As I mentioned here, here and here, I spent much of last month in LA with my mom and brother (more about our crazy family arrangement in this post). Since being back in Virginia, I have to admit, I totally miss the California weather… and of course, my family. On the plus side, Greg and I just booked our tickets to head back to sunny California in January. (Yay!) While I had a lot of fun scouting out celebrities, seeing the Brady Bunch house, shopping at interesting stores and enjoying Sprinkles cupcakes, with the help of the fine folks at Target, I also managed to sneak in a fun room makeover a few days before I headed back here to Virginia.

While my dad is here in Virginia holding down the fort, my mom and little and only brother (Abram) are temporarily in LA while Abram writes/records (again, more about all of that in this post). While in LA, they are setting up shop home in a cozy apartment in downtown Burbank. My mom (also known as the best mom in the world, FYI) has a crazy talented way of making any space feel like home. So while the rest of the apartment was in tip top shape, Abram’s room was still in need of some TLC. All that was in his room was a bed and a desk. Abram and mom gave me what every interior design enthusiast wants… free reign! Here’s an idea of what the room looked like before…

Yeah. Not much to it. The walls were your typical “builder beige”, but luckily there was a lot of natural light coming in from the large window on the far side of the room. Since the whole reason for Abram being in LA is his music, that seemed like a good place to start. I didn’t want to go too far with a “theme”, though, and I knew Abram wouldn’t like that either (even though he lives and breathes all things music). I decided to put together a room that was borderline “techy” with a fun music vibe – rather than a theme. 

I got an email from Target telling me about their new tool called uStyler. The uStyler is a super fun tool that helps you put together a room using bedding, lamps, and decorative accessories from Target’s college decor line. While it’s mainly geared toward the college crowd going back to school, it’s also a great place to start when decorating a small space or putting together a room for a certain little brother living in LA for music and setting up a temporary home. Perfect!

First of all, I so wish Target had this when I was in college! There are six “zones” on the style board: bedding, lighting, clock/radio, wall accessory, throw pillow, and a furniture accent (floor lamp or chair/bench). You click on the “zone” then they give you a bunch of selections from the college decor line to choose from. A few clicks here,  a few clicks there, bada bing bada boom, you’ve got a completed room! Here’s what I came up with for Abram…

Pretty cool, right? When it came time to name the room on uStyler, we named it “Sound Bytes”. My favorite thing would have to be the colorful chevron bedding! It gave us a really good starting point for the whole design of the room. Oh, and you can click here to view/shop/customize the look online.

Thankfully, the apartment complex said it was okay to paint the walls. So we did! With the pops of color in the Target bedding and Abram’s existing desk, I wanted to paint the walls with something that would really make them stand out. So, I took the plunge… and painted it black. Chalkboard paint to be exact. I’ve always wanted to paint a room with chalkboard paint, and this was the perfect opportunity! Abram loved the idea, and mom was cool with it, so bye, bye builder beige!

We spent about a day and a half priming, painting and watching it dry. At that point, I was leaving for Virginia in 36 hours, so it was time to hustle. 36 hours of shopping, decorating and a little bit of sleep later, here’s what the room looked like…

Totally different, right?! The black chalkboard walls made a woooooorld of difference, and the colorful bedding and accessories we picked out using Target’s uStyler are the icing on the cake! I used Abram’s filing drawer that used to sit with his desk and repurposed it as a side table.

I’m no chalk artist by any means, but I thought this would be a cool way to bring in some DIY “artwork” and fun chalkboard action.

I took 12 of Abram’s favorite albums, put them in album frames and hung them on the wall in a grid pattern about two inches apart from each other. I love how the black frames make the albums look like they’re floating. They bring a lot of color to the black walls that makes them really pop.

On the other side of the room is what we’ve dubbed the “guitar corner”. I hung two of Abram’s favorite guitars using some wall mounts, and also added a floating shelf for a place to put guitar picks, notebooks and such.

I picked up the styrofoam head for $4 at a local craft store and used it as a headphone stand. As long as you don’t look at him right in the eye, it’s not that freaky, promise, haha!

Like with the side table, I love, love, love how the red desk jumps off the chalkboard black walls. Above the desk, I added a bulletin board for Abram to have a place to display his ticket stubs, passes and keepsakes from home. I also added a fun white table lamp for some contrast. Totally unintentional, but I really like how it ended up tying in with the white chalk art.

Speaking of white chalk art, to add some more chalk-related fun, I drew a sound wave across the whole wall behind the desk. It really helps fill up the wall without being too overpowering.

The red wall clock next to the desk and the clock radio both have a bit of a vintage feel (something Abram really likes) which speaks to the Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin album covers over the bed. Oh, and a total bonus, the cover of the Billboard magazine coordinates with the room’s crazy color scheme. Score!

Oh, and I’ve got to highlight one of my favorite things in the room… the mustache pillow (also from Target). It’s the perfect graphic element to round off the bed and ties in perfectly with the black walls. Love it!

My brother’s dog, Packer (named after the Green Bay Packers), quickly claimed his spot in the new room. I think he really likes it, can’t you tell? ; )

A whirlwind of a project, but I’m really happy with how it came out with a little bit of elbow grease. Thanks to Abram for letting me take over his room and our awesome friends at Target!

