SHEER ZEBRA CURTAINS

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What do you guys think about these sheer zebra curtains? I love the hot pink zebra bedding set and the funky bookcase headboard of the bed...but those curtain panels just don't fit with the decor in the rest of the room.

This is perhaps a perfect example of too much zebra print in a teen girl's bedroom. Maybe if they lost the scarf drape over the curtain rod and did something in white faux fur or made some cool tie backs rather than have them just hanging there like that then that would tie things together? I'm really not sure that would do the trick. Replacing the sheer zebra curtains with beaded curtains was mentioned and I kind of like that idea with this teen girls bedding set. What would you do? Would you keep the scarf or lose it and add accessories to bring the zebra print curtain panels more into line with the comforter set?

COOL COLORS

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It’s hot as HECK and even though autumn is just a few weeks away, cool colors are STILL on my mind. For one thing, it doesn’t feel like fall to me and my patio thermometer backs me up telling me that my feeling that we’re still smack dab in the middle of summer is right on Target. And when I’m still wearing shorts and sweating like wild, I like to surround myself with cool colors, don’t you?

CHARACTERISTICS of COOL COLORS

Not only is it lovely that shades of blue, violet and green make me think of cool, refreshing ocean water, they are especially useful in decorating a small bedroom because they tend to recede or feel as if they are pulling away from you which make the room seem bigger! Not a bad thing when decorating a dorm room or a small bedroom in an apartment.

It’s so hard to let go of airy colors like turquoise blue and teal green that bring lazy days at the beach to mind or colors that remind me of that visit to the farmers market where I got inspiration to decorate a master bedroom with colors that I pulled from the fruit and vegetables that I saw there.

But even though summer feels as if it’s dragging on and on and on and the heat outside is unbearable I have to grind the gears and shift my decorating focus from breezy and colorful to fall colors. Looking back on the last few month’s inspiration boards it’s easy to see that the season inspired the purchase of more than a few beach bedding sets with fabrics in cool colors that reflect the soft and breezy atmosphere of a cottage at the shore resplendent with cool shades of blue balanced by neutral colors and plenty of texture.

Looking at my notes detailing some teen girl bedroom decorating ideas with pictures, the blue and yellow color scheme of the comforter she chose makes me think of sitting on the porch of a beach cottage, sipping a cold glass of lemonade and enjoying the breezes blowing in from the ocean. If you have any imagination at all you should see why I’m being dragged into decorating for fall kicking and screaming!

Oh well, the first crisp breeze that blows my way will have me out shopping for teen girls bedding sets in earth tones and cool colors will be on my back burner until next spring.

GIRLS DORM BEDDING IDEAS

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Ok, college kicks off in my area early next week and I'm still looking for girls dorm bedding ideas for two girls' rooms. YIKES! The good news is that they are not divas who are pitching ego-maniacal hissy fits. They just want their dorm rooms to look cool and are willing to wait for the perfect bedding set.

Leave it to me to save the most challenging design project until the last minute. And in case you're wondering why I'm here typing away on my decorating blog rather than in the mall or online looking for comforter sets for these girls I want to tell you that I have a really good excuse.

It's hot and I just don't feel like it right now. Yeah, that might sound lame to you but the heat index here is over 116 and it has left me exhausted. That being said, I saw a cute example of dorm room decor for sorority girls that you might be interested in so take a look and let me know what you think while I'm cooling off and trying to come up with some girls dorm bedding ideas before time runs out on me.

Clear Out Closets and Clutter Before You Put Your House on the Market!

This is Part 3 of "Get Ready to Sell Your House."

Two weekends ago we had our garage sale. We started on Thursday - definitely the day to start a garage sale. About 3/4 of our stuff was gone by noon on Thursday! Friday morning I sold a little bit, and then I just started telling everyone to take whatever they wanted. And did the same thing on Saturday. It's all gone now! I was more interested in it going away than in making some money on it.

People told me they liked my signs because they were easy to see and to follow. I just bought those cheap $3 small garage sale signs at Home Depot, and I covered them in hot pink posterboard, and drew big arrows on them. Make your signs easy to see and easy to follow!

So now I am in the "cleaning out closets" stage. When people look at your house, you want them to see how big your closets are. Also, not a good idea if your closets need a sign hanging on the door knob warning of possible avalanche if opened. So if your closets are packed to the brim, pack some of your stuff and go rent a small self-storage unit.

