Maybe, like me, you have a song that personifies your child. For my daughter, it’s “She’s A Rainbow” by the Rolling Stones. (Sidebar: Ted Lasso made this song even more endearing.) Rainbows have captivated her since she was a baby and have remained the most frequent subject of her art. All signs pointed to designing a rainbow room in our new home.
In our last home she started to ask for specific functional and design elements for her room: pink walls, a fluffy rug, and a bigger bed. And around that time, we knew we would be moving so I asked if we could wait to redesign her room until we were in a new home. We Pinterested away while we searched for a new home. As a reward for her patience, we prioritized designing both she and her brother’s rooms in the first couple of months of living here.
I gravitated toward earthy tones. She was insistent that pink would be the theme. We landed on an area rug we both loved. And a shade of pink. And began collecting all the elements from there.
The Rainbow Elements
- This subtly striped rainbow quilt and shams
- A rainbow area rug that brings in blues, yellows, and rust colors
- Rainbow inspiration courtesy of this Spoonflower designer
- Crystals prisms to bring in rainbow light
The Paint Colors
- Farrow & Ball Pink Ground
- Farrow & Ball Dimity (for the dresser)
- Sherwin Williams Alabaster (the primary white in our home)
- Wallpaper for the closet; not yet purchased, but here are the frontrunners (pictured in order, below):
The Furniture
- I love the Pottery Barn Elsie bed, but we bought the Little Seeds Rowan Valley Linden bed at a much more budget friendly price; price check via the “where to buy” on their site
- Also loved the look of this Potter Barn dresser, but not the price tag. I found a similar shape on Facebook Marketplace for $100 and gave it a very Pottery Barn-inspired makeover (color = F&B Dimity; knobs are from Amazon in Pewter)
- Mattress: I asked a number of you about your favorites on IG and there was a general consensus of “let me know what you pick!”. We went with this 10-inch memory foam mattress from Zinus and our kids and guests (we have a queen in our guest room) love it.
I’m happy with progress on the rainbow room. We have a few more major projects left, which I plan to take on over the next month’ish. What’s that list look like? A lot of trim work; overhauling a closet (why oh why oh WHY do people use wire racks?!); and improving the lighting situation by removing an ugly fan and adding a whimsical GRIMSÅS light! With a twist, of course. You’ll have to return or follow on IG to see the progress on the room over the next four… maybe eight?… weeks.
west becomes home 