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When we moved into our house 9 years ago, my oldest daughter instantly fell in love with the “pink room” and claimed it as her own. She actually didn’t get to move into her beloved bedroom until her baby sister had grown out of the crib and was able to bunk with her middle sister. But, oh man, the wait was worth it. She was so excited to have those “pretty pink walls.”

Before:

Flash forward 8 years, and that little girl is now a sassy teenager who hates pink. Go figure. For her birthday, last year, she asked me to redo her bedroom.

Her requests: Something grown-up. A bit of whimsy.
And, no more pink walls.

Design Process

The first thing I do in any big project is to sit down and decide on the feeling I want a room to have. My daughter is an introverted artist. She needs lots of sleep and quiet time in order to be happy. (And for the rest of the family to be happy too! Ha!) She wanted to create a relaxing retreat where she could feel peace, be creative, and rejuvenate.

Once we pegged the feeling, we were able to come up with a color palette of rich, jewel tones and little brass accents that spoke to her heart. With an idea of the color palette, we hopped on Pinterest and did some searching for inspiration photos so I could get a better idea of what style she had in her mind.

Boho Style

After a few minutes of looking at inspiration pics, it was obvious that she was drawn to an eclectic, artsy, bohemian style. Boho is so on-trend right now and the hippie in me couldn’t help but be excited. The rad thing about bohemian is that it’s all about mixing old collected, earthy, worn, comfy things together. It’s more about feeling than about set rules. Which worked great for our small budget. Boho it is!

My daughter has the bedroom set that I grew up using. It was passed down from my great grandmother and is so dear to my heart. I am crazy grateful she didn’t choose to go modern or I’d be crying!

With a design plan mapped out, we drove down to the hardware store and picked out a bunch of paint chips. We came home with a stack of rich, plum purples, a few tester cans, and then got to work.

Paint Colors

Purple Sunset | Valspar
Snowbound | Sherwin Williams

After painting 3 test sections and watching them throughout the day, we landed on a moody purple that changes color with the lighting called Purple Sunset. There is a pitched ceiling in my daughter’s room that peaks at 14 feet and is an absolute beast to reach, so my stipulation with paint was that one wall could go bold but the rest needed to be neutral. Basically to save me a lot of work down the road if she ever wakes up hating purple.

We went with Snowbound by Sherwin Williams for the rest of the room.

It’s a greyed white that pairs well with the purple. The ceiling and trim stayed white. After spending daaaaaaays on a ladder priming and painting that crazy angled room, I am so stinking glad that we chose a nice neutral for most of it. I’m not in the least bit scared of heights but I’d rather avoid painting that room ever again, if at all possible. Yikes.

Bedding & Accessories

We lucked out and found a duvet cover on a great sale. It ended up being $24, shipped. LOVE when that happens! The lumbar pillow was a Home Goods find and the purple fuzzy throw was a birthday gift from her Nana.

I found the ceiling fan on a Memorial Day sale. My awesome electrician brother came and installed it for us. The old fan had been broken for about a year. This room gets super hot, so my daughter is over the moon about her new fan. So quiet and the touch of brass is beautiful.

• Duvet Cover
• Bedroom Set & Nightstand- kept from before
• Boho Swing
• Oil Landscape- yardsale
• Table
• Leather Pouf
• Ceiling Fan
• Gallery Wall Frames & Art
• Green & Gold Stool

I’m still looking for a nice nightstand to take the place of the little IKEA one, but I haven’t found anything that fits yet. Maybe something rattan? Who knows. We also still need to find a fun brass lamp and replace the hardware on the dresser and vanity. We’ll get there… eventually.

We didn’t have the budget to overhaul everything at once. Instead, the room has been slowly evolving and getting better with time. But that fits the boho feel, doesn’t it? Collected, eclectic, and unique. When I walk in this room, I see little hints of my daughter everywhere. Her sketchbooks, art pencils, favorite color, the swing where she reads in the warmth of the sun. It may not win any decorating awards, but she doesn’t mind.

It’s her own private refuge from the storm… and it’s not pink.