When my oldest daughter decided that the Pottery Barn Owl room was the one for her – I admit I had a little bit of sticker shock. Out of anything she could have dreamed up – a shopping spree at Pottery Barn, however much I LOVE it, was just not in the budget.
We had been talking about updating her room for months. Originally, her pale pink walls were only painted that color because it was something we had on-hand at the time and we needed some kind of color other than “Pulte Puke” (the builder’s color of choice) on the walls. So we desperately slapped it up before moving in, with every intention that once we were settled, we would delicately pick out just the right color and do it up right. ….. About 2 years later, we’ve finally come to the conclusion that we are, in fact, settled, and even though I still have that 1 unpacked box in the back of my closet that I’ll get around to eventually, its about time to get the baby pink off the walls and give our girl something that’s a bit more HER.
When we started planning the room, we quickly decided, with her approval, that the pale colors of the actual Owl theme inspiration just weren’t the right thing for a Girl -to- Tween room. Bright! Bold! That was the look we were going for. We drew out a floor plan of how the new furniture would be – working with what we had and trying to figure out the best way to maximize her floor space. Then the first thing to find was the bedding!
Bedding
The bed is most often the focal point of a bedroom and so of course, we started there. Shopping sales for weeks, we looked and looked for something that suited her style, but was a good deal and would last. I am in love with quilts, so when this one went on sale at Target, the colors were perfect, she loved it, and so did I. This quilt set became the driving force for the entire room’s color scheme.
Paint
Our next step was paint. I don’t know about you, but I am not one to love painting – I want to get it up on the walls fast, done right, and I don’t want to have to paint the same wall twice. From painting the kids rooms in the past, we learned quickly that the “cheap” paint is not always the “cheapest” in price by the time you finish the whole project. Multiple coats could mean more than 1 gallon, which could end up costing you more than a One Coat, higher quality brand costs. Trial and Error have led me to Sherwin Williams and their Superpaint – best name ever – it truly is Super. One coat. Done. And since they tend to have fabulous coupons online, as well as 30-40% off sales, its an amazing deal. We brought in the bedding with us to pick out the color. Looking for something bright, not too dark, and would be a good background for any art, or decor we were to put up on the walls, we decided on the bright teal blue that was in the bedding.
Acccents
Since we were going with the owl theme, we thought – how better to make this an “owl room” than to paint a giant tree on the wall with owls sitting on it. Vinyl can cost a few hundred dollars to put up on the wall, and we looked into our options, but ultimately, a gallon of Trim Paint in the basement, and a few color-matched paint samples from Lowe’s made the main feature on the wall feel like it was almost free. Plus, if I do say so myself , it looks pretty awesome.
Finishing Touches
Since everything color-wise leaned toward the side of the blue spectrum, we wanted to add one bold accent color that stood out against the blueness of it all. The packaging that the bedding came in was Hot Pink, and it looked so fabulous, we could not help but pick that color. Walmart has some decently priced, energy saving curtains for under $15 in super-bright kids room colors, and it just turned out that they were exactly the shade of pink I needed. Perfect! Save in up-front costs and they’ll save me over time in energy savings– a win-win! We also grabbed a super cute bulletin board from Kirklands which we painted pink using some leftover sample paint, a super cute chair from Target, and of course, owls all over the place (We found our owls at the Woodstock Market & Show, Pottery Barn Outlet, Pier 1 Imports and TJMaxx).
My favorite places to look for things when re-decorating a room on a budget are the Woodstock Market & Show, the Pottery Barn Outlet, Hobby Lobby, Pier 1 Imports, TJ Maxx & HomeGoods, and GardenRidge. Where do you shop around town for home decor?
Final Look: The Owl Room
This is a guest post by Emily Parman. Emily is a wife, mother, blogger, and owner of Doodlebug Boutique : “Hand-crafted hair bows, tutus, & Accessories for your little Doodlebug!”. Find more of her creations on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DoodlebugBoutique
Leave a Reply