All American Kiddos All In One Room

Ladies and gentlemen...

...and I quote...

...from the movie Monsters vs. Aliens...(cause I'm a mom and that's how I roll)

"
Mr. President
...not only do I have an idea but I have a plan...I'm not going to kid you Mr. President, these are dark times and the odds are against us (have YOU ever tried to decorate ONE bedroom for 3 children ages 2, 4 and 5 who are not of the same gender persuasion). We need a Hail Mary pass, we need raw power. We need MONSTERS POTTERY BARN!"

You may be thinking...k, the girl has gone and lost her darn mind...

But I assure you...

I haven't lost it...I have FOUND it.

It's been 2 1/2 years since we moved into our "new home" but I finally have a plan for...

THE KIDS ROOM
Dun dun DUN!!!

I know...I know...you can't bear the anticipation, right?!

I do not have any BEFORE or AFTER pictures to show you just yet because we are working on the master suite FIRST (carpet and some furniture has been removed - we are on the move!), however, it's so exciting to me that I now have a definite plan that I just HAD to share it with someone...and who better than you guys, right?! : ) (That is if you still follow me since I've gone MIA this summer)

Alright, so here goes...

We're doing everything...NEW! New carpet, new paint, new windows, new lighting, new doors etc...I am STOKED. Especially since that room has been a source of depression for me for 2 1/2 years now. I can't wait til the fog has lifted!

I've finally decided to go with an Americana "theme". Not like a weird country Americana but more like a Pottery Barn meets Ralph Lauren Americana. Since my daughter and sons will be sharing a room for the next few years (don't worry, it's plenty big enough), I really needed to find a color scheme that was unisex (I strongly dislike that word for some reason)- feminine enough for a girl and masculine enough for the boys. You can't get more basic than good ol' red, white and blue. The main focal point(s) will be their new Pottery Barn Kids bedding pictured here:

The boys will each have the navy blue star quilt and matching standard sham (The Euro sham is pictured)

And Natalie will have the red quilt with matching standard sham

I know that it's not super girly but I do find it ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to have a room that coordinates well...sue me. I may do one of those white/cream drapey things over her bed...like a canopy of sorts to make it more girly/special? I don't know about that...perhaps.

Their beds will also be sporting the red and navy versions of these sheet sets:


I'll be breaking up the bold patterns with white duvets (the quilt will actually serve as more of an accent piece at the bottom of the bed and of course, for warmth)

I'd also like monogrammed throw pillows...thank you very much.

The beds themselves? The boys will have bunk beds and Nat will have a girly version of the same style in her very own big girl "twin" bed.

I'm going completely against my own grain by POSSIBLY going with a darker wood furniture vs. a white or black like I originally thought. My thought process on this is because my boys aren't going to want to have white furniture (this my father strongly advises me on). I'm also doing white wainscot (totally excited about this!) with white trim and of course my red, WHITE and blue "theme" so I thought the wood would help break things up and give the room some dimension and natural texture.

I already have a wood colored armoire with shelves and full length glass doors that will serve as a place for their clothes (I'm thinking some super cute bins or baskets inside and coordinating fabric "curtains" for the glass doors)

The walls will be a dark blue (I am almost 95% positive of this). For those of you cringing right about now, keep in mind that the color will be broken up with a white sloped ceiling (we live in a cape cod), white wainscot and of course, plenty of decorative wall accessories etc.

I ALWAYS have trouble with window treatments so I am open to suggestion. I do love roman shades so that may be an option though I'm not sure about color? Let me know if you have an idea for me. :)

The carpet is being replaced with a light berber - not white but definitely something in the lighter family. Because there IS hardwood underneath of the carpet (and unfortunately also underneath of some asbestos tile - not harmful unless broken), I wanted to pull everything up, refinish the hardwood and call it a day (I love hardwood), however, my husband wasn't a fan of having hardwood in the kids room. We are having the floors in our room and hallway refinished but he is adamant that hardwood does NOT belong in a child's room (tell that to Pottery Barn). Since he rarely voices his opinion on things like this (without being able to be budged by me), I decided that it is okay - carpet will have to do for now (BIIIIIIIG sigh...if I MUST...).

And an accent rug for color.

We will be replacing the ceiling fan (which right now is a HIDEOUS cherry wood colored one with BRASS accents - BARF - if it wasn't such an amazing fan (seriously works like a dream), it would have been gone long ago. Brass-wood combo's literally impair my vision. I was thinking of replacing it with a white one so that it blends into the ceiling a little - not sure - thoughts on this are also welcome. I know that ceiling fans are not high up on the "Do" list of haute designers but I'm a hot blooded girl and I need my air. The apples did not fall far from this tree and therefore my kiddos need air as well.

My AWESOME dad built two closets for us in the place of what used to be totally tooly built in drawers and hello...talk about an improvement in the space efficiency of our home!

Also, he is putting in a custom-built desk for the kiddos in the small space where our front dormer is. I can't wait to pick out a chair for it!

Since we live in a smaller home, I am all about using every square inch in the most efficient way possible. In this way, I definitely feel like I should have been an interior designer. My mind is always thinking of new ways to make our space work not only for our family but also for any future inhabitants should we decide that it's time to move on.

Let's see...what else can I tell you...

I'm thinking that the overall "feel" of the room will be something similar to this in color...white wainscot, dark blue walls, splashes of white and red...white wood for freshness..."wood color" for warmth...

Hopefully you get the idea.

Because, again, in the words of General W. R. Monger from Monsters vs. Aliens (can you tell that we watched that recently?),

"...not only do I have an idea but I have a plan"

Yay! I'm so excited!


Now...I'm really hoping that HomeGoods stocks up on their Americana decor...

That'd be super great, k? Thanks.

Have a great day everyone!

XO,
Jennifer

P.S. Just in case anyone thinks that I'm using this post as a platform to brag or anything like that, I want to assure you that isn't the case - though I do like nice things, I am trying not to be materialistic (I'd be a liar if I said that I wasn't completely devoid of this at times). I know what is important in life and it's definitely not things. This song (which is playing now) has been playing on WORD FM a lot lately and I'm so into it - what a great reminder of what is truly important in this world of GET. Hope you enjoy. XO