Hello again my lovelies!
Well, we did it. We blinked and another Summer break has come and gone. Although the weather hasn't quite gotten the memo yet, pretty soon the air will become crisp and the leaves will turn those gorgeous shades of red and yellow that absolutely light my soul each season.
Another person who is looking forward to the leaves turning yellow is the smaller man of the house; Mr. Harrison. Since the day he could declare it, yellow has been his favorite color. Literally, any time something yellow passes his gaze, he immediately lights up and shouts "Hey! Yellow! That's my favorite color!"
So when "finishing Harrison's room" made it to the top of our Summer to-do list, you can guess what was on the tip of his tongue when we began discussing paint colors. Not only was yellow his main request, but he also wanted rainbows.
Yellow and rainbows.
Rainbows and yellow.
Now. I'd like to say I'm one of those moms who put their child's happiness first and foremost, but a direction of "Yellow and Rainbows" was going to test me. Even though I had my doubts about how reasonable an artistic collaboration with a four-year-old would be, I was determined to find a design solution we were both happy with.
And while we did weather the storm on a few occasions (see the disappointing "dot wall") as they say, without rain, there would be no rainbows. 🌈
Harrison's room makeover was way overdue. It's been almost three years that we've lived in this house, and besides some basic decorating and upgrading his crib to a twin bed, no major progress has been made.
So we started from scratch.
He knew he wanted yellow, and while my gut wasn't completely on board with an entire yellow room, something I could see working (and truthfully got me SUPER excited) was a yellow ceiling.
We landed on Honey Locust by Behr, which gave the sense of a true yellow, but not SO yellow that screamed creepy smiley faces or fast food restaurants. The rest of the walls were given a fresh coat of white, which really let the ceiling be the shining star.
Like the rest of the rooms in our house, as we painted we also replaced all of the thin wooden trim with something taller, white, and more colonial. Replacing trim is something Eric has become kind of a pro at, so while we were going to be doing the work for Harrison's room, he figured it just made sense to stay in the world of trim and knock out the entire upstairs hallway at the same time.
Of course, this meant I had to VERY quickly choose a wall color. Lucky for me, there were a few shades I was still in love with from when we decided to paint our dining room. Diverse Beige by Sherwin Williams jumped to the front of my mind as the perfect in-between/pull-all-the-colors-together hallway choice. I also knew I'd like it because it was what we painted the bench and cubbies in our mudroom.
I don't think I ever shared photos from when we initially painted all of the upstairs doors white, so please enjoy this epic before and after featuring some thick and glorious trim transformation!
While Eric conquered the hallway, it was up to the kids and me to take on the accents. First up, giving Harrison a yellow bed.
Was it the most straightforward process handing my two small children a brush and a roller, hoping for the best? No. Did they actually get the job done? Also no. But they did do about 80% of it and Harrison was totally up for the task. I'd call it a win.
The second accent I wanted to focus on was a "fun wall". Something to satisfy the desire for rainbows while maybe not actually having a million small arches all over his room. I scoured the web for inspiration and landed on a terrazzo pattern in a muted pallette that was close to a rainbow while also not being too feminine. The process was simple enough and I completed the whole thing in a matter of hours.
They say the client is always right, and my client wanted rainbows. But my client is also four, and I'm his mom, and I did not want an entire room filled with rainbows like overdone boho wallpaper.
So we came to an agreement; one big rainbow.
To achieve this I simply chose my location and marked the widest points on the left and right as well as the tallest point. Then using chalk I freehanded my first arch, taking a step back to check my work every once in a while to confirm I liked the shape I was creating. Once satisfied, I measured 8 inches below, and using my first arch as a guide made a bunch of dashes on the wall to tell me where to draw my second arch. After repeating that process six more times I had my rainbow.
Taping everything off seemed insanely tedious, so I just went nice and slow while using an angled brush.
I wish I had a video of Harrison's reaction after seeing just the chalk outline, he was STOKED. The kid knew what he wanted, and he wanted a legit rainbow.
It took us a bit longer than expected, but we finally hung up his art, signs, and shelves which brought this update to an official close. I'd love to bring in more of the rainbow colors as well as additional pops of yellow here and there. Just like Harrison, this room will continue to grow as time passes.
Anyone who's followed this blog through the years knows I have strong opinions about how I want my space to look. Design matters to me. It brings me joy, and I want it to touch all areas of our home including the rooms of our kids. Finding that balance of applying what they're currently obsessed with but in a beautiful way, is a challenge I'm more than happy to take on.
As for my yellow and rainbow-obsessed child, I'm aware it's unrealistic to think Harrison's tastes are going to stay the same for a long period of time. Tomorrow he could declare that he doesn't like yellow or rainbows and he wants a new room with robots and superheroes.
And if that happens, I'll look into that adorable little boy's bright blue eyes, give him a big hug and say; "Well, that's too damn darn bad. Now go play in your yellow room."
Check out all of our home improvements, by visiting the OUR NEST page.
