From the BlogSubscribe Now

Safe House — plan and progress

I turned 31 yesterday. Is there any age that’s less remarkable to turn than 31? I guess 37 is unremarkable too. They don’t make birthday cards for turning 37.

With only one year of my thirties under my belt, I’m clearly not an expert on the topic but I’ll say this: the thirties are totally underrated, in my opinion. I refuse to buy into society’s whole message that I started losing value a year ago. I’m more comfortable and happy now than ever.

Just don’t ask about the gray hairs. I thought I had more time before those would strike.

You guys, the safe house bedroom is coming along! Remember these were our goals for the bedroom, which will be a temporary bedroom for victims of sex trafficking:

  • Must feel comfortable, homey and inviting: nothing too pristine or fragile
  • Should evoke feelings of peace, refuge and safety
  • Nothing that feels too much like a hotel
  • Bonus points for incorporating a symbol of freedom. (See the plan for that part here.)

Last we talked, we had decided to hang the quilts on the wall instead of laying them on the beds. Their awesomeness needed to be displayed like a banner!
Modern colorful quilt
But we hadn’t settled on anything else.

Once the quilts were going to be hung, everything else changed to fit. We knew we were doing two twin beds arranged like this:
first_draft
And some sort of dresser in between them. (This is just a random dresser photo I found. It’s not the one we’re using. I don’t even like it. I don’t know why I used a photo of a dresser I didn’t like.)
1
I’m also not sure why the dimensions of these renderings are so fun-housey and unrealistic. Why are the beds climbing up the walls?!! This post will require lots of imagination on your part.

We wanted the ladies to have their own personal lights for bedside reading. I’ve had a mega-crush on these lamps at target, so I added them in to the plan next:
Room design plan
Then it was paint color time! Erin and I went back and forth on paint colors about 61 times. We thought about just sticking with white, but were worried about how that would turn out with the lack of natural light.

We thought about a pale blue, to inspire calm and serenity.
3
But I think we both felt kinda “meh” about it. We just did Jill’s room in this color, so there may have been a tiny part of us that wanted to do something different.

We talked about a charcoal gray.
4
But with no natural light, we were worried this might just be depressing/jail-cell in the end.

Then we talked about pink. Yes, pink.

Pink is risky – we didn’t want to create a nursery – but if you get it right, it can be so warm and sophisticated. Here’s our pink-spiration:
unnamedc56c94321ac03bb033674a9701244e80
51b72548fb04d60a870006aa._w.540_s.fit_

Katie Lydon Interiors

And in the room:
room_draft2
We were both diggin’ it, so we grabbed all the pink paint swatches that exist and started analyzing. This was INCREDIBLY hard, for one main reason: we had to make the decision without actually going to the safe house and seeing how the swatches look in the room.

I KNOW. Huge paint color sin. I hope we can still be friends.

We agonized over the shade of pink, y’all. AGONIZED. Erin and I sent 131 emails back and forth (not exaggerating) about which shade of pink to choose. We settled on the swatch on the right: Valspar Ballet Slipper.
ballet_slipper
We have just a few more days left to get everything finalized — bedding, extra art, storage, lighting! (We’re making a chandelier for this room and I’m SO excited to show you! It’s not finished yet, but I THINK it’s going to be really, really good.)

I have so much more to tell you about this room! Just need to get photos of how things are turning out and I’ll have an update for you soon!



Let's connect

Comments

  1. I would paint every room in my house pink if I could! Ok, no, but I would love to have one pretty pale pink room. *sigh*. I can’t wait to see your pictures of the finished project!
    Happy birthday! And congrats on being mortgage free for one year!

  2. Its looking gorgeous! I cant wait to see the finished room

  3. HAPPY 31st BIRTHDAY!! It just gets better and better… until you hit 50! Hehe.
    I think the room is going to be so pretty! It’s going to say, Please come on and know you’re safe! Can’t wait to see it all done!

  4. I agree on the 30s thing; I am 32 and feel I am my most authentic version of myself. Also, I am not into pink as a wall color, at least not pale pink. I’m more into very saturated color for the walls. Go bold or go home, I say! That said, you would DIE to see my Aunt’s house the entire house is painted a pink, but not a pale pink, quite a bit darker, and she has PINK MARBLE in her entry way for the floor. Her shared living spaces are basically a huge open floor plan/space, with hugely tall vaulted ceilings, so it is very very pink. Not sure how my uncle stands it, but he has been for years….

  5. Happy Belated Birthday!!

  6. I can’t wait to see the finished room. I’m sure it will look great.

  7. The pink is perfect! Amazing how the pink triangles in the quilt really jump out against it. Perfect. And happy happy birthday, lovely lady!!! I’m sure your family celebrated you big time. 🙂

  8. I surely didn’t see that coming (the pink) but it looks so pretty! Thanx for the update, I’ve been wondering. I can’t wait to see it all done! Happy belated BTW! Trust me, as you age, the saying with age comes wisdom because crystal clear and you learn to embrace it more and more. That is until you are my age and the body starts to head south, ha. Ah well, I’m still more comfortable in this saggy skin than I was in my young body. You will see! God knows what he’s doing! 🙂

  9. This is a good pink! I used it in my daughter’s room because I didn’t want anything too girly or obnoxious, and it is perfectly pretty and sophisticated. Also, I think pink is a good choice for these girls. Their childhood has effectively been taken from them, and I think that staying in a pink room might remind them of the life they had before they became victims, and help them feel even safer and more able to reclaim that former life.

