Sounds great! Whatever you do, it will be a great memory for you and your daughter. I lost my mom at 17, but remember well when I was 10, she bought matching bedspreads (aqua and turquoise flower print) with aqua criss-cross sheers for my bedroom (had to share with my little sister) and I was thrilled because it was the first time we really "did" a room in our house. Love everything you picked out so far, even the burlap shade on the sconce. I would love to see the cantaloupe color on the walls, with a paisley rug in muted blues.

Love the pouf! What does your daughter think? When you leave her with a catalog, what does she gravitate to?

All she cares about is getting "upgraded" to a queen sized bed and that it be painted blue...and that the pouf features prominently. :-)

She also wants to hang a set of frames that feature her name somewhere in there. They are bright, florally, graphic things from American Girl crafts.

She does have some original art that she bought in Jackson Square that will stay in the room, too.

Admittedly, if I left her to her own devices, nothing would match/blend/coordinate. That's not really her ummm....style or focus!

So far, it looks colorful, fun and perfect for a young girl who's into color and creativity. I'd love to see it finished, and think the choices thus far are fab! She'll remember this room and your efforts to fulfill her dreams. Go for it!!

I love it all! My kids, now in their 40's and 50's, still talk about how much it meant to them that I decorated their rooms on a very limited budget and all "homemade".

Okay, I've ordered everything (yikes!) and now I am off to consult the paint store about what to do with the bed - despite the fact that their advice for the red color was a dismal failure. I'm hoping the red will be a ::cough:: distant memory soon.

I figure if the blue is too vibrant we can tone it down with some Briwax Lime Wax. :-)

I'm actually quite excited about this. My daughter really hasn't had a done room since her nursery...so she deserves a nice space that will hang on through the teen years.

Oooh, I can so relate to the storage thing. My DDs room is very visible as well (small house, all one floor...)

When we first redid her room, she was 11 or 12. We bought two Ikea "Billy" bookcases to hold her tons of books and model horses, along with various storage bins for all the little toys. That kept things fairly contained, although once she got into clothes, that became an issue. We did a closet makeover then. We got another cheap Billy bookcase- a tall skinny one- and used it as the skeleton for a built-in closet organization system in her smallish closet (we swapped the bypass sliding doors for bifolds which made the space way more useable...) When she got a little older, she felt that the bookshelf was "too visually cluttered" and she lobbied long and hard to get the doors that Ikea sells for the bookcases. We did that last fall, for the bottom only, and it was the perfect solution. It totally hides the clutter in there but is easy to access (and looks good, and is cheap! Yay!)

I found that the key is to make it really EASY to use the various storage solutions, or they won't get used :)

Here are some pics of the room as it evolved -including a "real life" one from last year, ugh- (last one from her blog)

Strongly urge you to bank some of that money for use when the girl is an older teen. Have seen a lot of "she doesn't like it any more" stuff sold at a loss. At ten, they're all pricesses; at sixteen, they're rebels.

I love the VivaTerra pouf, too! Makes me wish I was back to being a preteen girl who could rock bohemian style rather than trying to figure out how to neutralize my husband's "bachelor pad". :)

Oil paint isn't a bad choice for furniture since it's hard, but if you'd rather use latex paint, you could always use a shellac or oil-based primer (I like Zinsser BIN). Check the label - it should specify it can be covered with a latex or oil topcoat - then have the paint color-matched in latex.

I hope you'll post pictures of the final project; sounds fun!

Have you thought about just something simple and elegant like this http://www.housetohome.co.uk/imageBank/s/Storage-solutions---storage-ideas.jpg ? Easy for her to put her toys away and classy enough that it will be able to adapt as she grows up.

Here is a link that might be useful: AmericanPlaque

staceyneil, seeing the evolution of your daughter's room is quite helpful! Luckily, I was able to do most of the "shopping" in the house - the bed is coming from the guest room and we are also going to move an antique wardrobe (also from the guest room) into her room to handle storage. She doesn't actually have bed linens with the exception of some mismatched sheets and a too small for her bed blanket...so that needed to be done regardless. I didn't want to buy anything until we were settled in our new house.

