It’s One Room Challenge reveal day. The One Room Challenge is a design event in which a range of interior design bloggers makeover a room in their homes (or a clients) in six weeks, posting weekly updates. For this round, I gave my little girl a global boho bedroom makeover.
Learn more about Emmerson & Fifteenth’s interior design services here.
Boho Kids Room Design Plan
I started with a bland space and mismatched furniture (see the before pics in week two). My “client” wanted all the colours, but I am still so in love with the neutral master bedroom I recently finished that I wanted a similarly boho vibe in this girl’s bedroom makeover too.
The design plan involved layers of predominantly neutral texture, anchored around a statement rug that did indeed have all the colours. Eleanor is only five, but she has many opinions. Fortunately, she signed off on everything.
Boho Kids Room Reveal
We had a few restrictions on the design. Because we’re renting, there was no painting, no swapping out the carpet, etc. I would have painted the doors and skirting boards bright white if I could, but other than that, I’m really happy with how the room turned out.
The colour palette came from the rug. I’d been on a rug hunt for months when I found this one at Anthro, and it was perfect. It went with the furniture that we already had – the wooden chair (from my Grandma) and the leather-edged chest – but it also brought in pink and purple, which were the main colours Eleanor requested. Those, and “golden,” which I translated as brass accessories.
The peel and stick removable wallpaper is the star here, aside from the rug. It’s a mudcloth-inspired print by Holli Zollinger on Spoonflower. The colourway is subtle but so pretty, and it has the most gorgeous woven texture. Adding subtle pattern everywhere actually made the room seem bigger, which was a great bonus. You can read about how I hung the wallpaper in week five.
That Ikea play kitchen. Probably half of all the diminutive humans I know own one, and Eleanor loves hers. There are some amazing play kitchen makeovers around, but it’s easy on the eye as it is, so I kept it simple.
I pinched the painting from our living room, and finally had it framed six-ish years after I bought it. It’s my favourite, and it’s by Alice Neave. It looks great against the wallpaper.
Having to squeeze four substantial pieces of furniture in here (kitchen, dresser, bed, desk) made the layout challenging. I wouldn’t have the bed against the radiator out of choice, but fortunately the room gets enough heat from the rest of the house so the radiator is never turned on. We prop the extra cushions against it at night so she doesn’t bump herself. It works.
I had a debate about the blinds in week four, and I ended up replacing the practically brand new linen stripe roman blinds with plain white ones. They’re from Blinds 2Go, and I’m impressed with the quality and the price. These are custom-made, black-out lined, and were less than £100.
The bed is an ottoman storage bed, which was an eBay steal (£140 shipped). I replaced the plastic feet it came with, with wooden bun feet. They make it look much more expensive than it was.
The headboard was from eBay too, and cost a fully fiver. I like to mix splurge pieces with steals when I’m designing any space, and this room is no exception.
The wall hanging was a last-minute DIY – more on that here.
I used gold Rub n’ Buff to turn the shelf brackets from brushed nickel to a warm brassy colour. A trailing plant maintains the boho vibe in this kids room.
My plan for the desk area was to use the shibori fabric to make a pinboard. Instead, I used the fabric to dress the bed and kept raw cork on the bulletin board. It adds another layer of texture.
Enjoy the rest of the photos…
Boho Kids Room Sources & Budget Breakdown
One of the first questions I often get from my interior design clients is, how much does it cost to makeover a room? Obviously it depends on whether you go low or high end. If you mix both, as I did here, I generally say somewhere between £1500-£5000, depending on how many existing pieces you have to work with.
Here’s how this bedroom clocked in. I’ve listed costs in terms of how much things were new/full price, although anything with an asterisk* we either already owned or I received a discount on.
- Wallpaper (Holli Zollinger’s Bebe Mudcloth White) – £843* – Spoonflower
- Blinds (150cm x 150cm) – £99 – Blinds 2Go
- Rug – £200* – Anthropologie
- Pendant – £40* – Litecraft
- Shelves & Brackets x4 – £36* – Ikea
- Cork Pinboard – £16 – DIY
- Reading Lamp – £18* – Ikea
- Wall Hanging – £23 – DIY
- Plant Hanger* – about £12 – Ikea
- Metallic Plant Pot (smaller version) – about £15* – Anthropologie
- Desk – £399* – West Elm
- Marblized Plant Pot (similar) – $35* – Mintwood Home
- Ottoman Storage Bed – £140 + Bun Feet – £13 – eBay
- Headboard – £5 – eBay
- Duvet Cover – £29 – John Lewis
- Linen Bed Sheet – £25 – Seriously Comfy via Amazon
- Mustard Pillow Cover – £16 – Camomile
- Hmong Cushion – £18 – Ecco Trading
- Moroccan Wedding Cushion – about £16 – Marrakech souk
- Turkish Towel as Throw (similar) – £25* – Etsy
- Shibori Fabric as Throw – £12
- Mirror – £60 – Maisons du Monde
- Lamp (on dresser) – £169* – West Elm
- Dresser – about £350* – Feather & Black
- Play Kitchen – £59* – Ikea
- Wicker Chair – £10* – thrifted
- Plants – £30*
TOTAL: £2695
Read More Spring 2017 ORC Posts
Boho Bedroom Makeover Plans (Week 1)
Befores & Details on the Plan (Week 2)
Wallpaper Options (Week 3)
Textiles & Furniture (Week 4)
How to Hang Removable Wallpaper (Week 5)
The Reveal (Week 6)
Bonus: How to Make A DIY Wall Hanging
You can check out hundreds more room makeovers from the featured designers and the guest participants over at the One Room Challenge, or see a round up of my favourite makeovers from Spring 2016 ORC here.
