A Magical, Modern Bedroom for Our Growing Girl

Not so long ago – four years, to be exact – we moved into the Curbly House with one room complete. It was Ayla’s room, and it was dunzo, styled, and cozy because she was 3-years-old and going through the double-whammy transition of moving into a new house, and having a new baby brother (all in the span of 10 days!).

Ayla's Room Before — Ayla’s Original Curbly House Room

Her room was adorable and comfortable, and she clocked hours of magical play inside of it. The room’s color palette was largely her choosing, and its style was a direct reflection of her.

And then, as all children do, Ayla got older and her tastes began to change. She became a reader (that’s one of the great joys of parenthood, you parents of babies). She wanted a separate place to play with friends. She wanted a respite of peace and quiet, and a little independence in our rather boisterous house. About a year ago, because she’s clever and very aware of what Bruno and I do for a living, Ayla began asking about making changes to her room. She wanted purple walls. Then turquoise. Then magenta. Then black. She wanted all traces of light pink removed. And lots of gold.

She also, legitimately, needed her space to be arranged more intentionally. She needed a quiet space to do homework, a larger bed for sleepovers, and a cozy chair for reading.

So we set to work. At times it was like pulling a mule through mud. Because, guess what? Designing a room around your 7-year-old’s ever-changing list of ideas, dreams, and hopes is hard werk.

I painted her room twice this time around. The first time, I chose a gorgeous white that ended up being way too sterile when paired with her painted trim work. The second time around we went with a warmer white that simultaneously carries some cool violet tones and some warm blushes. It’s called “Simple White” (SW7021) and it’s truly lovely.

Once the paint dried, I spent several weeks bringing virtually every color of the rainbow into this little girl’s room in intentional ways. I love using area rugs to set the tone of a room; they really ground a space. Drawing a color palette from a stunning area rug is my best trick and one I will continue playing until someone tells me otherwise.

In the case of Ayla’s room, the area rug we chose was the most generous color palette I’ve ever worked with; it made ‘working the rainbow’ simple. We started with a silver and plum colored rug from Loloi’s Anastasia Colection. It’s perfect. It feels great to walk (and play) on. Its color palette is neutral and a little shimmery, and it manages to incorporate every color on my girl’s list: gray, magenta, blues, purples, gold.

We wanted to stick with clean lines and a bright white color when it came to the furniture in her room. But we also wanted to add some warm bronze metallics and wood into the mix. We did this using a combination of Land of Nod shelving, an IKEA bed, and a Target desk.

Young girl's bedroom with a small corner chair next to three bookshelves sitting on a wall.

White bookcase in a girls room with pink accents.

We upgraded to a full-sized memory foam mattress from LexMod. It’s so comfortable, sleepover friendly, and because it comes tightly rolled in a box, it was a dream to maneuver up the stairs and captivating to unbox.

We pulled the colors of the rug out in some clever ways. The fringe on the duvet and pillow cases is a sweet nod to the magenta in the rug. And the bold color palette of the throw at the end of her bed wraps all the colors into one loud, beautiful statement.

From there we added lots of purple and blue in the wall flower installation we created behind her bed. I love the way the flowers appear to grow upward from behind her bed. It’s like a secret garden of vines, and it’s enchanting.

The floral wall was also a budget-friendly alternative to large artwork. We spend about $60 on silk flowers to cover the entire wall. To create it, I followed this tutorial from Sweet Teal.

Take a look at the ‘befores’ and ‘afters’. You can find the product list with every last detail below!