And think about things like this - I had been storing some of my odd kitchen stuff in the linen closet down the hall from the kitchen. Things that I don't use much, so I didn't want them taking up prime space in my kitchen. But...if people open my linen closet and see that it is full of kitchen stuff, they are going to instantly assume my kitchen doesn't have enough storage. NOT what you want them to be thinking! So I am packing the kitchen stuff that is in the linen closet, and it is going to go to the storage unit, too. After I get all the kitchen stuff out of this closet, I will round up the towels and sheets that are stored here and there, and put them all in their proper home in the linen closet - they have not been in there in four years!

As you are clearing out the clutter, throwing away or giving away as much as possible, make sure you clean as you go. Dust shelves, clean the baseboards, etc.

And while you are decluttering your closets, clear the surfaces in the room. You need to just have one or two items on top of your dressers and coffee tables. You want buyers to be able to picture their own stuff in your house, not be overwhelmed with all of your stuff.

We have about a week to go before our house goes on the market. And still have so much to do! I need for there to be about three more of me...

Shannon

Get Ready to Sell Your House - Part 2

First up is purging, right? Get rid of everything you possibly can. Be ruthless! So right now my house has paths, no open floor space. Every room is covered in piles of stuff for the garage sale.

I did have to take some time this past weekend, though, to make some kitchen counter decisions. If you inherited blue kitchen counter tops, and nothing else in your whole house is blue, you might want to consider changing them!

Below is my very scientific way of deciding on color. I knew I wanted black, but I was wondering if I should go with a light neutral. So I laid a tablecloth and a skirt out to look at the colors.
I decided on the black. They come measure tomorrow, and install next week. It has just occurred to me that when they come in my house tomorrow, they might be scared. You will see why if you scroll down... By the way, while you are trying so hard to get rid of as much as possible, you should just watch and enjoy moments like these...

My daughters saw some boxes of kids books that I had pulled. They went through every book, talked about the ones they loved, the memories of bedtime stories, etc. Above they are reading one of the Carl books.

They both pulled out a stack of books to take to their rooms and keep. And I didn't mind at all. It was a sweet moment to watch.

Below is what some of my house looks like right now. This is why the counter top measuring man might be scared when he gets here tomorrow...

By the way, while you are pulling for the garage sale - TAKE THE TIME if at all possible to do some cleaning. Wipe down all closet shelves. Vacuum closet floors really well. Use the tools to vacuum/dust all the baseboards in the closet and room. Move the bed after you pull all the toys and socks and pencils and hershey kisses out from under it, and vacuum up the dust bunnies. We had some dust bunnies under beds that were scary big. Big enough to fight back. If you clean as you pull for the garage sale, you will be well on your way to being ready to stage it for showing!

My poor studio....somehow I have to get that blue chair out of that room tomorrow to put it in the garage sale...

While I was pulling for the garage sale in my studio, I did pull and condense enough to clear one side of the closet. Since my studio is in one of the bedrooms of this house, hopefully now lookers can visualize this as a bedroom closet.

Once the garage sale is over this weekend, it will be time to pack some things up and take them to a storage unit close by. Potential home buyers need to be able to open your closets and walk in and see how much room you have! The closet below is about 10 feet deep. But right now it only has room to open the door. Um, this is our Christmas storage room. Yes. It's all Christmas. My hubby might think I have a little too much Christmas stuff.

Tomorrow I am going to start taking all this stuff out to the garage. I think I have it all priced now. And I must remember to get our garage sale listed on Craigslist! Free advertising! Take advantage of it. List the items that you know garage sale shoppers will be interested in. And list the hours you will be selling.

Also - have to make my signs
and get some money to be able to make change

And, just to add interest to the week, one of my daughters is having several girls over on Saturday for a pool party. So I guess I need to make a list of things for her to do to get the house ready for company (is that a joke, or what??). And a list of food to buy.

What else am I forgetting?

Shannon

HOW TO CHOOSE COLLEGE DORM BEDDING

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The summer has flown by with days at the beach a memory, how to choose college dorm bedding is what's on most teen girls' minds these days. With the exodus for college in full swing, for the next few weeks I’ll be up to my eye teeth in dorm room decorating projects.


Actually, after thinking about it just a minute I realize that I've been taking little else in the way of calls requesting decorating consultation since mid-summer and longer. You might be amazed to learn that some girls start bouncing around ideas for decorating dorm rooms right after they returned from spring break vacation. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised at their enthusiasm since this is a teen girl’s first bedroom in her life as an adult and having the perfect set of girls college dorm bedding is very, very important.

