"Mommy, I want green walls, red furniture, blue carpet and all my trucks lined up along the walls!"

Let’s address the second scenario... Adam is a three to seven year old boy who wants green walls, red furniture, and blue rugs with his trucks on parade. First, we need to find a color palette that reflects some of his preferences but also flows from the main living areas (we’ll assume this is in the same home as Amy’s and that we have a sage green/terra cotta/plum color scheme). The carpet throughout is light sage green.

My first idea is to use a border or wallpaper that has a truck pattern (there are lots of these to choose from) in a rich green, with rusty/brick, blues and plum. This flows well from the main areas and allow the hues and shades of color that Adam wants in his room.

Let’s wallpaper the entire room with a plaid that correlates with a truck border below the chair-rail, and we’ll install the border at the chair-rail height (approximately 36 inches from the floor). For the sake of budget, let’s paint above the chair-rail a warm beige/cream color. We could make Adam a headboard from plywood cut in the shape of a Stop sign and painted rusty/brick red tones with white lettering to blend with the room. (Could also be a Yield sign or Railroad crossing sign -- either would be easy and cute in the room.)

We are going to use a ready made bedding ensemble in solid dark green with the other colors introduced in shams, bed skirts, pillows, etc., mixing the green, dark blue, brick, plum, and beige. (Maybe we could make an accent pillow to resemble a Yield or Railroad sign.) The window treatment can be made from a matching sheet to the bedding ensemble. Lots of simple sewing ideas are available or simply use a ready made window treatment. I suggest that a tab valance with contrasting buttons would look good.

Let’s find some poster art that has trucks on it and frame it as inexpensively as possible. Paint the frames, dark green, dark blue, brick, and plum, and create a grouping with the framed art above the chair-rail in an open wall area of the room. Display some of Adam’s trucks on some shelves or the dresser, etc. For lighting, we'll fill a glass lamp jar with match cars and use some light fixtures that resemble Stop lights and Railroad Crossings (they are available -- you just have to look -- or use other lighting sources as needed). We’ll add a dash of greenery and Adam’s room is done!! Let’s see if we have all eight decorating components addressed in Adam’s room.

Flooring - sage green carpet

Walls - beige paint, with plaid wallpaper and truck border at chair-rail height

Furniture - Headboard built to resemble Stop sign painted brick red, dresser, bookshelf, night-stands, etc.

Window Treatments/Bedding Ensembles/Accent Pillows - Dark green bedding ensemble with accent pillows, shams, bedskirt in dark blue, brick red and plum; tab window valance in dark green with contrast beige buttons

Lighting - practical and decorative; idea- use a lamp base filled with match cars and others as needed

Artwork - Poster art of trucks, in painted frames

Accessories - Adams trucks and treasures (maybe some other items found to work with theme)

Floral/Greenery - greenery added as needed on shelf, dresser or tree in void corner

All eight decorating components of Adam's room have been addressed, his room is very cute and economically decorated. We have provided Adam the trucks he wanted, and the colors of green, blue, red (brick/burgundy tones) he requested in his room, just in different locations. The colors all flow and work well with the main color scheme of the home and reflect a sense of style. Obviously, there are hundreds of options and directions we could have taken, but Adam’s desire for trucks and certain colors gave us the inspiration for decorating the room this way. Use your imagination when decorating a child’s room and have fun!

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