Room Ideas

So, earlier this week I asked Christina from Rockin' the Suburbs for advice on decorating the kids' bedroom. The plan is for them to share until AJU5 is at least 5, even if Junior #3 is a boy (Junior #3 may sleep in other rooms of the house for the first few months though). Here is her reply:
With a blank slate you're set for as much or little style as you'd like. I would keep the crib bumper you already have and get a new sheet to work with the big girl bedding you pick. I think stripes, dots and gingham would be perfect for mixing genders and you can keep it soft and neutral but still fun. If you'd like you can certainly pop a little pink or purple pillow or toss blanket on aju5's bed to give a little girl flair- pink will look wonderful with yellow, blue and green. I would add some softness to the window if you haven't already, a black out shade and fabric panels (which you can use to soften the light if you don't care to black it out all the time) I wouldn't worry a bit about miss matched pieces of furniture since the new baby will only use the baby set for so long. Save for the long term stuff and live with what you have. In terms of the walls my favorite place to start is by looking at Calendars- you get 12-16 pictures for $15 or less- a few I think would be great. Dick and Jane (soft colors) Dr. Seuss- or even what I used the little golden books. Most malls I've been in have a calendar store or a kiosk. Or, choose a favorite book and tear the pages out and frame the best ones. My favorite place for affordable frames and matting is Michael's craft store- they have 40% off sales in that dept all the time. These combined (bedding and art) should last a long time- I don't think either kid will be begging for a change even at the age of 5.

So, I started looking online at calendars because I didn't know the direction I wanted to go. I thought about going geometric "art" with a lot of color. But, the only calendar I found that fit was over $30! So, then I just went to Amazon and browsed through the wall calendars (sorted by price). After about 5 pages, I saw something that gave me an idea - hot air balloons! It fits my liking of geometrics and color. Plus, we actually have MANY digital pictures of hot air balloons. Our pictures range from single, simple balloons to some of the special shapes (there is a balloon festival in our town each year). So, I think that is where I will head. I need to pick out some pictures and then set the color theme. Basically, I could go with any color of the rainbow. I think for decor we will stick with muted primary colors (not quite pastel but not totally bright either). I have always been a fan of the primary colors - my college comforter was color block on one side with primary colors and denim on the other side.

What do you think of the idea? Christina has lots of good design ideas, so check out her blog!