Fabric as Inspiration

It all started with this dress

I was getting ready to re-carpet and paint my 15 year-old daughter's room, and when I saw this dress I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the room.

Keep in mind, this child is always moving - whether she's playing soccer, dancing, singing, playing guitar or just driving us all crazy - she never slows down.

I wanted to create a room that would reflect her vibrant personality, but also create a space that would help her unwind.

Now, 5 months later....

We are loving this!  The stripes are fun, and modern (her two criteria), but the aqua brings a calming effect, perfect for a bedroom.



We also painted her bathroom cabinets in the same aqua

I kept the opposite walls white because I thought putting stripes on every wall would feel confining.  But white walls are too stark for my taste, so I added this string tree, again a modern, but whimsical touch.  It could have been left plain as shown below...

...but we wanted a fun way to display her pictures, movie stubs, etc.  The tree is able to serve as a kind of "art", adding a pop of color and visual interest, while also being functional.

I got the idea for it here.  This was a simple project because I was able to do it free-form.  The strings are held in with clear push pins.  I started by creating a basic tree skeleton, pinning the string close to the wall.  Once the basic form was made, I started looping the string around the clear part of the push pins in any random direction.  

Little knots in the trunk were created by adding more pins in one concentrated area and concentrating the string more densely in that area. 

I would have gone a lot more crazy with the string, but I ran out!  I'll probably order more soon and fill in the tree a little more.  I used orange and white striped baker's twine, which can be found easily on Etsy.

So that's it!  One picture of a dress made in a beautiful stripe fabric helped dictate the design and function of an entire bedroom!