Childhood Bedroom Grows Up

This bedroom not only was sorely lacking in storage space, Jennifer and Talia had also outgrown its dated appearance. Grass-green carpeting, blue walls and old paisley bedspreads were relics of their childhood, and these two young women wanted something more hip, stylish and grownup.

They also wanted to take as many elements of the room with them as possible when they eventually move out of their parents' home, so portability was an important consideration.

The girls needed a stylish retreat and some serious organization! I decided to divide the room into two separate zones, one for sleeping and one for lounging. The first item on our to-do list was to inject a big dose of color. The more I thought about Jennifer and Talia, just back from school and with exciting times ahead of them, the more I thought the best color to capture that excitement was a bold fire-engine red. So we applied red to the walls and set it off by painting over the worn hardwood flooring with crisp white porch paint.

Although the red walls are hip, fun and modern, the color does present some lighting challenges because it seems to suck up all the light in the room. To combat this problem, we removed the old fixtures and installed updated halogen track lighting and a couple of sconces in the lounge area.

Our accent colors of white, black and silver also help to tone down the red and create a total effect that is sleek, modern and stylish.

To make room for both twin beds in the sleeping area, we removed the existing closet. We created new bedspreads from a hip fabric in shades of red, orange and purple and completed the look with red bed skirts.

Instead of curtains, I chose to cover the windows in the sleeping area with silvery metallic blackout blinds. A luxurious white shag area rug and a black dresser complete the sleep zone, and a custom drapery sections it off from the lounge.

To give the girls a place to hang out, I utilized every square inch of space in the lounge section. Tall white storage cabinets provide lots of space for clothing and shoes.

A small window was covered with an extra-wide drapery treatment to create the illusion of a larger window, and the drapery rod does double duty by providing a space to hang artwork.

We installed a custom shelf over the radiator and placed a white sofa in front of the shelf. Two sconces positioned at either end of the sofa provide extra light for reading, and a fun cow-patterned rug tops off the whole look.

It was definitely time for this dated childhood bedroom to grow up. With a bold color scheme, some funky furniture and hip fabrics, this facelift is now the ultimate in sibling satisfaction. How divine!

(Interior decorator Candice Olson is host of Home & Garden Television's Divine Design.)