My 20-year-old daughter will be moving out at the end of the summer to an apartment and her 9-year-old brother will be inheriting her larger bedroom. The problem? Her room is painted lavender. Do we have to repaint it or are there other ways to make it more appropriate for a boy without tackling those walls again?
He loves ships, trains, and planes and we plan to decorate it in those themes. He also loves building with Legos and we plan to install a shelf around the room for his larger projects and his stuffed animals, but are there some other storage solutions we should consider? His dream is be able to have a train in his room, but unless we can come up with a rolling platform that can be stored under his bed, I’m at a loss as to where to find that additional space.
“It is possible to make a statement wall color work with a new palette,” says interior designer Toby Fairley of Little Rock. “And I’m not one to say that a boy can’t be happy in a lavender room. But I will tell you that the very last detail of a room design that I select is the wall color. So, sure, the entire look of the room can be reverse engineered with skillful fabric and color pairings, but the time, money and energy that it might take for you to make it really look right could be considerable,” she says. “You will have ‘painted yourself into a corner.’
“And honestly, of all the design changes which could be made, repainting a bedroom is a very inexpensive and fool-proof way to transform a space and make your son feel like the room really is his,” Fairley says. “So my vote is for repainting.”
When it comes to displaying those Lego sculptures, Fairley offered several options.
“You might consider a single, large shelving unit; I’ve seen functional and attractive ones at Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn,” she says. If space does not allow for adding a piece of furniture for display purposes, or if a more minimal, modern look is desired, she suggests installing wall-mounted, transparent shelves instead with each one holding one structure and the shelves configured to replicate a gallery wall.
“The structures you choose to showcase are a great starting point for creating a color palette, too,” Fairley advises. “Think of them as the artwork that’s inspiring the design.”
As fun as model trains can be, the amount of real estate they require in a bedroom is substantial. Fairley offers two options, depending on how aesthetically interesting the train set is and how often it is played with.
“One would be, as you suggest, a very low rolling table or storage box that could hide under his bed,” Fairley says. “The other, and more visually interesting, option would be to find, or have built, a table that could fit the entire set that has a deep, inset top with a removable, see-through lid - probably not glass, if it will be taken on and off frequently,” Fairley says. “In this way, your son will enjoy the way his model train setup looks all the time, but the surface also becomes functional as a table, when the top is on.”Do you have a decorating or remodeling question? We’ll get you an answer from an authority. Send your question to Linda S. Caillouet, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203 or e-mail:
HomeStyle, Pages 31 on 06/29/2013