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Five decorating themes for girls' rooms
A garden party
'We used a garden theme in my daughter's room, and it looks great. The bottom wallpaper looks like a lattice trim fence, with flowers and birds on it. There is a border right on top of that with various birdhouses. We painted the walls above it a nice blue and sponged our own clouds on the top of the wall and on the ceiling.''
- milliondollarmama.jd
'For storage, pick up a couple of extra large terracotta-style plastic pots to throw toys into. You can also buy wooden peg racks for next to nothing and run them all around the room at chair-rail height. You can also remove the handles from a couple of dollar-store gardening tools and use the tool ends as finials on a wooden dowel for a cute curtain rod.'
- mamaroja
Crazy for daisies
'For a fun flower theme, I would paint all four walls one colour (I would pick a pale green, I think). Then on one wall I would paint a huge daisy - draw the daisy in pencil, then paint it out with artist's brushes. On the other three walls I would find a small daisy stencil and simply cover the walls with loads of little daisies randomly placed all over. The beauty of painting designs on walls is that you can repaint the base colour right over it if you mess something up; just leave up the low-tack tape that you taped off with until you are sure you achieve the look you want.
'I'd make sure the wall with the huge daisy was the wall the bed was against so it doesn't interfere with where your eyes are drawn when you walk into the bedroom. (The bed, being the largest piece, typically draws the eye, and you don't want all your hard work having to compete with that.)
'Then for bedding, I would get pale green and yellow ginghams and use daisy accent pieces, such as accent pillows and Roman shades, all over the room.
'The main thing is to first find a drawing or a picture of a daisy you like to copy. Children's colouring books are excellent for this because they are easier to copy than a true picture. Other people have suggested copying a picture to a transparency and then using an overhead projector to trace the outline on the wall. It's a great idea if you have any clue how to get a hold of an overhead projector (I never do). My main advice is, be brave. It's only paint, after all.'
- pisces1
For budding ballerinas
'In order to make a dancer's barre, what you need is railing brackets. They are what hold a handrail to the wall. You can get them at any DIY store. Then you need a wardrobe rod for the bar. If the room is carpeted you can get a couple of big wooden floor tiles cheaply and put them on the carpet right in front of the mirror and barre so she has a smooth place to dance. For a dance-themed border, craft stores carry a variety of sponges/stamps and you might find a ballet shoes you can stamp with pink paint. If the room has blinds or shades a cute idea for a window treatment would be to get pink netting like a tutu and loosely wrap it around a curtain rod. Then add a shelf for keepsakes that also has hooks underneath for a great place to hang up dance outfits on pretty padded hangers. If she doesn't have any, used clothing or charity shops often have them because girls wear them for one recital and that's all. It would make great wall art, plus she could wear them for dress-up.''
- jaksmommy
Primary colours
'My daughter's room is in primary colours. We bought some wall stickers of balloons and hearts for her walls. I made some balloon valances in red and put them over a white sheet. I made some tiebacks in blue and yellow and added some brightly coloured buttons to dress them up. I took a white lampshade and sponge-painted primary-colour shapes all over it. I took an old dresser and painted it white, then painted each drawer a different primary colour. I bought some bright-coloured clothes baskets for her toys. I have some bright-coloured milk crates for her books, stuffed animals and baby dolls. Finally, I found some stuffed balloons for the wall at a car boot sale. Be sure to check out your local charity shops and car boot sales for wall decor. I really enjoyed decorating my daughter's room and still enjoy searching for things to add to it.''
- tamest
Paper dolls
'You could make your own paper-doll wallpaper border. Find a border you like, then make a paper doll chain out of the border - fold gently so as not to crease too much, cut with a really sharp Stanley knife, and then mount it to the wall. For bedding, even if you don't find fabric that has paper dolls, you can do a chain similar to the border and applique it to a quilt all around the edges, and again (but smaller and maybe in a contrasting colour) on the edges of the sheets and pillowcases. You'd have to be able to do appliques (which I can't) or find someone who will for a good price. You could even paint paper dolls on the wall.''
- pisces1
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