Fit for a Princess

My weeks have been busy lately, juggling kids, clients, meetings, art lessons at my son's school and the endless list of household chores.  When things get too busy, it's easy to lose focus on what makes my career so fun--creating beautiful spaces and seeing my clients' happy smiles. I had one of those moments recently and it truly made it all the stress and busyness seem worthwhile.

This week I got to do an installation in a little girl's bedroom.  Let me begin by saying that this little 10 year-old is an absolute doll.  I have boys, but if I had girls, I'd want them to be just like her.  She's sweet, smart, funny, polite and just generally great to be around.  She likes decorating, art, and little crafty projects.  She even hand-makes her own thank-you notes.  How charming is that?!

Almost one year ago, this young lady lady moved with her family into a new house. (One of my many custom-home projects.  Go to www.sheilamaydeninteriors.com , click on "Portfolio", then "Le Magnifique" to see the rest of the house.)  When she moved in, she was promised a pretty bedroom with lots of nice, girly touches.  She has been patiently waiting all this time for her mom and me to get things just right.  Needless to say, after waiting almost a whole year, she was getting pretty anxious to see this all come together.

Wednesday was the big day, or "Canopy Day" as she was excitedly calling it.  You see, she was getting her first bed canopy and she was ecstatic.  I was excited too.  I don't do a lot of children's rooms and a custom bed canopy was actually a first for me.  I agonized over the details for a long time--trying to decide how big it was going to be, how it was going to hang (there was a heat vent in the ceiling directly over her bed that couldn't be blocked), what sort of fabric to use, should it have fringe or ruffles, etc, etc.  The moment of truth was finally here.

The big install (not really that big) included the custom wall-mounted bed canopy, some new coordinating bedding with matching accent pillow, a new seat cushion and pillows for her window seat, and some pretty, ruffled, cafe curtains to hang in the window. This all came together while previously-mentioned young lady was away in school.  Her mom and I were giddy with delight when we saw the finished product.  It's hard to say who's going to like this room more--the mother or the little girl!

Here's a sneak peak of how it all came together.  Please note that these photos were taken with my rather gimpy pocket camera (very old and with a broken flash) and I have yet to do the formal photos.  These pictures don't do the room justice, but hopefully you get the sense of how fun this little project was.  :-)

(The room during construction.)
  The bench seat and flanking bookcases were my custom design.

(Post move-in, as decorated by the young lady, pre-Sheila Mayden Interiors.) 

(The bed canopy on the day of the install.)
  Many thanks to my great installer, Frank Larson!  You are a miracle worker!
And another charming side note: the ceiling fixture was brought from her bedroom in her old house, for sentimental reasons.  I love that!

(View of the whole room.)
  My only disappointment here is that my camera didn't render the colors very accurately.  The room looks warm and sunny in person.

(Close up detail of the bed.)
  I found the mirror (over the bed) after we had selected our fabrics and was so excited because the color was a perfect match.  That's serendipity at it's finest!

(Close up detail of the window seat and cafe curtains.)
I love how this all came together, right down to the little crystal knobs on the bench.  So pretty, feminine and fitting for a little lady.

I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into one of the joys of my job.  It was such a fun day and even my husband noted that I was still beaming at the dinner table that night.