For over a year I have looked forward to getting back into my house in New Orleans. Now that it’s finally starting to happen, I’m getting a bit overwhelmed by all I have to do. When I met with the contractor on Saturday I admit I didn’t understand some of what he was saying. Luckily, Tyler’s father was there to make sure everything went well and he tells me that I am getting a great deal in terms of what this fellow is charging me for the work he’s doing. Basically, when he finishes I will have a new house, ready to move in just like the first time but better because I was able to make some modifications in my kitchen. Plus I get to pick the colors I want the rooms to be, the tile and the carpet. I also get the pantry I always wanted in my kitchen so I’m happy about that also. Tyler is excited because he gets a bigger room. I decided to give him the room that was my home office. I figure as he grows he will need a bigger room and his current room is large enough to serve as my home office.
Maybe it would have been best to stick with the colors and themes I already had, but since this is a new beginning of sorts, why not start over completely? So armed with a stack of decorating books, Tyler and I set out to select colors and themes. What I found is that most decorating books offer a wealth of “how-to” information for novices like me.
For instance, in Decorating Kids’ Rooms and Family-friendly Spaces, Anna Kasabian and Eugenia Santiesteban offer many tips including: ground rules for family-friendly design, budgeting, picking a design and getting input from your family. What I found especially helpful to me was their tips on selecting a budget-conscious design for your child’s room. Here’s some of what they suggest:
(1) Use a washable wallpaper pattern.
(2) Try a decorative painting on the walls, ceilings , or floors.
(3) Express the theme on only the window treatment, allowing for easy changing.
(4) Cover the ceiling only in wallpaper (think sky patterns).
(5) Continue the theme by painting furniture such as bookcases, tables and chairs and toy chests.
(6) Use wallpaper on the bottom half of the wall and paint the upper half. This makes for easier changing.
(7) Keep walls and curtains white and introduce color with your accessories.
(8) Select a broad theme like the sky or a simple theme like the outdoors or the beach.
After much thought and consideration and many hours with our heads in decorating books and old copies of Better Homes and Garden, the theme for Tyler’s room literally fell out of a magazine and landed at my feet. It came from an old issue of National Geographic.
Tyler loves maps and mummies, caves, and all things Egyptian. If you know anything about National Geographic you know that some issues contain colorful maps. The map that fell at my feet was a map of ancient Greece and we were both drawn to the idea of a “world” theme. So we’re going to have maps and a globe and hopefully I can find some little masks or statues or figurines we can use. If not, I’m sure I can find a craft book that might give me some ideas on things I can make that would fit the theme. So that’s one room down, only five more to go!
In part two I’ll tell you about another great decorating idea I thought of, that won’t cost you much if any money.