As excited as the girls are about getting their rooms decorated, after spending several weeks shopping online and browsing in stores for looking for twin bedding, extra long (xl) twin sheet sets, pillows, and room accessories, I have a tip to share with you that will save you some time AND money thus the title of this post, How to choose college dorm bedding...get it?

Before you rush out to buy your dorm bedding and stuff you should consult with your roommate to see what color and style her comforter set is. It would be a raging disaster if you bought bedding that clashes like crazy with hers. Find out what color your roommate's things are and do your very best to be accommodating if she has already jumped the gun and made her purchase. MAYBE, just maybe you will get lucky and learn that she was waiting to find out what color your bedding set might be and you will get to pick first!

Get Ready to Sell Your House - Part 1

This is a list of the projects on my to-do list for the next month. Our house is going on the market in a month because my hubby is retiring from the Air Force. I want to see this list in print for a few reasons.

First, because it is always swirling around in my head and makes me dizzy. Maybe if it is in print my little head will have a few moments of peace here and there.

Second, because seeing it all listed in one place will hopefully scare me into activity.

Third, because I like to check things off of a list. So I can edit this post to mark everything as I complete it.

This might be the first of a few posts on "Get Ready to Sell Your House." If I follow through with that plan. Sometimes when I try to do a little mini-series...well...anyway. I might make this a mini-series.

So, if you are getting ready to sell your house, the first thing to do is make a list. So, now I have completed this first task. I am going to make this part be red and small - to check it off.

So if you want to laugh, or to feel sorry for me, read on...

Places/Rooms to pull stuff for Garage Sale
my studio - done
Peter's room - done
Lexi's room - done
Rachel's clothes
my closet - done
2 closets in upstairs hall - done
blue bookshelves - done
tall bookshelves in my room - done
bookshelves downstairs hall - done
file cabinet in utility room - done
electronics in utility room - done
any chairs we can - done
garage stuff - done
make sale signs - done
price and set up - done

Put in Storage Locker
(because I don't want potential homebuyers to be injured by falling debris when they open the closets to look in)
stuff from closets we don't need
--Rachel's
--linen closet (kitchen stuff)
Christmas stuff
books we keep from shelves we sell


House Projects before it goes on the market
take books to used book store to sell - done
choose kitchen counters - done
schedule kitchen counter replacement - scheduled
either paint or replace kitchen pulls/knobs
paint kitchen
black shelves off kitchen wall-patch holes
get new kitchen trash can
new kitchen light (taking mine w/ me)
touch up studio paint
change studio light (cuz I'm taking it w/ me)
touch up paint in Lexi's room
black shelves off Rachel's wall-patch holes
touch up paint in Rachel's room
paint girl's bathroom
touch up paint in Peter's bathroom
finish paint in our bathroom
paint laundry room
paint family room
touch up dining room wallpaper
get brown swivel rocker upstairs
list homeschool books on ebay
theeeeeen, clear surfaces, stage properly

outside: (well...not me. this section is for hubby & son)
finish fence - finally DONE
take out overgrown bushes
replace with something less bohemoth-ish
flowers for front yard
touch up paint on front bench
replace porch light (cuz it's ugly)

So, now that I see this list I should be scared into activity. But I think actually I just want to go blog-hopping. And maybe take some Advil. And drink a coke.

Shannon

Dear Blog,

I know it seems like I have abandoned you. But I really haven't. I don't know what happened. I come and see you every now and then. And wonder WHY your Christmas countdown has black flashing lines in the middle of it. And I read a past post here and there. And then I go read a few of your blog friends' recent posts. And I wonder why I am not blogging right now. But I never could come up with a reason why.

But lately I have really missed you. So I am back now. And I have some plans. First up will be about moving. Not you. You are not moving. I am moving. And I think I need a place to chronicle this activity. Not like it is all that unusual. We move every 4 years. But now that I have you, dear blog, I can chronicle this move with you.

Hopefully, you are kind of like "man's best friend." You know, unconditional love. We can pick back up right where we left off. Well, not right where. Because that was when I was starting my Over 40 Comeback. Yeah, I did more than I wrote about. And I am glad about it all. But I am not really in the mood for continuing that topic here. Because now I am up to my elbows in sorting, tossing, painting. Sweating. Yes. I know. Sweating is against my religion. But it is 105, or maybe 140, outside. Well, yes, I am working inside. But knowing it is that hot outside just makes me sweat. And sorting and tossing and rearranging all the closets in my house just makes me sweat more. Just look at the mess I have made today in my studio! Sad, isn't it?

