Room of the Day: Color and Pattern Transform Tweens’ Bedroom
Extra storage, elegant details and a creative privacy solution give twin sisters their dream room in 120 square feet
For Ellie and Claire Horner, the time had come for a bedroom overhaul. The twin sisters, both 12, had always shared a room, and plan to for years to come, but they had definitely outgrown their bunk bed setup. “You couldn’t see anything,” interior designer Heather Drew says; there were clothes and toys strewn across the room and crammed into every available storage piece. While their 12-by-10-foot room is a tight squeeze for two people, Drew envisioned big things.
AFTER: The new bedroom reflects the girls’ collaboration with Drew and incorporates features they each requested, as well as Drew’s vision for the space. “They are very different, but they’re also together,” Drew says of the sisters. “They’re kind of the yin and yang.” For Ellie, shown seated on the bed, Drew hung curtains around the beds to re-create the sheltered feeling of the bottom bunk, where she liked to read and write. “She did not want to give up her little hole,” Drew says. For Claire, on the floor, the curtains and colorful textiles satisfy her wants. “She wanted it to be elegant,” Drew says.
An antique dresser, which the girls share, doubles as a nightstand and also provides a display area for some of their more precious mementos. “Purging isn’t just about throwing away. It’s about pulling out what’s important to you,” Drew says. Additionally, oversized vintage letters on each wall correspond with the girls’ names.
The beds sit high off the ground, about 18 inches, so that full-height bins can store sports equipment underneath. The upholstered ottomans store stuffed animals out of sight.
Lamps and ottomans: One Kings Lane
An antique dresser, which the girls share, doubles as a nightstand and also provides a display area for some of their more precious mementos. “Purging isn’t just about throwing away. It’s about pulling out what’s important to you,” Drew says. Additionally, oversized vintage letters on each wall correspond with the girls’ names.
The beds sit high off the ground, about 18 inches, so that full-height bins can store sports equipment underneath. The upholstered ottomans store stuffed animals out of sight.
Lamps and ottomans: One Kings Lane
Custom textiles, including the curtains, valance and headboard, stand out in the design. When the girls were deciding on colors and patterns, Drew had them review fabric samples together as a jumping-off point, ignoring prices and materials. From there she played around with complementary fabrics, mostly teals and windowpane patterns, in varying scales and tones, before deciding where each looked best. “I think the headboard material, at some point, might have been eyed for the valance,” she says. More expensive materials were used for the throw pillows, since less fabric was needed.
The curtains run on a track system with concealed hardware. A wand helps move them, but they are also edged in a heavy-duty turquoise fabric that will hide dirt in case the girls pull the fabric directly. New crown molding wraps around the ceiling, and around the transom rod to conceal the curtain system.
The curtains and crown molding put the ceiling on display, which Drew emphasized with colorful wallpaper and turquoise paint over the beds. “I always treat the fifth wall,” she says. The accented part of the ceiling draws the eye up, making the 8-foot ceiling feel higher than it is.
Extra-tall custom headboards also draw the eye up.
Wall letters: antique; turquoise paint: Aqueduct, Sherwin-Williams
The curtains run on a track system with concealed hardware. A wand helps move them, but they are also edged in a heavy-duty turquoise fabric that will hide dirt in case the girls pull the fabric directly. New crown molding wraps around the ceiling, and around the transom rod to conceal the curtain system.
The curtains and crown molding put the ceiling on display, which Drew emphasized with colorful wallpaper and turquoise paint over the beds. “I always treat the fifth wall,” she says. The accented part of the ceiling draws the eye up, making the 8-foot ceiling feel higher than it is.
Extra-tall custom headboards also draw the eye up.
Wall letters: antique; turquoise paint: Aqueduct, Sherwin-Williams
Drew added a second hanging rod to an existing closet to double its storage.
A new cabinet from Somerset Bay Home was a splurge, but Drew believed it was important to invest in quality pieces that could grow with the girls. “Or it can travel around the house” to serve another room’s need, she says.
Drew, who has kept in touch with the family, says that Claire and Ellie have maintained the room. Every time she visits, the beds are made and clothes put away. “That they take care of it and respect it says that the design was successful,” she says.
Cabinet: New Hope linen press, Somerset Bay Home
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A new cabinet from Somerset Bay Home was a splurge, but Drew believed it was important to invest in quality pieces that could grow with the girls. “Or it can travel around the house” to serve another room’s need, she says.
Drew, who has kept in touch with the family, says that Claire and Ellie have maintained the room. Every time she visits, the beds are made and clothes put away. “That they take care of it and respect it says that the design was successful,” she says.
Cabinet: New Hope linen press, Somerset Bay Home
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Bedroom at a Glance
Who lives here: Sisters Ellie and Claire Horner, both 12
Location: Richmond, Virginia
Size: 120 square feet (11.1 square meters)
Designer: Heather Drew of Bella Designs Studio
Drew renovated the downstairs kitchen, den and powder room of this Richmond, Virginia, house before working her way upstairs to the bedrooms, including Claire and Ellie’s room.
Before they chose color palettes, discussed room features or reviewed storage solutions, Drew asked the girls to clean out their room. “Before you design, you purge,” she says. (They were very receptive, she says.) With everything cleaned out, Drew knew how much storage they needed and how to highlight the sisters’ treasured items.