Once again, huge thanks to my sponsor for this project:
Such a sweet room! I’m sure your daughter loves it. That wallpaper is beautiful. And I can’t believe it’s peel and stick.
Author
Thanks Tricia – she does! 🙂
very chic! which kid wouldn’t love to have this as their bedroom?? I wish I grew up in one! My favorite has got to be the leather trunk!
Author
Thanks so much Tim!
What a cute room for a little girl. This is so good for a rental! I especially love the rug and the kitchen 😉
Author
Thanks Julie – I think those are Eleanor’s favourite parts too!
I could be perfectly happy in this room! I love how you used lots of color but the room feels so bright and light still.
Author
Aww thank you so much Ashley – that’s exactly what I was going for 🙂
So so beautiful. I really love all the little extra touches – the use of plants and the wall hanging especially! You are so talented!
Author
Aww, thanks gorgeous lady! xxx
I love how it turned out! And good call on that wall hanging, it’s adorable and looks great over the bed. 🙂
Author
Thanks Clarissa – I was up till midnight on Tuesday making it, haha. x
Such a delightful room, I love every bit of it! Looking forward to your post about your wall hanging, it looks gorgeous! Your daughter is a lucky little lady 🙂 xx
Author
Thanks so much Meera! xx
emmy and i just adore this room! we were just looking at it together because i wanted to show her- it’s very much her vibe!!! beautiful!
Author
Aww, glad she liked it! I love her bedroom too!
What a lucky little girl to have this room all to herself! The colors are perfect without being overwhelming and all the patterns and textures pair so nicely together!
Author
Thanks so much Bre! Still can’t get over your bathroom – it’s amazing!
I pinned the hell-o out of this room. This is absolutely stunning. I love all, every single piece of detail you have in this space!!!!!
Author
Thank you so much Jessica! Yours is gorgeous too!
This space look amazing! I love all of the details and layers of texture you used to make it special. I know your little is so excited to have this room. It’s stunning! Hugs, CoCo
Author
Thank you so much Coco!
What a perfect space for a little girl! All the details are perfect. Between the woven and rattan details, that incredible rug, and all the textiles. Don’t let my girls see this space!
Author
Haha, thanks Leslie!
I can’t even handle how cute and amazing this is. Id live in your littles room. Nailed it friend.
Author
Thanks Erin! I freaking love your room too!
Oh my goodness, I just love it! So nice to see another boho room on the ORC! I love all the vintage elements you incorporated. And that wallpaper, oh my. And the rug! Ahhhh! It’s soooo good! Fantastic job!
Author
Bring on the boho! Haha. Thanks Becky!
I seriously love everything about this room! That wallpaper, the lighting fixture, that rug!!! Heck I’ll move in!!! Well done!!!
Author
Thank you so much Lidia!
I love it! Such pretty colors and textures!
Author
Thanks Dara!
What a fun room ! I love all the different elements you chose. Fabulous!
Author
Thanks Nancy!
I love it! I’d have every bit of it in my house. So pretty.
Author
Thanks Jessica – we both have some lucky little ladies! 🙂
Whoa, whoa, whoa! This is THE coolest kid’s room EVER!!!! That rug, the artwork, and don’t think the delicious brass pieces in the mini kitchen didn’t catch my eye because I gasped when i saw them. It’s just all stunning!
Author
Thanks so much Thalita! E bought the little brass tea set with her pocket money when we went to Morocco last summer – apparently I’ve instilled a love of brass in her too (WIN!) 🙂
I adore this room! We haven’t finished my daughter’s room but my Pin board for her space is very similar to this is style and colors. I love it!! Adding it to my inspiration file for her room right now.
Author
Oo how exciting! I’m off to follow you now – would love to see when you pull it together!
What a beautiful room! I love that it’s a storage bed! That wallpaper is amazing too. I can’t believe you got that headboard so cheap!
Author
Thanks Jess! I love the storage bed so much!
What a cute bedroom for your daughter. The dresser is awesome, it’s my favorite element in the room!
Author
Thanks Nicki!
I love it!!! I can’t wait for the wall hanging tutorial!!!
Author
Thanks Kelly – hoping to get on that this week! 🙂
This room is amazing! My favorite part is all the texture you added through textiles! The rug and bedding are amazing!
Author
Thanks Amanda! I was definitely going for a layered look 🙂
Great room! What program do you use to create a mood board?
Author
I use Photoshop now, but I used to use Olioboard.com and that was a really good (free & very intuitive) alternative.
You seriously found some amazing steals for this room – I mean that wicker headboard is so great! And I really love the subtle pattern the wallpaper brought to the room. Peel and stick is amazing 🙂 Congratulations on creating such a lovely space in six weeks!
Author
Thanks so much Kevin – you too! 🙂
Such a great room for a girl to grow into! And that bed is amazing! You have me scouring eBay for one similar that will ship to the US….not having much luck!?
Author
Thanks Krista! I found one on Overstock, but the reviews aren’t great. I had no idea this was a mostly British thing – maybe coz our houses tend to be rather short on space? Hope you do find one!
Yah for a beautiful Boho chic makeover, what a perfect space! I love that sweet little desk area 🙂
Author
Thanks so much Kristin! 🙂