might be able to see a bit of the presentations.

I arrived at the Dec Center at 9 a.m., well before the scheduled presentations which began at 10:30.  I was able to score a great parking spot and head into the showrooms to start selecting fabric for my client.  I walked into the Schumacher showroom, and there was lovely Mary McDonald, sitting two feet away from me and happily signing copies of her new book.  She was also going to showcasing her new fabric and trim lines there later in the day.

Mary McDonald is one of the featured designers on the hit Bravo TV show "Million Dollar Decorators".  She is very funny and irreverent and has great style and design ideas.  My husband and I watch the show and she is our favorite designer and personality on the show.

Here are some of Mary's new fabrics and trims created for Schumacher (photos courtesy of Schumacher fabrics).  Aren't they gorgeous?  I love the specialty details and fresh colors.

All of Mary's fabrics can be seen at www.fschumacher.com.  They are all wonderful!

I had planned to quickly visit several showrooms for my client and make my getaway before the crowds began arriving.  However, when I walked out of the Kravet showroom and saw all of the chairs set up in the open lobby area for the panel presentation scheduled for 10:30, I decided to snag a chair and stay for a bit.

There were about 125 chairs set up, which filled up quickly.  The event site staff brought out about another 30-40 chairs for the additional attendees streaming in to participate.

The topic was "Building Your Brand" and was a panel discussion by Bill Stubbs (AD 100 interior designer, author and host of the TV show Moment of Luxury), Mary McDonald, Charles Pavarini III (Founder and President of Charles Pavarini Design Associates) and John Robshaw (product designer and author of John Robshaw Prints).

It was a great discussion with industry leaders.  Mary is funny and outgoing and willing to share stories of her experiences.   The audience was laughing many times at her comments and enjoyed her input along with the other panel members.

I was glad that I stayed to watch the discussion!

Later in the afternoon I met with my client and we narrowed down two groupings of potential fabrics for her project room.  Her project will consist of valances, window seat cushions and pillows, along with some new shutters. 

One fabric grouping is brighter and livelier, but the other group has some interesting textures and patterns as well.  Which do you prefer?

Hope to see you soon!

Susan