Before & After: Rose-Pink Storage and “Fairy Doors” Are Just What This “Blank Space” Bedroom Needed
Let’s be real: Kids collect a lot of stuff. From handmade artwork (and craft supplies) and LEGO building blocks, to stuffed animals and all other sorts of trinkets, these items need a place to live. So kids’ room storage is likely a feature that you’re always on the lookout for. Lara Clarke, founder of Lara Clarke Interiors, understood that need when redesigning her daughter Sienna’s bedroom.
“The house was a new build, so a completely blank canvas,” Lara explains. “It was totally lacking in character and personality, so I wanted to create a fun and colorful space that grows as she grows.”
One of the biggest transformations in Sienna’s room was the built-in storage — a combination of cabinets, drawers, shelving, and even a nook under the window for Sienna’s bed. The woodwork, painted in Dulux’s Ash Rose, extends along and wraps around the walls. It took the longest to install, but the storage options made it all so special. There’s also room to upgrade the bed to a larger size as Sienna grows.
“We created hidden ‘fairy’ doors for a secret storage space and left cubby holes for dressing up boxes and shelving for books and trinkets,” Lara shares. “Individually switched wall lights mean she can easily turn off her reading lights by her bed after reading, and [there are] curtains above the bed to cocoon herself in! It also doubles up as a stage for performances with her friends!”
Sienna’s favorite color is pink, so Ottoline’s Happy People wallpaper (in pink, of course) complements the millwork’s color perfectly. Little pops of green dot the room for extra drama, like on the tassels hanging from the bed nook’s curtains and artwork on the wall.
The room makeover took about two months to complete, and Sienna (who was 2 1/2 years old at the time) even helped a little by testing paint samples on the wall. It’s a room that’ll grow with her; Lara says the design, which makes her happy every time she walks in the door, has “withstood the test of time.”
“[Sienna] often closes her curtains and creates a den for her and her friends,” Lara says. “She loves curling up in the reading corner with a book and displaying her special things on her shelves.”