Five Easy Steps to Transforming Any Room in your Home

My niece is turning eight this weekend.  Her mom would like to update her bedroom and has asked for my help.  My niece has already developed a real style of her own.  She puts together the best outfits for herself...a combination of funky and eclectic and just totally cool.   The goal is to have her bedroom reflect her personality now and help her room "grow up" a bit.

The first step in any room transformation is to gather inspiration.  My favorite sources for inspiration are home decor magazines (I still love to hold a magazine and flip through the pages), Houzz, Pinterest, and HGTV Rate my Space.  

Eclectic Kids by Alexandria Interior Designer InDesign / Lori Ludwick

The second step is directly related to the first step...deciding on a color scheme.  In my case, the color scheme usually finds me.  What I mean is that while I look through my design sources, I am usually drawn to similar color schemes over and over again.  Sometimes it just starts with an inspiration piece, maybe a piece of jewelry that speaks to me, that transfers into a color scheme.  

The third step is to take inventory of what furniture works in the room and what will have to go or be replaced.  Any furniture staying in the room must be multi-functional.  The plan here is to replace her existing night stands with more functional nightstands.  I've been looking on Craigslist to find some makeover candidates.

In my niece's room the bed is going to be kept, but undergo a total makeover.  The plan is to upholster the headboard and footboard...currently covered with stickers.

Her current drapes will replace her closet doors, that are always falling off of the hinges. 

The fourth step is to create a mood board.  I use Olioboard to collect my ideas.  Here is one of the mood boards I have come up with for my niece's room.  The great thing about creating a mood board is it's an easy way to try out ideas without any commitment.  You can use items already uploaded into Olioboard, or you can upload your own photos.  

The fifth step, and really my favorite, is the execution of the room and putting it all together.
The plan is to have my niece's room come together fairly quickly over the next few weeks.  I can't wait to share with you her updated room.

Don't forget to stop back tonight for my Swing into Spring party.

The party opens at 8pm EST.  Hope to see you then.

-Judy

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