Keeping it real: For this project, the super nice folks at Target sent me the items we picked out on the uStyler as well as a $100 gift card.

****THIS GIVEAWAY IS NO LONGER ACCEPTING ENTRIES****
Scroll down to the giveaway widget to see who won!

Etsy is one of my favorite places to browse around for vintage finds, handmade home accessories and even one-of-a-kind jewelry. It’s filled to the brim with unique, interesting and exclusive pieces. If you’re not careful, you can spend hours and hours browsing! But one thing is for sure, you’re bound to come across little nuggets of “have to have” treasures.

Today, Shy of Perfect, one of those such Etsy shops that’s full of nuggets, is giving away a $100 gift card! That’s enough to pick out some jewelry for yourself and maybe even get some early Christmas shopping done. I’m all about early Christmas shopping! Oh, and for our international readers, they ship all around the world! Yay!

Here’s how to enter… Scroll down to the widget below and log in with your Facebook account or enter your email address. (As always, your information is kept private.) Once you’ve done that, you’ll be shown the entry requirements set by yours truly. Click the “Do it!” button, answer the question and click “Enter!”. Now that you’ve entered, you’ll see some optional entry options. To gain additional entries and increase your chances of winning the prize, you can do one or all of them. If you already follow Shy of Perfect (or us!), go ahead and enter your Facebook or Twitter info for the additional entries. The winner will be chosen using Radom.org. Good luck, everyone!

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When I was in Disneyland last month, we ate lunch at Redd Rocket’s Pizza Port, the quick-service restaurant in Tomorrowland. On the back wall of the restaurant, they had an awesome collection of vintage Disneyland visionary posters. I immediately thought about how cool it would be to have a family bonus room or maybe even a kids’ playroom with these on the wall. Last night, I Googled “vintage Disneyland ride posters” and found a slew of inspiring works of art. Just looking at them on Google makes me wish I was back in Pizza Port with the rest of my family!

Even if you aren’t a big Disney fan, you’re bound to gain some inspiration from these posters. They have a definite mid-century flair; not to mention the awesome colors! That brings me to this week’s mood board…

This room was a lot of fun to put together because a bonus room is something we’ve always wanted. A room perfect for playing games or watching movies. Maybe one day when we close in the carport and make it an extra room, but until then, we have mood boards to help us daydream…

1. Finishes – In this room, color is the star. Barely-there gray walls with white trim work make an excellent backdrop. The wood pieces in this room (coffee table, TV unit, side tables, etc.) are all a natural walnut finish. Nothing says mid-century more than walnut! With all of the color and warm wood going on in the room, white accents really pop and bring in some modern flair. When you have light walls, lots of color and light furniture, it’s always good to have a dark element to ground the room. In this case, the “grounding color” will be dark navy blue in the form of a comfy sectional – but we’ll get to that in a minute!
2. Bella Porte Citrine Curtain Panel – The pattern is simple and modern, and curtains are a great way to bring in another color in the mix. I love this shade of yellow, and it goes so well with the other colors.
3. DIY Vintage Disneyland Art – Wall art is a great place to get your DIY on! For some one-of-a-kind (and non-cheesy) Disneyland artwork, print some old black and white photos of Disneyland off the internet or use photos out of coffee table books. With all of the other colors in the room, the black and white photos in gallery frames will really stand out and make a statement.
4. Maskros Pendant Lamp – This light fixture easily made it to the mood board because it reminds me of the Alice In Wonderland-inspired decorations at the Mad Tea Party ride at Disneyland.
5. Vintage Disney Collector’s Poster – Originals are definitely hard, if not impossible, to come by. An original was auctioned off last year in Hollywood for $2,655, so that’s a bit out of most people’s price range, even if they could find one. However, you can score a 12×18 reproduction on Ebay for around $6 plus shipping. You can also find a good collection of them here.
6. Karlstad Sectional – This dark navy blue sectional is the anchor of the entire room. It’s simple, clean and modern, making it go well with the other mid-century style furniture. I would definitely stain the block legs with some walnut stain to tie it in with the rest of the furniture.
7. Knitted Blood Orange Pouf – I just can’t get enough of this pouf from CB2! It’s cute, great color and serves as extra lounge seating – perfect for a bonus room.
8. Zuri Coffee Table – The warm wood tone and round shape of this coffee table really brings some great contrast to the room’s bright colors and straight lines. I also added this white bowl as an example of how white accents would work really well in this room (like I mentioned in #1).
9. Cole Chair & Ottoman – I’ve been a huge fan of this chair and ottoman for a while. I even used it in this I Love Lucy-inspired mood board a while back, as well as this Parent Trap-inspiried mood board way way back.
10. Vintage Aluminum Camera – Along with white accents, silver also looks really good against this color combo. And who doesn’t bring a camera to Disneyland? Yet another good way to bring in the “theme” without being “themey”.
11. Tivoli Audio Cherry Clock Radio – Simply put, I have a crush on this clock radio. I love how it’s retro and modern all at the same time.
12. Dash & Albert Diamond Rug – Not only is this the design lovely, but it’s an indoor/outdoor rug – making it perfect for a bonus room with a lot of kid action. Just take it outside and wash it off with the hose!

So, what do you think? Have any favorite pieces?

Disneyland poster artwork found here.