Ione's chocolate and bubblegum room

To say I had a vision would be putting it mildly. I knew what I wanted to do for my second child's room almost as soon as she was born but putting that plan into action took about two years. Finally, I am happy to say, these photos were taken upon it's (more or less) completion. Are we ever really done with anything?

The inspiration

The jumping off point for me was that pink dot pattern. It's on a rich chocolate background, and it was love at first sight. The rest of the fabrics were bought on various visits to the fabric store. I just picked up pieces here and there that I felt would work well with the palette and patterns that would be the main focal point such as the curtains.

The fabric that was the inspiration for the room.

The walls
While I knew I loved the pink, I thought it would be overkill and let's be honest, intolerable to drench all four walls in it. I opted to use the brown as the base but again, felt that such a dark colour might really shrink the room and rather than feeling cozy, it would feel dark and depressing.

Being a new build home, the bedrooms were very basic in terms of style or features. Aside from a large window, it was featureless and I wanted to add some type of detail that would add a bit of character to such a generic space. My husband and I always loved the look of paneling and wainscotting so that's the direction we took. It also solved the problem of how to use the chocolate brown colour without making the room too dark. Here is a photo of the completed room, showing how we treated the walls.

Wall colour is Rockeries Brown in Aura Benjamin Moore paint.

As a side note on the paint colour, I initially thought another colour charmingly named Hot Chocolate would be perfect, but once up on the walls, it looked wrong and wasn't the right base (it was warm red) to match the chocolate background of the pink dot fabric. I purchased 4 different sample pots of brown to be sure before settling on one and I am so glad I did. Not only did I end up with a colour I love, it saved a lot of money. The Aura line of paint by Benjamin Moore is simply the best and worth every penny, though I wouldn't want to have to find the right shade the hard (and costly way).

The furniture
The furniture was relatively straightforward. The bed was a hand-me down Ikea special. I love this bed for the amazing storage it offers. I keep toys and out-of-season clothing in the drawers. The frame also slides out to create another sleeping surface, sort of like a trundle bed.

The beautiful dresser is another hand-me-down but one that I received from my grandmother's house. I grew up knowing the dresser in the 'kids' room in my grandparents' home so I'm comforted to have it now in my own child's room. It makes me smile every time I see it.

The gorgeous drawer pull on the dresser from grandma's house.

 The details
 With the paint selected, fabric chosen, I made and hung the curtains, embellished with some coordinating ribbon. This was easy to do using hemming tape and an iron (aka my secret weapon for DIY "sewing" projects!).

Custom curtains: ribbon + hem tape + iron.

I also bought inexpensive painting canvases to create my own artwork that would reflect the colours and theme of the room. I did a wash in the background, watering down pink and brown acrylic paint to make a runny paint mixture. On top, I painted surreal landscapes and 'nature' scenes.

Using simple shapes, you don't need to be an artist to create art!

I added these whimsical modern flowers in a bare corner. They are so affordable and easy to install. Each flower has a push-pin that easily sinks into drywall without leaving a huge mark so it's easy to reposition the arrangement until you get it just right. I really like the shadows the flowers cast on the wall from the light that is positioned on the dresser below. It's really pretty at night.

Tiny flowers, big impact.

Lastly, la piece de resistance is the capiz shell chandelier. I had my eye on this but wasn't sure where I wanted to use it. Ione's room, with the dot motif, was perfect. It was a nice complement to the circular shapes in the fabric, but also delicate and shimmery. I also love the dramatic contrast of the white shells against the rich chocolate walls.

The capiz shell chandelier sets off my favourite part of the room.

The chandelier sets off my favourite part of the room: the reading corner. I knew we would spend hours and each night before bed snuggled up here...and we do!

Our cozy corner!

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