This spring, Kate turned five and was totally over her “baby” Dora room (wipe a tear from my eye), so we decided to redecorate for her birthday. Because I am completely incompetent as a home decorator, I did what I always do when I have a problem – I blogged about it and pleaded for help on Twitter! Several people contacted me about the products they’ve created that makes decorating and organizing a child’s room a breeze, and I wanted to share them with you.
We started with paint. Kate’s room had been “Bonita Berry,” or the color of Dora’s shirt, and we were all ready for a bit of a change. Painting is one of the things that I hesitate to do with the kids at home – exposing them to the fumes and odors worries me. I was really excited when Olympic offered to let us try out their Premium Interior Paint – their Zero VOC (volatile organic compounds) formula is better for the environment and dries with no lingering odor. She and I worked together to paint three of her walls “Green Grape,” and it looks great!
Having wrestled with the Dora border to get it up on the wall and cursed it taking it down, I was in no hurry to put up more wallpaper. And really, isn’t wallpaper a bit dated anyway? So I was eager to try out a couple of alternatives – WallCandy Arts and Gooru Art.
WallCandy Arts are modern, colorful and reusable wall decals. They’re made in the USA with non-toxic materials and inks, and they won’t damage the walls or paint. We tried out the “dottilicious” designs as well as the chalkboard animals, and we really love them both! They were super easy to put up and also to move, which is good because we’ve had to move them around a little to cover up our painting mistakes. Kate loves the chalkboard animals – writing on the walls? Super fun! WallCandy Arts designs are very affordable as well – both the sets we have retail at $56. They’re found online and I’ve even seen them at Target.
Gooru Art is another great way to change the look of a room without spending too much time, effort or money. Everything they manufacture is made-to-order, so you can order anything you want exactly the way you want it. I love the designs they create using kids’ names! They can be applied not only to walls, but also to ceilings, doors, furniture, glass, wood, mirrors, metal or plastic – you can totally get creative. We loved the “Tiny Bubbles” pattern. It was easy to apply and looks great. At $65, the bubbles are easy on the wallet as well!
One thing we really struggle with in Kate’s room is organization – and organization of clothes, in particular. A couple solutions we found were Closet Maid and the HamperRack from Perfect Curve.
The HamperRack is a laundry bag that hangs on the back of a door. We’ve found it to be very useful for Kate’s sports equipment – when we come home, we put her ball glove, hat, shoes, swim cap or goggles right in the HamperRack, and there’s no scrambling for it when it’s time for practice. The single rack is a bargain at $7.50, as is the double rack at $15.
We also love ClosetMaid organizers! They offer “grow with me” systems that are functional from the time your baby is born until he or she goes off to college. The wire baskets allow you to see what’s in each one, and I love the adjustable height clothes racks that allow you to hang the clothes where the kids can actually reach them! Their website is great – you can use their Visual Storage Planner to virtually design the system that would best suit your needs. I truly couldn’t believe how affordable they are either – this 5′-8′ wide Shelf and Rod organizer is only $42.99!
Kate’s room turned out great, thanks to these wonderful products (and a super-fun trip to Ikea!). She loves her new space, and I am so glad to she has a bright, organized room.
