From Princess Pink, a Girls' Room Starts Growing Up

Princess Pink became passé for the ten and twelve year olds who enjoyed their fairy-tale years, but were ready to move on. How to take two different personalities and combine them into one room and keep the peace? Each of them told me the colour she'd like to see in the room, without the other one knowing. Hence: Yellow and Purple. They both liked the idea of black and white, and our palette dictated the direction we were heading.

It seemed natural to take them from their all pink domain to a more open, light space. The walls were painted in a light, warm grey white, to go with the furniture they already had. They not only share the same room, they share the same initial, so it was serendipitous when we found these M & M decals.

Perhaps one of my favourite pieces in this room is one that most wouldn't notice. It's the silvery-grey desk that has double purpose in this small room, as both a desk and a night table. The table was salvaged from their pink room. It was their toddler table, where they sat and did puzzles. They inherited it from their much older cousins, and on the under-side of the table, there are years of Happy New Years signatures from all the kids, including them. We painted the top, and added new metal legs from Ikea.

The table found its way back into their room, and a piece of family history remains with them on their journey en-route to their teen years. Just like the table, we'll watch this room transition with them as the leave their childhoods...