Thinking Outside the Box

When designing rooms for kids & teens, it can be hard not to end up with a space that looks as if you pulled it right out of the pages of some of the popular catalogs. And what’s wrong with that, you might ask? Well, it requires no imagination and means there’s nothing special about it. The space ends up looking  just like every other kid’s room out there.  My goal is to infuse my client’s personality into the room so that, even if I have purchased items from those stores, the rooms won’t look straight from the showroom.  Make sense?

Here are a few ideas from my room at this year’s YMCA Dream House that are “outside the box.” Remember, the background I was given for my imaginary client was that HE was a freshman in college. I was also given a palette of colors from which I could work within. We also had a theme that the lead designer had created. So, just like you have constraints when putting a room together, I did too.

Instead of buying the usual rectangular wardrobe mirror to hang on the back of the door, we created our own using these round mirrors from Target [also available at Bed, Bath & Beyond].

I only had 10.5″ of wall space between the trim, so we tucked these mirrors into the space to make our own hip & unique version of  a wardrobe mirror.

You can see in this photo below how welcomed the circles are in a room dominated by squares!

Another fun idea? Layering our floor rugs. I had bought the smaller 3×5 rug a few weeks earlier but once I saw it in the space it was just too small.

Placing it on top of the larger 5×8 rug was a great way to make an otherwise too-small rug look just right!  I love how the circles play off the round mirrors.

Because of the awkward angle of the ceiling, it made a part of the room fairly un-useable for something like a dresser, desk or chair. The solution? A platform bed which was perfect for creating the bachelor pad feeling I wanted for our freshman. [It also gave us extra storage!]

We turned the angled ceiling into a focal point by using roof flashing to create magnetic ”boards” on the pitched ceiling. [It was a happy coincident that the designer in the kitchen was using the galvanized metal on the ceiling!]

I did my undergraduate work at BGSU, so you see a bit of love going out to the home of the Falcons!

In the photos above and below notice the levitating shelves. One I used as a ”nightstand” next to the bed and the other two flank the TV shelf. They’re from Umbra. I found them online a couple of years ago and have been wanting to use them in a project. I thought they were perfect in this room since books are a staple of the college experience. I hope when people see them they’ll stop and wonder how we did that?!

And don’t you just love the hat hanger? It’s a one-of-a-kind display inspired by authentic rock climbing gear. The hats and tie hang from aluminum carabiners – I loved how this accent piece played off the rock climber mural. [BTW, you may be wondering about the tie. My intern Maureen told me I needed to have one in the room because guys have to wear them when they give presentations!]

So, there you go. A few ideas for thinking “outside the box!”

I know you all are SUPER creative – share with us your outside-the-box ideas!

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Tagged as: BGSU, carabiner rope system, conceal bookshelf, PB Teen, umbra flybrary, wardrobe mirror