Today we are excited to reveal our newest project. It is similar to last week's Geometric Kid's Art Space in that it was designed for a little girl and we worked in a tight space. (By "tight space" we mean a 5.5' x 7.5' room, the size of a smallish rug...) Other than those similarities, this project could not have been more different from last week's in terms of aesthetic.

The color palette for this bedroom was gold, white, gold, cream, gold and peachy pink. And gold. Our young client loves all things that glitter gold. Our client's mom, technically also our client, loves shabby chic and country vibes. And so, our task was to seamlessly weave IN-YOUR-FACE-GOLD into a sweet, vintage-y, feminine bedroom.

Here's where we landed.

With the room being as small as it is, we couldn't waste anytime introducing art, color and those personal touches that transform a generic space into someone special's bedroom. We found these vintage flower prints on Pinterest. They're free to download, you just pay for the cost of printing. Using free printable art is one of our favorite tricks for decorating kid's spaces (HERE is a great site if you're in the market for some). When art is free, there's no guilt if you change it as often as your little one changes interests. Vintage flowers today, superheros tomorrow. We went to Staples for the printing and used heavy weight paper, not card stock.

Here's a fun side-by-side of what the entrance looked like before and after. The rug had a huge impact (it's on major sale at Dash & Albert...grab it while you can!). It makes the space feel instantly cozier and more inviting.

Let's turn the corner and head into the main space.

We went with a loft bed to provide space for a dresser. Function and storage are top priority in small spaces. A toddler height loft bed gave just enough clearance for a dresser to slide underneath. Mom was understandably more comfortable with a toddler height (versus a full height loft) given our client just celebrated her 5th birthday. We wrapped a string of gold leaf LED lights around the rail of the bed for extra fun, extra gold and a practical nightlight.

We kept the decor around the bed simple for a couple reasons. First, all wall decor needed to be close to the bed rail height to keep things at a comfortable eye level. The idea of a little head sleeping right next to/underneath something large and heavy hanging on the wall screamed safety issue. Second, the small size of the room called for some restraint. We didn't want to overwhelm the room and thereby emphasize its tiny size. Leaving some blank space kept the room as big and airy as possible.

With that being said, we opted for a simple white book ledge to add function, bunting in the same fabric we used for an under-bed curtain (more on that later), and a "L" print fixed to the wall with gold washi tape. The "L" print was more free art we found on Pinterest. We painted some Mod Podge glue over the "L" and covered it in fine grain glitter for some extra GOLD.

Speaking of free, the client already owned the dresser. We just spruced it up with ceramic knobs from Land of Nod. We love them. Changing hardware is an incredibly simple, and often cost effective way to update a piece of old furniture and bring it back to life. You may fall in love all over again.

Now is a good time to talk about mixing white and cream. People sometimes worry that pairing white and cream is a strict no-no, but we're here to dispel these concerns and assure you that it's totally fine and often fantastic...if done right. Here's the trick: a balanced mix. If you have a fully white room with one cream item, it feels like a mistake. If you have a bunch of white items and a bunch of cream items interwoven throughout a space, you're golden. (It all comes back to gold). In this room we used white furniture, cream walls and a mix of white and cream accessories.

With the bed taking up nearly the entire room, the best/only option for play space was under the bed. We created a mini hideout that features a hidden bookcase, chalkboard wall and photo gallery.

The hidden bookcase is...hidden. We couldn't get a great shot of it for you, so you'll have to trust me that it's behind the dresser and to the left of the cozy pillow corner. Our golden girl can curl up on her faux sheepskin rug and read Fancy Nancy, then Amelia Badelia, then Pinkalicious. All the classics are within an arms reach.

We covered the back of the dresser in wrapping paper, stuck a piece of adhesive chalkboard paper in the middle and framed the chalkboard in gold star trim. Simple and effective. On the opposite wall, we made a casual photo gallery using gold washi tape to stick the pictures to the wall. Mounting frames in this narrow space would have lead to falling frames in this narrow space. The washi tape is low profile and also moveable. The photos can be moved and switched and rearranged.

This brings us to the under-bed curtain. We wanted a curtain to hide the sideview of the dresser, reducing the visual clutter. We also wanted some color and pattern to add interest, which this sweet, antique-feeling fabric accomplishes quite nicely. When our mini client wants to hideaway with a flashlight and her dolls, she can draw the curtain for a secret tea party. When our client's mom wants to hideaway the mess under the bed, she can draw the curtain and save tea party cleanup for another day.