Alight, here we are in our third One Room Challenge project! For those of you new to us, Welcome! We are Danielle & Michael, the faces and creators behind Clark + Aldine. We are based in Michigan in what I like to say is an adorable little town between Detroit and Ann Arbor. Michael does all of our labor and carpentry and I do the design and style! Together we manage to pull off some pretty rad spaces and this one really hits home to us.
This year we are tackling our boys bedroom. Our dudes are almost 3 and 5.5 and share a space together. This room of theirs has already seen many changes since we’ve lived in our house over the past 3 years. I will take you on a walk down memory lane.
For our first One Room Challenge we added wood flooring to this space. Shortly after that we added the wall covering to give some dimension. While I do still love the wall covering and I am sad to see it go I am feeling like this space lacks our kids personalities and style. We want to create a space that when you walk into it, it just feels like them. And for us that doesn’t mean a themed room. It means a space with all things they love and want to be around.
But let me say this – we aren’t creating another toy room. We want their bedroom to be a space they can go to relax, read, have down time and sleep. So you won’t see many toys in this space but you will find things that make them both happy. Since we are creating a space for our boys we wanted them to be involved in the design process. We’ve asked the boys to help with the planning phase which has been a lot of fun. Color was the easiest place to start. Enzo wants red and Ziggy wants blue. From there we’ve created list of all things the boys love. This made the first step of design easier to navigate through.

In our plans we will be creating a 3-dimentional wall to replace the wall covering we currently have. We are going to enhance the angled ceiling by painting it navy, you’re very welcome Ziggy., and will add glow in the dark stars with two moons…less fights on whose side gets the moon. Red and Blue will help create the vibe for both boys but we will have pops of green and yellow to play off the primary colors. We are adding a bookshelf, art based around the boys interests and homemade art they are creating for their space.
If you’re looking for ways to get your kids involved with design here a quick list, since you all know how much I love lists!
HOW TO DESIGN A ROOM WITH HELP FROM KIDS
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Get their input on color – This is the easiest way to start. You don’t have to paint the whole room the color they choose, simply incorporate it throughout the room.
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Create a list of all their favorite things
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Have them create art for their space
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Take and place pictures of family, places or things they love and use it in their space.
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Encourage them to be involved in as much of the process as they can.
I am most excited about creating a space that our boys feel like is made for them. Next week we are going to show you how we are planning the 3 dimensional wall to create a new fun element in this space. As part of this journey with the ORC you can check out what all the other participants are doing by simply clicking the logo below! Until next week!
Much love-
Danielle & Michael
Inspirational images
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