Anyway, I'm glad to be having this talk. Now we can move forward...

Sincerely,
Shannon

Black and White Animal Print Bedding

A teen girl asked me this interesting question awhile ago, "How many kinds of black and white animal print bedding are there"? The subject came up when she said she would like an exotic black and white bedroom but did not want zebra print bedding.

It wasn't that she doesn't care for or has something against zebra stripes, she just said that too many of her friends had already bought zebra comforter sets and had decorated their rooms accordingly. She said that she wanted to do something more original and that's when I suggested one of the other animal prints.

It never really occurred to me to sit down and make a list of all the animal print fabrics that are available in black and white. But since she asked and I probably need to write them down for future reference, here we go!

There is giraffe print, cheetah print, leopard print and the aforementioned zebra print. OH and I suppose cow print would fall into this category, too. There may be more but if there are I have never had the pleasure of working with them.

If I can't come up with a set of black and white animal print bedding that will tickle this teen's fancy, I wonder how black and white peacock feather fabrics would do in a set of a teen girls bedding? It just doesn't get much more exotic than a peacock feather even if they are in a monochromatic image.

GOT ANY IDEAS?

Anybody out there got any ideas or maybe a picture of a room or a favorite set of bedding that you'd like to share?

GOT ANY IDEAS? GO HERE!
and upload your pictures or ask any decorating questions that you may have.

If you've got any ideas about what kind of colors, themes or patterns that teen girls would like to see more of when they go shopping for bedroom sets, this might just be the best way for your voice to be heard.

What do you say? Have you had enough peace sign bedding or zebra bedding or do you just want to see more?

Or would you like to play show and tell and show off your cute bedroom? There's no way to do that on this teen girl bedding and bedroom decor blog but you can use the link above and I promise that we'll all run over there to see what you've done with your room!

BEACH BEDDING SETS for Girls

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I have a special place in my heart for beach bedding sets for girls and the accompanying decor. So, after finishing up on my client's kitchen decorating project (which went off without a hitch) I offered to give her teen girl's bedroom a mini-makeover when I noticed that she had a really cute set of beach themed bedding smack dab in the middle of a room with absolutely no personality or pizzazz.


The teenage girl's mom was thrilled at my offer and started to produce some matching pillows and bedroom decor that were bought to go with the beach bedding set and were not being used...in fact they were stuffed inside the closet.

My ideas are to buy more pillows, as one beach ball pillow does not make a pretty arrangement even on a twin size bed, and to find a cheap table lamp and replace the existing lamp shade with the one that matches the beach theme quilt.

After she gets over the sticker shock of the more expensive kitchen decorating project, I'm going to suggest that she buy new carpet for her teen's beach themed bedroom (that mud brown color rug is just not doing it) AND a new headboard for the bed and by that time she might want to check into some of the new beach bedding sets for girls that are out by that time and just start from scratch.

PINK AND GREEN PEACE SIGN BEDDING with a TWIST

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When I found this set, I was a loss of what to call it so I'm calling it the pink and green peace sign bedding with a twist! Because it just seemed to defy being pigeonholed into one single style of bedding. Sure, it qualifies to be classified as pink peace sign bedding, but it's also got lime green leopard print AND your standard zebra print fabric.

Plus, there's the lime green pom-pom fringe on the comforter set's throw pillows and shams. As if all that wild animal and peace sign print fabric weren't enough to throw a tired decorator for a loop; the colorful toucan on the pillow took things in a distinctly tropical direction.

To be sure, this custom teen girls bedding set is not for everybody. For one thing..is it just me or are (even) faux animal skins and peace signs an unusual combination? Oh well, I float through life on the surface and don't dig too deep into the meaning of things so this funky bedding set might just find its way into the teenage girls' tropical bedroom that I'm working on. What do you think about the PINK AND GREEN PEACE SIGN BEDDING with a TWIST? I would really like to know if I'm hitting on something here or do you think it's lame?

Red and Pink Bedding

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I thought I had just found the perfect set of red and pink bedding for a teenage girl's bedroom that I'm decorating. Take a good look at the pictures...do you see a red and pink comforter set? Well, at first glance I surely did only to take a second look and realize that the actual comforter and shams are white, pink and green. There may be a tiny touch of red in the center of the flowers that you can't see very well, but it may be hot pink.

The point is that the red upholstered headboard of the bed, the red dust ruffle and that funky looking wooly mirror that's hung over the head of the bed fooled me into thinking that I had found THE pink and red bedding set that would solve all my problems.

