HGTV Designer's Challenge

The Design Challenge…
To turn a confining 10’ x 12’ room into a playful area, appropriate for today’s toddler as well as tomorrow’s young girl of five or six. Being partial to the antique look, the client wanted to use several framed, vintage 1930’s magazine covers for the room’s inspiration as well as add a new bed, built-in shelves, window treatment and window seat.

	Tiny Toddler Room Sketch

The Design Problems & Solutions…
First, the arched window was low on the wall; leaving too much wall space between the top of the window’s arch and the room’s ceiling. To “raise” the window and eliminate the excess wall space, a new window valance was mounted higher on the wall, bringing the window into scale with the rest of the room and also establishing a line for the top of the new built-in shelves.

Second, the closet door opened out into the room. This door swing would have interfered with anyone sitting in the new window seat. Removing the original door and cleverly creating a playhouse-front around the closet opening alleviated this problem. Now, the window seat is fully accessible.

The playhouse’s French cottage-style roof curves outward, flowing into the headboard, reinforcing a sense of continuity in this small room. Additionally, the bed’s headboard creates an alcove for lighting behind its edge.

The color scheme derived from the vintage magazine covers consists primarily of pale yellows with teal and red as accents.