Project Ava's Room: Phase 1: Ideas and Inspiration...

We are SO unbelievably blessed with the development of the internet etc when it comes to getting inspiration for the home... of course, that blessing can become a curse if, at times, you find yourself dissatisfied with what you have because you are spying all these beautiful homes on Pinterest/blogs/online shops, so its good to keep a rain-check on yourself when you find yourself spending too many hours browsing your dream home. Pinterest has been a brilliant discovery for me, though, because there are so many brilliantly creative people out there, with brilliantly creative ideas which I can "magpie" (the nice term of phrase for steal...)

So here we go, some things to consider/questions to ask when you're about to do a spot of decorating and want to keep within a low budget...

1) What do we need to do in terms of decorating? This is not "what do I want to do?" Those two questions are very different. Ava has spent the first year and a half of her life in a neutral nursery - blue and green to be precise - because we didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl. This is the first room we are doing for her as a girl's room. I could go to town and decide I want to have the whole room painted one of those gorgeous shabby chic pink colours that cost 16.95 for a small pot. It would be beautiful. It would be girly. It would also be a complete waste of money. Work out what you need to do - in our case, green and cream can very easily be accessorized with pink to make a gorgeous girly room, so there really is no need to repaint...

2) What do we need in terms of furniture? Similar to above, the temptation is to go all out - buy that beautiful antique wooden toy chest, and the cute rocking chair, and the toddler bed... but again, when you're on a budget, you've got to be practical. What furniture do I need? Ava needs a chest of drawers, for example... the one she currently has will stay in the nursery to be used by the new baby, so she needs something to store her clothes in (there is a mini wardrobe in the room, but it will not provide the storage needed). Then look at what you have - can I up-cycle, re-do or refurb anything? We had a lovely bookcase in the guest room that will do just fine for all her books...

3) What's my colour scheme? This is pretty key to decide before you go shopping and buy all these beautiful things and get home and realise none of them work together. I am a BIG fan of simple decor. The simpler the better. The walls throughout our house are almost exclusively white/cream, with the exception of one of our bedroom walls, and the chimney breast in the guest room. A blank canvas is the perfect place for accessorizing, and it leaves lots of freedom for constant re-modeling without needing to decorate! Ava's new room is cream with a green chimney breast... I intend to add some pink accessories into the mix and love this colour palate as a bit of Pinspiration...

4) What's my theme? With kids rooms, particularly, there is something nice about having a theme, but I think its helpful in general to have a phrase you want to stick to... it helps you keep focussed and create a room that really works together...
For example...

When we were doing the lounge, I was thinking "simple Scandinavian style"...

This was one of the first photos we took after re-decorating, hence no pics on the wall etc!

When we re-did the bathroom, it was more "vintage country cottage"...

So, after much umming and aahing, and quite a lot of "I really just want to paint a tree mural on her wall", my theme this time is "Girly Woodland Wonderland"... here's my inspiration board!!

Perhaps slightly over-ambitious!! But that's what inspiration is for... getting ideas and adapting them! We'll see!