I wonder if I can convince the young lady to accept this red and pink bedding set and more importantly, convince her mom to pay for a padded red headboard.
The girl's taste in bedroom colors ranges in the warm (ya think?) side of the color wheel thus the request for a hot pink and red room design. In my opinion, the field of white with cool green stems on the flowers are what will make the girls bedding set work.

ISLAND BEDDING

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A mother wrote to me asking if this set of tropical island bedding was appropriate for decorating a teenage girls bedroom. Frankly, the only thing that hit me was that teens and tweens aren't usually that into floral prints...tropical or otherwise.

Then I opened the second picture that she sent and saw the Hawaiian hula girl and thought, "Well, that's better!" only to read that the Hula girl was the bone of contention because some mean spirited friend made an off color remark about the girl having a thing for chicks because of the island theme bedspread!

How wild and crazy is that? I, personally, adore vintage Hawaiian print fabric and hula girls and don't see a thing wrong with this bedding collection. But the lady is asking for opinions from teens (not decorators) as to whether or not it will scar her daughter's tender psyche if she tells her that she has to keep the comforter set in spite of how against it she has now become.

What do you say? Keep the island bedding set or get rid of it and maybe replace it with one of the tropical Roxy bedding sets in a similar color scheme?

PATRIOTIC BEDDING

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These star lights are perfect with the patriotic bedding set that I plan to use in a client's red,white and blue bedroom. I like the ones that come wired like Christmas tree or patio lights. They are so, so cool when used in the proper setting. I actually had this string of Ikea star lights stuffed in a box with plans to decorate the patio with them at sometime in the future or maybe find a place that needed a celestial touch during the holidays...and then...

I found a picture of a boy's room on this website that used THESE VERY LIGHTS as part of the wall decorations.

I didn't care for the rest of the bedroom at all and the decorator's ideas certainly didn't fit with my red, white and blue patriotic bedding. But the way that the she put the star lights for the bedroom on display was nothing but pure decorating genius, my friend and I think they will look even more stunning as a pseudo-headboard with the Americana quilt.

The wall in the bedroom in the picture is painted a dusky blue that reminds me of the evening sky just at twilight which is very peaceful and relaxing. But I'm thinking that if you used the star lights for a bedroom with a patriotic theme a navy blue wall would be just as attractive and more representative of the colors in the American flag.

TEEN GIRLS HEART BEDDING

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What do you think about the bedroom in the picture with the teen girls heart bedding set? I saw a bedroom decorating question regarding this comforter set that got me thinking about how small decorative decisions can take a bedroom's design in one direction or another.

The girl who wrote in said that she loved the polka dot and heart print fabric of the comforter set and the contrasting pattern of the striped bedskirt but didn't like the "dressed up" look of the picture of the bedroom on the bedding set's packaging and wanted to know how to decorate her room in a funky fashion using the girl's heart bedding.

I think I would go for a shabby chic look using a chipped iron bed frame and I would ditch the matching curtains. Just because you buy a bed in a bag doesn't mean you have to use the window treatments. Sell them, toss them or whatever; if you don't like them don't destroy the look of your room just because you feel wasteful. Aluminum foil over the windows is better than buying drapery hardware and taking the time to hang curtains that you hate.

Getting back to the teen girls bedroom design problem, as I said, I would keep the teen girls heart bedding set and decorate the bedroom in a funky, shabby chic style. How do YOU decorate a bedroom when you are after a stylish look but don't want anything fancy?

FUNKY PINK BEDDING

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A mom I'm working with says she wants her teen girl's bedding to be pink while FUNKY PINK BEDDING is more in line with what's on her daughter's radar. I have a knack for getting in the middle of the battle of wills between teenage girls and their mothers, don't I?

The problem is that moms want to hang onto their baby girls as long as possible which means they want to keep the pastel pink bedroom in tact long after the toddler stage. When tweens and preteen girls are ready to jazz things up a bit the bedroom makeover can get ugly.

My job is to reach a compromise if at all possible and my advice to parents is to let the girls have their funky pink bedding! There are so many bigger (and more important) issues that so long as the lime green and funky pink bedding is tasteful why sweat the small stuff?

How do you like these lime green and pink curtains with the lime green and hot pink bedding in the pictures? I tried all pink as well as all lime green window treatments but I believe the combination of the two colors actually works better with the teen girls bedding. What do you think?

