Henri's Room Reveal! Plus Our "Hand" Made Artwork!

Back at the beginning of this month, I blogged about my first design assignment to decorate my nephew Henri's room.  I also posted a blog about the inspiration I found and everything I bought for his room. Since our family came for a visit over Thanksgiving I was able to hand over all the goodies for Henri's room.  Amber and Ryan got to work quickly and got his room all set up, so now we can REVEAL THE AFTER PHOTOS!!!

So, again here is the 'Before'

Now, (drumroll) the 'Afters'!!!! 

I was a little sad I couldn't be there when Henri got to see it, my sister in law said he just kept smiling and pointing at all the new things.  When he would point she said he would do his cute little grunting thing, so I think that means he loved it! I mainly added new textiles to the room, so I know I didn't do any big crazy changes but goodness, $150 (you can read the budget breakdown here) of new things to brighten up the room and add color really made a big difference!

I added Henri's initals to the frames I picked up at Ikea!

We made the cute wall canvas all together while they were in town.  I love sentimental art, and I think this is really special for Henri to have since he doesn't get to see his Auntie and Uncle very much.

 

So this little yellow stool that was only $7.99 at Ikea turned out to be Henri's favorite new thing!  While he was at our house he would sit on it and kick his little legs or he would push it all around our house while giggling. We still have to bring the art easel we mentioned in the last blog to their house, but he is still a little young for that now anyway.

Here is a super cute picture of Henri playing in his fun colorful new room! You can also see the bright new bedding. I love all the bold colors and those curtains are so fun!

Here is a closer view of the handprint canvas and you can see the back wall with the addition of the cloud decals I ordered from Etsy.

 We captured the moment when we made the artwork for his wall, it was so much fun!  Here are Henri's momma in red and papa in green getting messy with the paint!

Auntie and Uncle were yellow and blue!

Alex and I in action!

Henri made orange handprints, it was SO cute when he touched the paint with his hands!  He made the cutest little grunting sound and a scruched up smile!

Here's the final product for Henri's wall (don't you love the little orange blobs from Henri)?!  We all signed the corner with our names and the date.  I hope he loves it as he gets older and holds on to it, you know, like bring it with him to college (hehe, JK)!

So, what do you think?!?!  I've never decorated a kid's room before, but it was so much fun departing from my world of black, white, grey, blue and all things dull and neutral!  Thanks for following up and checking out Henri's room! I really wanted him to have a bright, fun playful space to grow in and I think it turned out amazing and I am happy Amber and Ryan let me help out!

Design Assignment: Got My Shop On for Henri's New Room!

Update on the progress I made for our nephew Henri's room redo!  With my inspiration in mind, I decided to start at Ikea to look for some kid's room items.  We have been to Ikea many, many times before and I usually avoid the kid's area like the plague (it always looks wild and I am worried I might trip over all the kids running around)! But for someone like me new to the idea of decorating a kid's room, it was fantastic!  I loved looking at all the inspiration rooms they had set up.  First I wrote down notes of the things I thought worked with my idea and then, I got started collecting all the items while keeping that $200 budget in mind! So here is what I got at Ikea:

Polarvide Throw: $3.49

Vitaminer Vimpel curtains: $24.99

Vitaminer Trumma crib duvet set: $7.99

Vildris Duvet Cover and Shams: $9.99 (looks gray but the dots are a lime-y green in person)

Lekfull Land Rug: $6.99

Lekfull Stad Rug: $6.99

Mammut Stool: $7.99

Art Easel: $14.99

Nyttja Frames: (4) @ $3.99 each in red and white colors

I also picked up a crib duvet insert and crib sheet to match. I will still need to get sheets for the bed (I think the adult sheets at Ikea feel very much like gauze) and some decorative pillows. I'm really hoping I can find those at the ol' Tar-jay (Target).

I ordered the perfect wall decals (on the very top) on Etsy from Stephen Edward Graphics shop, for only $16! Aren't they cute?!?

I'm still unsure about what wall art I will get for the frames, but I suppose I could just use family pictures? I can't wait to show Amber, Ryan and little Henri when they get here next week for the big Turkey Day! Then the week after maybe I will be able to post some 'afters' of Henri's room! So excited to see our nephew next week, he is walking now!

Design Assignment: Inspiration for Henri's New Room!

I'm really excited about all the ideas I have for Henri's room!  I spent some time looking for some images for inspiration. I found a lot on the Houzz site, it has tons of children's rooms!  Here are some of my favorites. 

We will be keeping the same wall color for the room, so I was lucky that most of the rooms I liked had blue walls.  I'm thinking that I would like to keep it fun and colorful, sort of like the image in the center (and I read that it is good to have vibrant colors, helps with a baby's development, had to do a little research since I don't know much about these things).  I also love the walls with stars and clouds, think it adds a whimsical feeling.  For other wall decor, I wanted to incorporate some letters and numbers, it can be cute and educational!  Lastly, I'm totally in love the the French Rin Tin Tin poster, I must find one!  It is going to bold, crisp and eclectic!

So, I guess when I write it out, it doesn't make a lot of sense... but trust me it will!  Henri is going to have one heck of a room!  I keep imagining him with a big smile on his face when he sees all the colors and patterns in his room- who knows, but I hope so!

My First Design Assigment! Putting Some POP Into Our Nephew's Room!

I'm so excited to have my very first design assignment outside of our house!  My lovely sister in law Amber is a follower of our blog and has loved seeing the stories of our home redo unfold.  She asked for my help decorating their son (also our cute little nephew) Henri's bedroom. I'm really excited to get the opportunity to create a fun, imaginative, dreamy space for Henri to learn and grow in through his toddler and some of his school age years!

Here is a picture of my sister in law Amber, her husband Ryan and their cute little man Henri.  They make such a beautiful family!  Ryan and Amber are amazing parents and a very fun couple to get to know (I'm lucky they are my family now)! 

 

Before I show the room, I have to mention that Amber and Ryan also live in a historic (bungalow style) home.  Actually, they sort of inspired us to pick a historic home with character and charm, everytime I would visit them I couldn't stop staring at the details of their house and wondering what history it had.  So I give them some credit for Alex and I being on this Hammers and High Heels journey.

Here's the catch though, the big challenge to this design assignment, they live in Michigan and we live in Minnesota (and sadly, I don't have time to make a trip these days).  So this isn't going to happen in 2 days, or 2 weeks, this will likely take a month to get done.  Here is our plan... 

1. Budget for Henri's room redo $200

2. Research design ideas for Henri's bombtastic new room (and blog about it)

3. I will shop for the design elements this week and next

  3. Thanksgiving Holiday: Amber, Ryan and Henri are making a trip here to celebrate turkey day with us (which I am super excited about, Alex and I will be making Thanksgiving dinner for the 2nd time, love it!).  This is when I will review my plan and pass them the decor goodies. 

4. From there, Amber and Ryan will take all the decor and follow the plan and turn Henri's room from calm and mellow to EXCITING and IMAGINATIVE!!!

So let's get to it, here is the room, I tried my best to give details of the layout.  It is sort of a backwards L Shape and has slanted ceiling since it is a cute old one and a half story bungalow home.

The original trim, doors, and windows add a unique touch to the room already!  I'm excited and nervous about decorating a child's room for the first time.  I'll get started researching ideas and inspiration for the room and get that posted soon!