I would have bought a rug anyway, too, since I've found they really help with free roaming dust bunnies.

All told, the quilt was on clearance and was >$200 (with a bedskirt to hide those lovely plastic boxes!), the lamps were $150 and the pouf was $95. Paint ran me $20 - we have brushes, primer, etc.

Florantha, I can certainly appreciate the advice to save, but it's been many years since M has had anything resembling a real room - and, with the exception of the pouf - the bed, etc. can always be easily updated when my daughter hits her (more) rebellious years :-)

Granted, we'll need some other things here and there, but that will be a great start.

Looks like some fun choices! I am doing one of my DD's room. I love the pouf.

Thnigs are already beginning to trickle in...and I've bought a few small items around town. I'm trying to resist Hazelnut's lighted carousel letters...what I wouldn't have done for something so cool in my own room (but at $199...and this isn't about *my* tween girl bedroom fantasies, now is it?)

I need to get started painting the bed because it will take time to dry and then to cure before we can move it from its current location. I think we will be doing some painting this weekend. I hope I can find a play date (umm, I mean, a get together with friends) for M this weekend!

My husband and I got the first coat on the bed this weekend - Martha Stewart Lagoon in high gloss (not very high gloss if you ask me...but the coverage is good). We used the bullseye "over anything, top with anything, sticks to glass" primer and we''ll let it cure a good while before we attempt to move the bed into place in M's room.

She was pretty excited when she came home from a play date to find this:

in the guest room.

Beautiful! Can't wait to see more pics :)

I like that color--looks like you're off to a great start to obtaining the desired "funky & fun" look!

I have two daughters, ages 9 and 15 and redid their rooms last year. I do think you are on the right track; but also agree that you will most likely need to do a minor update in about three years. You cannot go wrong, though, focusing on storage, lighting and a good bed. For both girls I added several wicker type baskets for additional storage. Where the 9-year-old stores her American girl, Littliest Petshop, etc. the 15-year-old stores her sports gear, magazines, jewlery and books.

Yes! Very cute stuff.

Have you looked at our inspiration rooms in the Gallery? They have hundreds of pretty photos.

Bedrooms
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/decor/gal010651154004.html?56

Kid Room Eye Candy! Kids to Teens
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/decor/gal030827409081.html?21

Show me your Cottage Decor
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/decor/gal0407212710549.html?68

Why don't you and your daughter pore over those pictures for a while and narrow down your choices?

Here is a link that might be useful: Main Gallery Link

When our pouf arrived, it was definitely much brighter than the one in the catalog, but that ended up being perfect for us, since the quilt image was pretty darn accurate color-wise, despite reviewers saying it was "like a faded rainbow." My husband and I painted the bed and then let it dry for about a week before we attempted to move it into place.

In the meantime, things started trickling in - seagrass rug, recycled plastic (!!) rug, linens, wall sconces, etc. It was pretty exciting. Oh, and a shaggy dog made out of recycled newspaper that looks just like our beloved poodle mutt rescue.

So, without further ado, here's the initial "big reveal". Surely, we still need things on the BIG blank white walls and the very heavy mahogany wardrobe needs to be moved in, but it's definitely on its way...

Bed and pouf. Recycled plastic rug layered over seagrass.

Red IKEA HEMNES dresser with PBKids green dot ceramic knobs and a painting my daughter bought in Jackson Square with her birthday money the year she turned 7.

Bed and wall sconces. Floating shelf for books. Also, for some reason, the alarm clock didn't make it onto the bedside table for this photo :-)

Bedside (game) table that we bought in a shop in the Quarter a couple of years ago. Close up of the plastic rug and recycled dog (who, admittedly, doesn't photograph well!)

With wall sconce turned off.

Our rooms are quite oddly shaped, so it's hard to get a good "full view" image of anything.

Everything is beautiful. I especially like the IKEA Hemnes dresser (had to look it up, it's so cute) and the painting your DD picked out. I'll bet she's really excited with her new room, and her friends will be so jealous!
Dee

I bet your daughter is trilled. Everything turned out so good, but may favorite thing is the painted bed.

