Bedroom Decor: Kid Edition
Hockey and Mermaids.
That is what I live with on a day to day basis.
Having an 8-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy running around our house calls for some really loud, adventurous times and honestly – I love it. One of my favorite things to do is customize their spaces and make them feel like it is really ‘theirs’. The first time I met them I even gave them these canvases to hang in their rooms! To this day, they are up on their walls (even after the move into the new house) and it is still something special and unique that they both love.
Having a space to call your own when you are little can be very special. That is why this past year for Christmas we decided to ask Santa to help us upgrade the kiddos’ rooms into something they were both proud of and excited to spend time in.
Ladies first, so it’s time for some PINK!
In our little lady’s room she really only gave us ‘pink’ to go off of so we used our imaginations a little. Anthony’s sister took care of the new comforter and sheet set while I went to work on figuring out some new decor. We had been given this fun string of ‘flower’ lights so I knew those needed to be hung but I wanted to make her another unique piece for her walls. I immediately thought of a few of her favorite things: the colors pink and purple, anything super girly, and MERMAIDS. That was it – a mermaid painting. This little girl LOVES mermaids and I love that she loves something so fun and easy to work with!
After browsing Pinterest for some inspiration (as usual) I settled on a fairly simple piece that would incorporate her favorite colors and her favorite thing. I painted the background fade from purple/deep pink to light pink/white first and then worked with the silhouette of the mermaid – as if she was swimming to the water’s surface.
I didn’t want anything too harsh here with the colors so I stuck with a beige/white for the silhouette instead of black. I think it left the piece feeling softer and lighter which is what I was going for.
All of this is acrylic paint on stretched canvas. The back of the canvas has enough of an edge for our command strips (since we don’t put holes in the wall in of our rental).
The piece got some high pitched squeals on Christmas morning and it now hangs prominently in her bedroom near her bed!
Next comes something near and dear to my heart (besides the fact that it is the little guy’s favorite) – HOCKEY!
This whole family bleeds orange black for the Philadelphia Flyers and it came as no surprise when the little man requested a ‘Flyers Room’. Again, Anthony’s sister grabbed up the comforter and sheets. She even found orange sheets and an awesome Flyers pillowcase! Everything was coming together perfectly with his Flyers blanket and subtle orange touches already in his room.
For his piece, I knew what I wanted to do from the start so I grabbed the same size canvas as I used for the mermaid and just changed up the orientation. Turning the canvas sideways I played with the gradient of dark to lighter orange, making sure not to stray too far from the hues that were already present in his room. His piece would feature a goal celebration that I will always remember – from Mr. Playoffs himself, Danny Briere. Basically, it is a player sliding down on one knee, lifting his stick in the air while swiping his hand along the ice. It’s glorious, look it up!
Anyway, I knew I could do a more prominent silhouette here since we had a whole ‘black and orange’ theme already. I again, using acrylic paints (and a bit of paint pen for the really thin lines) filled in the hockey player silhouette and finalized the piece.
We ended up grabbing him a poster of a current Flyer too so that is above his bed but the canvas he opened on Christmas morning – after an adorable shocked face and desire to hang it up ‘RIGHT NOW!’ – is on the wall that is at the foot of his bed so he falls asleep looking at it and wakes up to it too!
Both pieces were a thrill to make, especially because they were for my little loves, and I can’t wait to see what they grow into in a few years for the next time we update their rooms!
Xo – Glance