How to Brighten a Dark Room

The first tip I would share with anyone asking how to brighten a dark room would be to figure out whether the room actually needs lightening or brightening. I learned the hard way that they are not one and the same. You can add more light through natural sources, through adding lamps and light fixture as well as mirrors to reflect and amplify but still have a dull, lifeless bedroom that has no personality. Basically what you have is a well lit room that lacks pizzazz!

What you need to know is how to brighten a dark room without sunlight and running up the electric bill. You can buy a new comforter set choosing bright fabrics and change the wall color to something cheerful if you have the funds for a complete makeover. But if you are looking for less expensive decorating ideas look for ways to rev up the engine of the paint and bedding set that you already have in place.

Bright, energetic artwork is a cheap way to pump life into an otherwise lethargic space. Choosing art prints and accent pieces with movement and bright colors is the key to bringing your bedroom to life. Skip the dark colors, the still life pictures, landscapes and the floral arrangements. Look for prints that have twirling, spinning graphics and a bold splash of color for the best results. Even though light colors will never never brighten up a dark room. Dark colors can make the space seem small and dim.

Dancing prints work well with most teenage girls bedding bedding sets as well as sports prints. Basically, anything that is bright as well as lighthearted should do the trick.

NERD WALL ART

Find it at scribbleoneverything.com


This decal that a client's daughter presented to me as nerd wall art that she wants as a focal point in her "nerd bedroom" (her words not mine, evidently being nerdy is very cool these days) is a painful reminder that I didn't apply myself when I was in high school. I was not the only teenage girl who memorized the periodic table of elements just long enough to pass chemistry class so I was not an odd duck.


Today nerds are the new "IN CROWD" and this young girl is perhaps the leader of the pack because she is drop dead gorgeous and not your dingy absent minded professor type either! Good looking, high achievers like her have become so trendy that they are developing their own decorating style and nerd decor like this decal and other pieces of nerd wall art are popping up all over the place!

In light of the monochromatic nature of the nerd wall art, I have to find a set of bedding and take her bedroom furniture and the headboard to her bed to be painted with flat black paint to match the periodic table wall poster and decals that she bought at scribbleoneverything.com.


Since I signed on to decorate this young lady's self-proclaimed nerd bedroom I have hopes that I get more jobs working for the intellectual set because I have my eye on some Legend of Zelda bedding that I'm dying to use teen girls bedding set in a gamer bedroom design.

Turquoise and Brown Bedding

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I love this set of turquoise and brown bedding called Julia that is designed by who else but Roxy bedding! I just had to share it with you in my blog before I’ve even got it delivered to the house where I'm decorating four bedrooms including one turquoise, brown and white bedroom which is now going smoothly after a minor glitch or two.

The teen girl in the family had the idea that she wanted to combine chocolate brown and white damask print fabric with a complementary solid or small patterned turquoise blue fabric (not aqua or Robin's Egg blue, but turquoise!) which would have been pretty but to make it happen would have meant shopping for bedding, curtain and upholstery fabric and then waiting for the seamstress to get around to actually making the items.
This was not a workable plan because of a sister’s wedding that is planned for less than a few weeks away so I pulled this set of white, turquoise and brown bedding out of my little bag of decorating tricks. This brown and blue comforter set is much less formal than what she had mentioned earlier. The brown and white print actually came from one of the tropical collections of Roxy bedding for girls but wonder of wonders, the patterns were not a big deal to her.

The chocolate brown and turquoise bedroom color scheme turned out to be more important so all is well and we will have all the bedrooms decorated in time to have the house looking great for the wedding!

BLACK and WHITE FASHION BEDDING

Leah called needing help with the purses and shoes theme black and white fashion bedding set that I had recommended to her. I blogged about this set awhile ago and it just knocked her out but it was expensive. Then, when I saw the ensemble go on sale I told her and she got her mom to order it right away!

She was so excited about getting the comfort set that I couldn’t imagine what the problem might be. The bedroom color scheme of hot pink, black and white was pretty straight forward and we had ascertained that there was no need to repaint the bedroom, so what was wrong?

I feared the worst in that I was afraid that the color combination might be TOO simple. This teenage girl loves bold and some might even say wild, colors and the only bright colors in this set came in through the fashion theme graphics of the accent pillows.

After a quick trip to her house to see if I could help her mom avoid shipping the fashion theme bedding set back I was relieved to learn that the young lady’s meltdown was not that big of a deal. She didn’t like the retro look of the pink Cadillac throw pillow that came with the black and white fashion bedding set but her mom loved it.

