Deer heads, decorative effects

We didn’t mean to completely redecorate GirlWonder’s room. We meant to buy a bell. One little rustic copper and rope decorative bell.

That seemed harmless enough. Then GirlWonder’s Cutest Boyfriend gave her a beachy wooden picture frame for Christmas. It went well with the bell. Rustic and beachy fits her perfectly. This, my friends, is a slippery slope. What’s an aspiring mermaid to do?

Help

She called in the help of one of our dearest friends who just happens to be a professional decorator. Dear Friend showed up with a measuring tape, willing heart and head brimming with bright ideas. We headed off as a group (around here we travel in packs) to the local home goods store. The kind of fun discount-a-rama of throw pillows and tchotchkes.

We set GirlWonder with a strict budget and no rules on where her little design heart could take her. Where it took her was the pillow aisle where five pillows later (always odd numbers, I learned) she had the core colors for her newly reborn boho beach bedroom. Honestly, it is amazing what a fresh eye, a rug and some throw pillows can do for your mood. In the space of just a few days, with no new furniture or paint, we transformed a tired pre-teen look into a bright space fit for a teen queen.

This, of course, had the inevitable result of making the rest of the upstairs look shabby. I walked out in the hall and announced we are living in squalor.

The only solution? More throw pillows of course.

Trash

We went down the hall to BoyWonder’s room where his motto has always been ‘I’ve never seen a horizontal surface I couldn’t set trash on.’ At one point, we left that boy with almost no furnishings beyond a bed, because I could no longer stand losing his desk and dresser in a pile of gum wrappers, dance tickets and old socks.

Decorator Friend took one look, moved the bed four feet, added a few throw pillows, dragged an old sign out of our attic, moved his prized taxidermied deer head to a different wall and took the room from dirty laundry holding cell to a room fit for a king.

As an aside, you have to appreciate a designer who is gifted in designing with dead things. It’s an art form.

Bottles

This left the master bedroom to bury in throw pillows and glass bottles. I love glass bottles. I’m a sucker for shiny objects. I’m basically the human equivalent of a magpie. I already had my $5 sleigh bed and $10 antique mantel. What I save in hard goods, I squander on shiny glass and accent pillows. I may have a little throw pillow problem. I think the first step is admitting that. The second is admitting I have no intention of changing. I have throw pillows in our kitchen, too. Meal prep is taxing.

Speaking of which, I’m thinking what my room needs now is a nice reclaimed wood frame with some sparkly glass. I could frame a picture of a throw pillow.