I love you a circle

Craft - inspired by Resene, from Little Treasures magazine

This heart-felt family saying inspired this pretty bedroom design, filled with rounded shapes and pleasing curves.

A circle has no beginning or end and so “I love you a circle” is what Jude Kirk and her partner Bryan say to their three-and-a-half-year old daughter, Alexandra.

The saying may encapsulate their feelings but Jude also needed colours for the room’s theme. She found her second source of inspiration in a print that now hangs over Alexandra’s bed called Ballooning Over Paris and Jude deployed the palette in a host of creative ways.

She began by painting the bedroom walls with Resene Half Vienna, the colour used throughout their recycled brick home in Christchurch. The rimu skirting boards and windowsills are also consistent throughout the house, so the challenge was to find ways of injecting colour and individuality through various design features and accents.

“One of the things I did early on was to book in with Trendy Mirrors to make the big mirror, because I love what mirrors add to a room and, with Christmas close, I knew that there wasn’t much time.”

Next Jude focused on the curtains and chose Warwick Fabrics’ Darjeeling Ceylon in Spring. “The great thing about this fabric is I can change the room as Alexandra gets older and the curtains will last through any age,” says Jude.

Shedding light on the room is a pretty chandelier light fitting in the centre of the ceiling. This came from a Lighting Plus store and Jude purchased it while she was still pregnant. The lamp on the bedside table has an antique gold finish. Jude chose it because it complements the ballooning print, as well as the cheeky sign on the adjacent wall: “The Princess Sleeps Here”.

The most difficult task in making over the bedroom was to come up with a new look for the wood-fronted double sliding wardrobe doors, characteristic in homes like Jude’s. “I considered a few options, then when I was in the Resene ColorShop, I came across this gorgeous embossed wallpaper of overlapping circles.”

Before applying the Meistervlies Pro paper to the doors, Jude had to prepare the surface, which involved hand-sanding with two different papers then sealing and sizing them. “The staff at Resene broke the process down for me into a series of steps and, once I started, it wasn’t long before I’d finished the job,” Jude says with a laugh.

Along the way she picked up several fantastic value buys including the toy box with curved sides, which she found on TradeMe for $40 and two sets of bookshelves, found at second-hand stores – a remarkable $14 for them both.

All three pieces now look better than ever after several coats of Resene White. Jude customised the furniture by painting polka dots all over the shelves and the toy box lid using a rainbow of Resene colours: Resene Hopbush, Resene Blue Gem, Resene Tangerine, Resene Tree Frog, Resene Belladonna, Resene Turbo and Resene Bahama Blue. She also painted the golly-girls picture, which hangs above the wardrobe doors, using the same Resene colours.

Several elements bring more to the room than aesthetics. The chest of drawers in the corner originally belonged to Alexandra’s great grandmother; the monkey nightlight is a gift from Grandma and the white satin dress hanging nearby was worn by Alexandra at a family wedding. So the room certainly is filled with keepsakes and love.

The silver A, B and C letters came from stylish gift store Partridge and Pear, but the $2 Shop also chipped in some winners, including the paper lanterns that hang above the bed as well as the white feather wings behind the dress. The lilac silk cushions on the bed were ex-display and Jude’s best-value purchase at $15. Lastly, Jude made the noticeboard from hard board, padding, fabric and ribbon, mostly from Spotlight.

And the end result? Jude says Alexandra loves spending time in her new room and her caterpillar rocker has never been so busy!

Kid's Bedroom Decorating Ideas
View more decorating ideas for kids from Little Treasures magazine in the Resene kid's bedroom inspiration gallery.

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