I have to admit that the inclusion of the vintage car changed the whole complexion of the girl’s bedroom theme from sophisticated to...well, something else. I don't have a think against an Elvis theme bedroom or a rockabilly bedroom but this style would have not been in keeping with this girl's personality and that's where this pink Cadillac design was taking us.

The teen girls bedding set and bedroom decorating ideaswere based on designer purses, high heel shoes and fashion models except for that pink vintage car. Never having noticed it before, it was now bugging me that it threw the black and white fashion bedding set into the realm of rockabilly. This was one time I sided with the teenager of the house.

Tell me, would you vote to keep the pillow or lose it? Or does it really not make much difference in the overall bedroom design?

Beach Theme Bedroom

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It's time to start thinking about what kind of beach theme bedroom that might appeal to my client's daughter who will be rolling in any minute now and I'm expecting to be summoned and expected to show up with a boatload of girls beach bedroom ideas shortly after her bags hit the floor.

I know it's coming...she's going to be very excited about wherever she spent the last week and that she is going to want to recreate the trip in her beach theme bedroom. Hopefully, I won't have problems finding a comforter set that will suit her. Wouldn't it be great if she wants a vintage Hawaiian beach theme room? That would just be lovely, but somehow I know that's not going to happen.

What is your favorite beach theme bedroom? Most teen girls bedding, bedrooms and decorating ideas for this theme focus on either flip flops or surfboards and I'm worried that style may have run it's course...or has it?

Tommy Bahama Dominique Bedding

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A client had bought her teen girl a set of Tommy Bahama Dominique bedding that she found on sale because her daughter had said that she wanted to decorate her room in a tropical bedroom theme or a beach theme.

When she got it home, the teenage girl said that the blue and white palm tree print fabric looked way too OLD for her. Her mom was very disappointed because she had bought the comforter set on the closeout table at a store that was over a hundred miles away from her house.

She said that she planned to postpone her daughter’s bedroom makeover until she could sell the Tommy Bahama Dominique bedding set in an EBay auction. I asked her if I could take a look at it and I remembered the "Life is One Long Weekend" pillow that I had on hand.

Long story short, I managed to convince her daughter to let me try to give the denim blue and white palm tree comforter a funky look based on that accent pillow! I have my work cut out for me but I think I can manage! Wish me luck and if you have any ideas on how I can decorate the rest of this teen girl’s bedroom please stop back by Teen Girls Bedding and Bedroom Decorating Ideas and share before I get myself into more than I can handle!

TROPICAL BEDDING

I’m still snuggling up in my bed surrounded by flannel at night, but lately tropical bedding is dancing through my brain like sugarplums. The chill of winter is still in the air so I’m not making my move to lighten things up for spring and summer in my own bedroom just yet.

But it’s a completely different story when it comes to bedroom decorating ideas for my clients. Most of the moms decorating rooms for their teen girls that I have met with recently have homes that are a work in progress yet they are enthusiastically gathering decorative possibilities for tropical bedrooms even though the work is a few months out.

Thankfully, lots of the stores have already rolled out some very cute tropical bedding sets with hibiscus flowers and pretty pink and green color schemes. One thing I’ve noticed is that hot pink seems to be cooling down just a touch. The shade of pink that is taking its place is more of a watermelon color and it looks fantastic with a honey dew melon shade of green as well as lime green. The requests for bold colors will probably pick up later in the year but for now the tropical bedding sets are fresh as an ocean breeze.

Have you picked out your comforter set or got your eye on a bed in a bag set in spring colors? Why don’t you take a minute and tell the visitors at Teen Girls Bedding and Bedroom Decorating Ideas about it?

BALLERINA BEDDING for GIRLS

I can breathe a sigh of relief that I found this set of ballerina bedding for girls that is anything but wimpy. To give you a little background on that remark (and to let you know why I haven't been forthcoming with any new bedding sets and bedroom decorating ideas lately), a lady across town was building a fabulous home that a friend of mine was contracted to decorate from top to bottom. After much begging, she actually let me go with her one day when she was taking some measurements on the window sizes and the owner and I were introduced.

Long story short, my friend caught the flu and needed me to take the job and finish it which thrilled me to no end because the owner seemed sweet and the home was to die for...and then I met the teen diva in residence. This teenage girl was amazingly certain about what colors she wanted in her room AND that she wanted ballerina bedding for girls that WAS NOT wimpy! How a young girl could be so opinionated at such a young age about bedding was almost scary. But EUREKA!!! I found this set and if (and that's a pretty darn big if) she approves it my work is done.