  10. This is crazy but when I saw your inspiration pics I thought “that looks like this paint chip I saw one time called ballet slipper…” Guess I could have saved you those 131 emails, ha! It’s a great color and I would totally use it somewhere if my husband wasn’t so anti pink. It would look great on a ceiling!

  11. Erin Robison says:

    Happy Birthday Kelly! Just wait til you get to 40 – it’s even better! Seriously. 🙂

    AND I love the room! I’m so excited you girls are doing this – waiting with baited breath to see the finished product! 🙂

  12. I think the “pink” is perfect. The Valspar swatch looks more of a peachy pink on my monitor and, if so, this is what makes it “brilliant”. Peach connotes light and airy and early morning sunny days – what a wonderful way to wake up every morning for these women and how comforting at night to know they’ll have that same wonderful experience the next morning. Eager for the big reveal!!!

  13. The lamps are perfect! Happy Birthday. I was living on St. Simon’s Island, GA, when I turned 31. I lived there only for 1-1/2 years. The whole time I said it would be a great place to live if I were 18 or 80. LOL

  14. Well, Happy Birthday! I love the pink! The shade you picked is warm and cozy, which is exactly what that environment needs. Looking forward to the final reveal!

  15. I’m diggin on the pink. My bedroom is actually pink-the palest of pale shell pinks, I would even go so far as to call it white-pink….and it’s just a really warm color that bounces light around and makes the room feel sunny and happy even when it’s grey and miserable outside. Also, happy birthday! I just turned thirty last month and so far I love it. 29 sucked. I spent the whole year with that little back-of-the-head-voice going, ‘Your twenties are over. You have to be a real, mature, responsible grown-up now, because SOON YOU’RE GOING TO BE THIRTY.’ And now I’m thirty, and I look around, and I think, ‘Mature, huh? Never acting silly, always having my ish together? Welp, that didn’t happen.’

    • Happy Birthday to you Kelly I hope it was a great one,he room is going to be amazing, love the pink. Their is a saying if you haven’t grown up by age 50 you don’t have to. That is so true and I hope I never have to grow up, takes the fun out of things. He he . I just looked at the clock and it is past midnight so I just turned 57.
      Happy Halloween everyone.

  16. oh i love the pink! i can’t wait to see it!

  17. Happy 31st!! Hope it was a good one!

    Love the idea of painting the room pink!! It’s going to be so good!

  18. First, I hope your birthday was fabulous. I really liked 31. Totally dreading the big 3-3 coming up. Old age is hard. 😛

    I’m loving how this room is coming together. Those quilts are beautiful! The pink is risky but I think you’ve got this!

  19. I used Ballet Slipper on the dresser and night stand in my daughter’s room…I think it’s GORGEOUS! Can’t wait to see pics of the room!

  20. What an amazing and worthy project! I have 2 thoughts for you.

    I would tape the mirror doors to look like multi-pane windows and then hang sheer curtains in front. This gives the room the effect of a window which is nice but mostly it blocks the mirror. These girls have been valued for just their bodies and have likely been told that they’re too fat, thin, ect. and to change it to please customers. There is a very good chance they’ve been pushed around quite a bit and they may be bruised or scarred. They have been so mentally beaten down they may not see themselves as a person. They are not going to want one wall dominated by their own reflection. They need something else to think about and that’s my other thought. One of the most cozy things in any room is a shelf of well read (loved) books. You could get some light hearted children’s or young adult books (I’m thinking Secret Garden or Nancy Drew?) from a thrift store and pile them on the nightstand. (Be sure there are some easy to read ones because they may not be well educated)

  21. Happy belated birthday! Pink done right will be the perfect uplifting color for the room you’re working on. Can’t wait to see how it all comes together.

  22. Kelly, I love not only that you are doing this project, but your plans for the room. Quilits on the wall? YES! And I am digging the plans for pink walls, too! I am so excited to see the final result. I am super curious to see what bedding you are going to choose 🙂 Oh, and happy belated birthday {PS- I thought I would have a few more years until the greys popped up, too, but at 36, I have more than I would like. I am thankful for hair dye!}

  23. I have to agree: turning 37 this year (on October 29th! ;-D) was pretty unremarkable, but in a very peaceful, life-is-good sort of way. Wishing you a belated “Happy Birthday!”

    (And loving how this beautiful project is coming together!)

  24. Great post..

  25. THOSE QUILTS! *swoooooon*
    The whole design is beautiful. Good call on those lamps. Everything is perfect.

  26. Thank you for sharing your ideas with us. I look forward to interacting with you and read more about their work.

  27. I am so glad I found your blog! He had a desperate need of decoration ideas. There is a shop that I just find and I think you’ll like http://goodvinilos.com/es/

  28. Haha. I turned 26 yesterday.
    But now I am so glad I found your blog ! I have learned many things.

  29. Would love to see the finished room here, looks fab!

  30. Hi ,Nice post. Iam so glad about this post because we some tips and ideas for home improvement. i have a small suggestions you can also include wallpapers or other wall covering which is matching for the bedding and room.

Trackbacks

  1. […] post Safe House — plan and progress appeared first on * View Along the Way […]

  2. […] I turned 31 yesterday. Is there any age that’s less remarkable to turn than 31? I guess 37 is unremarkable too. They don’t make birthday cards for turning 37. With only one year of my thirties under my belt, I’m clearly not an expert on the topic but I’ll say this: the thirties are totally […]The post Safe House — plan and progress appeared first on * View Along the Way *.  […]

Speak Your Mind

*

Back to top          Privacy Policy          Copyright © 2013 View Along the Way. All rights reserved.          Contact Me