Project Loch Lommond

Courtney Scott

Sep 12, 20215 min read

Updated: Sep 14, 2021

September 13, 2021

Anyone who has ever had to move knows that while it can be a time of excitement, it can also be a time of exhaustion and overwhelming anxiety, especially when there are little ones involved. This sometimes means that it can take a while - even a few years - to finally settle into your new place. My clients for this particular project are a mother and son duo who knows this experience all too well. The mother purchased their home, which was in pretty good condition, 2 years ago with plans of updating each room a little at a time. While their kitchen and bathroom renovation came together fairly easily, when it came time to update their bedrooms she was at a loss as to how to create personal spaces for the both of them that spoke to their individual preferences.

The Problem:

Mom is a minimalist and her son is a maximalist: While her son had visions of vibrant colors everywhere, his mom had more of a subdued look in mind, but still wanted him to have the room he deserved

Furniture Configuration: Mom was unsure of how to incorporate her son’s bedroom furniture along with a virtual learning space

Bulky bedroom furniture that didn’t fit: Mom’s old bedroom furniture was too big for the space she wanted as her primary bedroom

Toy truck collection: Mom wanted a space in her son’s room to house and display his growing toy truck collection

Closet Doors: Both mom and son’s closet doors were inoperable and a little dated

The Solution:

Create coexisting spaces: Find colors and patterns that work for their individual style and bedrooms that also aren’t too drastic on either end of the style spectrum.

Room maximization: Creating space in the son’s room for learning, playing, and resting without making it feel cluttered.

Furniture & decor: Replacing old furniture with new pieces and repurposing some old pieces; Bringing in fresh linens, new artwork, plants, and rugs.

Toy truck collection: Add a shelving unit to display the toy trucks in his room.

Closet doors: Remove bifold closet doors and incorporate custom sliding barn doors with a mirror (for mom) and a chalkboard (for son).

Up for a Challenge!

While my client likes things simple, her son loves color. Whenever there are multiple clients involved in a project that I am completing, I try to find a happy medium between the two so that each person feels like they're getting something that they really want, as ultimately my goal is to ensure that everyone is happy with the overall process and outcome. With these clients, that’s exactly what I set out to do. I attempted to merge their minimalist and maximalist styles by focusing on colors that worked well together and by adding some individual personality and style elements into each of their spaces.

With each bedroom, we decided that it was best to start fresh by getting rid of all of their furniture. For my clients’ room, we got rid of her daybed, lamps, treadmill, side tables, tv, tv stand, and chair. For her son’s bedroom, we got rid of his bunk beds, rug, desk, chair, tv, and tv stand.

Her Room

The goal was to make my client’s bedroom into a space that she could retreat to. Because her taste geared toward lighter colors and a more simplistic feel, I went with shades of blue, cream, and green for her room. I brought in a new bed and linens, dressers, greenery, picture frames to decorate the wall, and a fresh coat of paint for the walls. Her closet originally had bifold doors that were not functional and barely hanging on. I replaced them with a custom-made sliding mirrored barn door. Her new closet door not only adds a more sleek and modern look to her space, but it provides a practical aspect for her to see her outfits, makeup, and hair for when she is getting dressed for work or a night out. Putting all of these together helped to open up the room and make it her own personal oasis.

His Room

After much deliberation, we were able to get my client’s son to agree with a color base of blue and gold/yellow for his bedroom. It was important to his mom to incorporate pieces into the room that her son could grow with well into his teenage years. For his room we added a new bed, linens, dresser, desk, rug, wall paint, and a terrazzo patterned wallpaper accent wall for his room.

For his room, we removed his closet doors and added a custom sliding barn door as well. I wanted to do something that was both fun and functional, so instead of a mirrored door like his mom’s, I went with a chalkboard door. Not only does this add something different to his closet door and make playtime fun, but it is also great when it comes to learning and those oh so important reminders! The dresser and nightstands that I originally sourced for his room were on backorder indefinitely, as so many pieces are due to the pandemic. So instead of starting my search over, we decided to repurpose the current dressers that he already had. Thankfully, they ended up working well with the rest of the design and best of all, they were free! The wallpaper that was used as the accent wall for his room was a multicolored terrazzo pattern. This was my way of giving him the vibrant colors that he desired, but within a small dose that his mom could live with. Another important element that had to be incorporated into his space was his collection of toy trucks. His grandmother has a tradition of gifting him a truck each year for Christmas, so this collection is near and dear to he and his mother’s heart. Initially, the trucks were displayed in the foyer, but both my client and her son wanted to have a space for them in his new bedroom. Luckily, I found a shelving unit that was perfect for the job and that will allow him to be able to switch the trucks out and play with them as he pleases.

When it came time to find wall art for the room, my client was reminded of this drawing that she had done for her son that depicted him as a superhero. Ironically, the drawing worked great as an accent piece against the terrazzo wallpaper. The other piece of art that we included in the space was a list of personal affirmations. My client is really inspired by personal affirmations and wanted to remind her son of positive things about himself and how to navigate the world: “I am kind. I am brave. I am smart. I am strong. I am helpful. I am magnificent. I can do hard things. I believe in myself. I am grateful. I am enough. I am loved.”

The Finished Product!

Though it can be a challenge trying to merge very different personalities and styles, my client and her son are very happy with the finished product. I too was also happy with the outcome and excited that they both get to enjoy their individual spaces.