I'm Thinking Pink!

I'd like you to meet my niece!  Her name is Emeri, she likes horses, unicorns, ballet, butterflies, knick-knacks, picking ALL the flowers in my garden, and playing baby/mommy with her dolls (and with my Meg). She also really wants a new pink room. Enter Aunt Traci! (Programming note: Emeri is dressed up as a cowgirl for a fun extended family picture we did last week, she isn't a cowgirl on a regular basis, although she would like to be!)

Somehow the pink room has been commissioned to me (I am not a designer/decorator but have received this project because I love doing it. . . and I begged a little). Now I receive daily phone calls from Em describing new specific desires for her room ("I want a pink horse lamp and a princess rug for my floor that is sparkly and I want a ballerina bed with flowers and rainbows and I want a big doggie on this wall and a kitty picture on that wall"). While I cannot supply all of her demands (a sparkly rug doesn't sound like it feels very good underfoot), I have been working to accommodate my young client and her parents, whose decorating tends to be a little edgier than little Em's.

My sister, bro-in-law and I have been having a good time with this project, and have finally made some progress. I think I'll share what we've done so far and what we are planning to do, so you can see it unfold. Nothing like putting the pressure on yourself by stating your goals on your blog. Ah shucks, why not!?

First of all, we painted the walls white and this armoire we painted a light gray. It doesn't look gray in any photos, but trust me. We will also be painting the bed's headboard in this gray. It looks nice against the white walls:

I've been scouring the local sources for affordable fabric to stretch inside the doors (instead of the glass that formerly lived here), and finally decided on this stripe: 

I found that porcelain horse head on clearance at Home Goods. We may attempt to drill a hole in his head to make a lamp. . . although Emeri did say it was "creepy." Do you think I can paint him bright pink? 

Next week, I'm going to use a stencil to place a pink design on the largest wall in the room, which will be the bed wall. 

Or perhaps this one, which I keep coming back to. . . . 

These above designs are both coming from Cutting Edge Stencils on Etsy. 

Then we will decide on some bedding. Since the wall will be so pink, we thought it might be fun to bring in a bit of modern sophistication (to the delight of Em's parents) with a ready made duvet, then add lots of girlie pink (and horses and unicorn and princesses) with carefully selected pillows and a quilt at the end of the bed. Here are some options we are playing with:

These are both Dwell designs, one from Target, one not (the difference of about $250). But I am drawn to the casual open lines of each. In a perfect world, I'd take the top design, in gray (not black). Hmmm. So far we've been pinching on the budget because we know there are some high ticket items to come. . . 

We still have a long shopping list. We need a desk/bedside table, comfy reading chair, bench, rugs, wall decor and horse lamp. Tomorrow we'll be hitting the Pasadena City College Flea Market  to scout out any or all of the above items. Eddie and Jaithan, if you're in the area, would you like to join us? No? That's a shame. Well, you'll be there in spirit and I hope to do you proud!