girls wallpaper border

Girls' Decor is More Than Sugar and Spice

That old nursery rhyme about little girls being made of sugar and spice surely needs to be updated for the 21st century. Little girls still like frilly, but they also like sports, horses, the outdoors, and much, much more.

The best place to start looking for a theme for your daughter's decor is to talk with her. What are her favorite interests? Is she a girly girl? Does she excel at soccer, gymnastics or dancing? Whatever catches her imagination is the place to start looking for decor ideas.

Don't be afraid to steer her in the direction of a less-expensive decorating scheme if the budget is an issue in these tough economic times. Kids are a lot more perceptive than we give them credit for, but they don't need to know all the details. Just explain that you'll be working within a decorating budget, and that you'll get to make choices together.

Beach Gal: If you live near the ocean, or she delights in retelling tales from your seaside vacation, consider a beach theme for her room. Think ocean blues for the walls, sandy colors on the floor, and a bright blue sky with puffy clouds. Look for a wallpaper border full of seashells or a beach-themed area rug and key the color scheme to it. Some real seashells or an art print will set the mood for beach-house-style furniture.

Star Bright: Not many urban kids get to see stars on a regular basis, so decorating your daughter's room with stars could be both unusual and educational. Instead of a wallpaper border, consider sponge-painting a star border around the room. Enhance the starlight romance with a couple of starry mobiles and perhaps a star-shaped area rug. Or go deeply into the night by painting the ceiling midnight blue and adorn it with glow-in-the-dark stars. A moon-and-stars cutout on the bed's headboard, along with star fabric and a quilt will complete the look.

Fantasy Favorites: Something about fairies, elves and other magical creatures has engaged the imaginations of little girls for generations. If your little girl loves fairies, then deck her room soft pastels of pink, blue or lavender. Add art prints or figurines of fairies with their delicate, diaphanous wings and throw some sparkle on the walls with glitter markers or silver paint. If it's elves she loves, then opt for some pastel woodland colors in greens, browns and beiges, again with appropriate prints or other decorations. Tie all the decor details together with a matching pastel-colored area rug.

Fairy Tale Cottage: When the decorating scheme includes some gently used furniture, consider turning her bedroom into a fairy-tale cottage. You could give her an all-white room, including painting the furniture, and then add interest and variety by changing out the room's accessories in different colors periodically. Be sure to use a semi-gloss paint on the walls for easier clean-ups.

Fluttering By: There's no doubt about it: Butterflies are big with little girls. What's more, in the past few years butterflies have become big in home decor as well. That makes it easy to transform your daughter's bedroom into a butterfly sanctuary. Turn her walls into a garden scene with dozens of butterflies and chose butterfly designs for window treatments and bedding and a butterfly area rug for the floor. Here's a nice touch: Get some butterfly hair clips and attach them to her curtains, lampshades and other places.