a bright, bold, and happy girl's room

The subtitle of this post could be "Or What to Do If Your Kid's Room Has Yellow Walls." Yellow walls, especially bright yellow, can be tough in any room, but I find them especially difficult to work with if a. they're in a bedroom, b. you don't want to enhance or play up the yellow c. you don't want to do neutrals with it and d. you don't diy and do not have room in the budget to hire a painter to paint over!

This is the situation a client of mine was in with their 7-year-old daughter's room. The bedroom is a very pretty but pretty bright Benjamin Moore Hawthorne Yellow. The colors for fabrics and bedding I initially wanted to go to wouldn't work. Reds, deep blues, and kelly greens were not my client's favorites. Pink, along with the yellow, would have felt too clashing and sweet to me. I was finding it really difficult to find kid-friendly fabrics that had some yellow in them along with some other colors I could pull out. When I discovered that the daughter loves orange, I thought, bingo, because I'd found this fabric. I decided to play up a tangerine and turquoise plan. The Kiki Pinata fabric was both the inspiration for the scheme and, with its bits of yellow, the glue that tied it all together. Lots of patterns break up the expanses of yellow walls, and white furniture along with some driftwood grey tone it all down. The result is certainly colorful, but very well-balanced.


As it turns out, my clients are shying away from the bright and the bold scheme dictated by the bright yellow walls, so they are going to spend a bit to paint away the yellow. Stay tuned for version two—soft and soothing—of this room!

In need of some direction for a difficult room? Get an idea board of your own, or email me to find out more about design services.

9 comments

Robyn Scott said...

I may be in the minority, but I love yellow walls - sunshine all around you! Bright and fun and inspirational as always, Casey!

casey at loft and cottage said...

Robyn, you are SO a yellow person if I ever met one. I love it!

Ashley said...

What a fun collection! Where is the pagoda light fixture from? It adds such a unique touch.

René said...

I like this mood board, but I'm sure whatever you come up with will be fantastic. I agree with Ashley - great light fixture!

Megan C said...

I love this, it is so cute! I am trying to use these colors in my guest room.

Kim@Chattafabulous said...

My living room used to be Hawthorne Yellow. I loved it! I used accents of turquoise and brown with it. I can see how it may not be restful enough for a bedroom. Looking forward to the revised version!

Valerie Wills Interiors said...

Love the orange and turquoise and the graphic prints.... your client should have gone for this... love it. I'm also excited to see what else you do though ;o)

Julie said...

Adorable - I've always loved that light fixture!

designchic said...

Love the moodboard...the geometric prints are fabulous!!