One trend I see in bedroom decorating ideas is that teen girls bedding in pastels is falling behind bright colors. Wait to see if this holds true through summer before you make plans to follow this fashion trend.

TWEETY BIRD BEDDING SET

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You might think that the colors in this Tweety Bird bedding set would leave little room for error or give you much choice in choosing curtains, rugs or a wall color for that matter. Anytime you venture out into comforter sets with wild or bright colors like this one, get ready to be bossed around by those same colors.

Fabric that is that bold is not ready to compromise nor is it very forgiving. Your stuff either matches or it doesn't. I can see lots of lime green and possibilities for turquoise blue but I believe that I'd let the yellow of the Tweety Bird bedding set stand alone rather than bringing in lots of Looney Tunes bedroom decorations or bright yellow and orange accent pieces. I'd like to hear your opinions so why please leave your thoughts on this cute girls' bedding set here on Teen Girls Bedding, Bedrooms and Decor. Is it lame or do you love it?

HORSE BEDROOM IDEAS

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I'm having a difficult time convincing a mom that all girls' horse bedroom ideas do not have to be in pastel colors. If she picks out one more set of pink or purple horse bedding for kids her teen girl's head might just explode..closely followed by my own.

When decorating a horse theme bedroom for a little girl these colors are super. The same goes for a set of carousel horse baby bedding for a baby girl's nursery. But when girls hit their teenage years, they tend to shy away from color schemes that may be associated with their past and reach for something fresh and sassy!

I'm dying to use this set of twin horse bedding set with the red gingham bed skirt in a project. I can think of all sorts of horse bedroom ideas that will really show it off to full potential. And the gingham check inserts on the cowgirl boots are so CUTE! The problem is that I'm not sure that this is tween or teen girls bedding but I'm going to run it by this mom and daughter duo and see if they can reach a compromise.

Staging Your Comeback

Well, at this point I am out of my big cast, and in a velcro thing. And my doctor said that I might not need surgery after all. I go back in about a month for more x-rays. At some point I will start rehab. He told me that it was going to be many months before my hand will be back to its full use and full strength.

SO, I had to quit my job at Hobby Lobby. So now I have more time to pursue some other things in life. No money, but more time. I bought this book - "Staging Your Comeback: A Complete Beauty Revival for Women Over 45." I have been dressing in middle-age mom frump for many years now. This book just really struck me, and encouraged me to jump into a full makeover.

Step One - My Closet

The day after I finished the book, I emptied my closet. Most of it was stuff I had not worn in many years. And the rest of it was ugly frump.

This pile is PART of what did NOT go back into my closet. I filled up four trash bags that I threw away, and I filled up five trash bags that I took to Goodwill.

This is what my closet looks like now. And there is only one shirt that I actually really like. The rest I kept because if I only kept one shirt, I wouldn't be able to leave my house.

The bottom rod only has a few things that I kept from my kids childhood, and a lot of empty hangers. I only kept TWO pair of shoes - my tennis shoes, and that one pair of black shoes for church. The rest went in the trash.

A couple of days later I went shopping. I bought one pair of black slacks and a few new shirts - but NO MIDDLE-AGE MOM FRUMP! I put on the clothes that I bought to show my kids, and they told me I looked stylish. Now, you should know that the word stylish has never been used in the same sentence with my name. Unless, of course, there was a big, fat "NOT" thrown in there. So that made me really happy. Ugly mom frump is outta here.

Ok, so about this book. If you are in need of knowing what style/shape of clothes will look best on your body shape, and what type of accessories you should or should not wear for your body shape, what make-up and haircut you need to look your best, then you NEED this book, too. I'm telling you, it is the best book I have ever read.

Next up - my new haircut.

Shannon

LAVENDER ZEBRA BEDDING

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The purple zebra print sets are no longer to be found so will lavender zebra bedding work? From the number of comments that I've been getting from teen girls looking for the set of black and purple zebra bedding set that I posted awhile back (Zebra Bedding with a Twist) it would seem that lots of my visitors waited too long and may have lost out.

I actually located a few sets that drifted through auctions early last month but they are now long gone. Yeah, that's pretty bad news if you had your heart set on it but the good news is that there is a set of deep lavender zebra bedding that is very similar and most importantly available at the time of this post.

Don't blame Tween and Teenage Girl Bedding and Bedroom Decorating Ideas if you mess around and let this one get away from you!