Laurie

Adorable!! Your daughter must love it:) (So must Mom!)
Hope she enjoys her new sweet room!

Sooo cute!!

I love it!

That turned out fantastic--you did a great job pulling it all together!

In one word....WOWZA!

Check out curtains at Anthropologie.

This bolster might work:

They also have some tchochkes that could work:

Is there an Ikea near you? This is just 5 bucks for 5 cards you could probably put in a row of 4" x 6" frames over the bed. I just think they're cute.

Marcolo, we definitely need drapes - not so much for privacy (we have a about 24" inches between our house and neighbors and conveniently, our windows don't "match up"- but for a bit of texture and color. I will have to see if 108" will do it.

There is a pillow coming for the bed, and M made a series of little 3D paper frames that spell her name that I will hang over the bed once I get the hardware to install the hanging knobs.

I am putting up a large corkboard on the wall that cannot be seen from the "public spaces" of the house so she can hang whatever notices, etc. there. We also have a peg board where she hangs her karate belts on the back of the closet door. None of that stuff is in yet :-) I am just enjoying the lack of "stuff" (of course, the Littlest Pet Shop is out in the formal living room, so it's all smoke and mirrors!)

Thanks for all the kind words - this room was actually quite easy and fun to do. Usually, I labor over stuff forever and then don't really get it where I want it. Maybe I should get out of my comfort zone more often!

I really like what you are doing in your daughter's room-the pouf looks great in there! My three older girls (15, 12, and 10) want to re-do their bedroom; I'm going to show them your dd's room for inspiration. Clean, colorful, NO clothes everywhere! ;) They desperately need some closet organization.

timber.j,

Here's my daughter's closet which, thanks to the collective brain power of my contractor and his crew, will work until my daughter grows another inch or so. Right now, her dresses just barely fit on the top row. Luckily, we have two small closets in this room, so the one on the other side (that is currently empty) will eventually hold longer hanging things. Those plastic cubes on the left are from Target and they come with shelves and fabric baskets that turn it into a "system" of sorts. M's hold belts, hats, scarves, etc. Shoes go on the other shelves. Her tall Hunters are somewhere in there - or in the back hall with mine. I think our daughter has too much clothing, but...we do manage to keep it under control. Until my daughter got a dresser, we *never* had neat organized clothing. I notice that she is wearing more of her stuff - rather than just the things that would be on the top of the clean laundry basket. Oh, and she also has one of those "grabber" things to get the items off the top bar. I use it to change the ceiling fan :-)

Darling! And I want the dog!!!!

Thanks, grlwprls! They have a huge closet space to work with, fortunately, it just needs some sort of system. They don't have enough drawers OR hanging space, so it is hard to put clothes away. Maybe we should start by decluttering and then seeing what they need for storage.

I have the same polka dotted bin from Target :) I didn't realize it fit into shelves.

I have been enjoying seeing your progress-your kitchen is looking awesome, too! Does your whole house have those great doors and handles?!

So cute! I love the pouf. The bed looks great. I was in Michael's earlier and saw they have a lot of cute fabric now. Up to 2 yards, and some smaller amounts. You could made a new shade with some fabric.

Inexpensive artwork - take embroidery hoops in various sizes, paint and insert various fabrics. Or spray glue to foam core. Or adhere to mounted canvases, wrapping sides.

Check etsy for adorable, handmade buys and/or ideas. I love the pom pom balls to hang from the ceiling in various sizes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Etsy

Yes, we have those panel doors everywhere except the guest room - the knobs are actually new Emtek...almond porcelain with flat black rosette. The only doors where we don't have the porcelain knobs are where we might be going out carrying something - like the back door to the grill or the master bedroom courtyard - those have a very plain square lever you can operate with your elbow so as to not interfere with carrying your wine glass.

The guest room has shutters - old cypress - but all the guests collectively hate them (!) so I am going to have to get a (more) traditional set up for that room.