A colorful kids room to inspire your own design
Over at The Design File, I love posting about fun and colorful kids’ bedrooms. A little boy or girl’s room is one of those places where you can go a little crazy with color and accessories.
That’s one of the reasons I love this bedroom by Studio M, home of some very talented folks in Tampa, Florida.
The combination of colors – the soft orange, spring green and hot pink – is perfect for a girl. I love the idea of the matching twin beds – great for a sleepover with a best friend.
Plus, there are so many fun elements: The pretty chandelier with just the right amount of crystal and glass. The pink wicker chair and bright green cushion. That magenta, fuzzy floor pillow and pink paper lantern. And of course those gorgeous painted wood beds with the little fish on the posts.
“My favorite room,” said Studio M’s Tom Wiebe. “It’s the ’surfer girl’ daughter’s room inside a 4,000 square foot luxury beach vacation residence on Reddington Beach, Florida.”
The wonderful beds are from Russell & Mackenna, where you can have pieces custom made with your choice of colors and finials. But you pay for it. These beds start at $2,160.
The dresser – with drawers, cubbies, glass knobs and a special paint finish – is also from Russell & Mackenna. The base cost of the dresser is also $2,600.
Studio M also found pieces for the room at the beautiful Maine Cottage.
Wouldn’t it be great to have a room like this for your kids? But not everyone can afford it!
Don’t fret. You don’t have to be a designer or spend a fortune to copy the idea – especially if you’re willing to do a little work 
yourself.
Here are some ways to try:
Start with some great wall colors.
I picked Hep Green and Tango from Sherwin-Williams but you can probably find something similar from almost any paint brand.
Pick up a simple, unfinished bed.
I found this FJELLSE bed at IKEA for just $39.99. It lacks the posts of the Studio M bed. But add some bright orange paint – spray it or roll it on – and you’ve got the base of a great room.
You could even add a couple little wooden fish from the craft store to the headboard. Leave them natural or paint in a contrasting color.
Find a bright pink quilt.
I picked this Tie Dye Bed In A Bag Comforter in Pink from Target because of its colors, particularly the touch of orange.
The Studio M room has floral spreads with green trim, but I think these also would look very young and hip. Also, the entire set – which includes the comforter, sheets and sham – is just $89.99. That’s hard to beat!
Look for an affordable wicker chair to paint.
My first suggestion would be to hit your favorite thrift store looking for a chair to paint. I think you could find something really close to the chair in the Studio M room and then hit it with some pink spray paint.
But if you’re going new and trying to save dollars, try this Wilson & Fisher Resin Wicker Stack Chair from Big Lots. It’s much simpler 
than the cute chair in the Studio M room but this one is $15!
I would paint mine with this Krylon Fusion for Plastic paint in watermelon. It’s a very different pink than the one in the Studio M room, but I think it would look good with the comforter I picked above and with my other paint colors.
Find a fun chandelier.
I love the Studio M chandelier. It doesn’t look like a piece made for a kids’ room. It looks like a foyer pendant and is really gorgeous.
I picked something a little less serious. This is the MINNEN chandelier from IKEA and is $19.99. It’s got some multi-colored beads and “crystals” and a single, simple light.
It’s not as glamorous as the one in our inspiration room but the price is right!
Pick the perfect floor pillow.
I’m really jealous of that fantastic, furry floor pillow in the Studio M bedroom. It’s so adorable and looks incredibly comfortable for hanging out on the floor.
I just couldn’t find anything like it.
So instead, I started looking at poufs on Etsy and found several that might look good in the room. There was a great, affordable one at the elevenEleven eE shop for $45.
But ultimately, I picked the bean bag chair at right from Paniolo’s shop on Etsy. It’s $130 but I think the beachy look and the flip-flop fabric would look cool with the rug I picked below.
Get a coordinating rug
The rug in the Studio M room is really cool and brings together all the fun colors in the room. I also love the shapes.
I found this Surfboard Rug in pink and green for $39.99 from Target. I think two of them would mimic the shapes on the Studio M rug while bringing an interesting element into the room.
Make/Buy a wall mirror.
This would be a great opportunity to buy a flea market mirror and paint it up to match the room. You could add some stars or buy some wood cutouts a the craft store to decorate your mirror.
If you don’t want to go that route, I found this cool BARNSLIG wall mirror at for $19.99 at IKEA. It’s a great color for the room…except that you might have to adjust which colors you paint which walls to make it pop. Fortunately, with all these colors going on, just about any adjustment will work!
Find a bargain on a paper lantern.
Since we’re shopping IKEA anyway, I’d pick up a pendant HEMMA cord set for $3.99 and then get this Parallel Ribbed Fuchsia 12-Inch Round Paper Lantern from Amazon for $5. Then I’d hang it from the corner of the room.
It’s certainly not the fun shape of the one in the Studio M room but the idea is the same and the price is right! It’s less than $10 for the light and doesn’t need to be hardwired.
Get creative with a dresser.
The dresser in this room is incredibly special and custom designed. That means finding a replacement would be tough. Once again, I’d head to the thrift store to find a chest of drawers you could repaint — either with a solid color or by trying a special paint treatment.
With all the white trim in the room, you could also get a white dresser – I love this KOPPANG three-drawer dresser from IKEA for only $99- and you could spice it up with some fancy knobs.
I might try something like these pretty prism knobs for $10 each from Anthropologie or the fun seashell knob for $5 each from Cool Knobs and Pulls.
Finally…
It may seem intimidating, but I really think you could do it – without emptying your bank account or hiring a designer.
But, of course, that’s because we’ve got the fun Studio M room to copy! Thanks to the folks there – Michelle Jennings Wiebe, Tom Wiebe and Lisa Clark – for letting The Design File post the photo of the room and use it as our inspiration!
Want some more kids’ room ideas? How about these…
Creating a shared bedroom for a brother & sister
More from IKEA: New stuff for your kids
DIY nursery: Color, creativity sets room apart
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