Decorating Ideas for Girls Rooms

Sugar and Spice

Every little girl I know loves pretty colors! For a room she'll cherish, select fabrics with flowers, trellises, cute animals, or butterflies. You might stencil flowers, vines, and butterflies on walls as a colorful accent, using paint colors matched to your fabric or wallpaper choices. Don't forget soft, airy curtains for the windows.

Ocean

If you live near the beach, or just wish you did, create an ocean theme using watery blues for the wall, sand colors on the floor, and clouds in the sky (ceiling). Take color cues from a beachy border wallpaper, art print, or piece of furniture like this colorful stool. You 'll almost be able to hear the waves!

Moon and Stars

Starlight is a great theme, and you'll find many fabrics, wallpapers, and bedding with star patterns. This theme appeals to both boys and girls, and is available in many colors both bright and pastel. Wonderful theme pieces can be the "star" in a room. You might get star-shaped rubber stamps (or sponges) and dip into wall paint to create your own star border, decorate furniture, or make random stars all over the walls or ceiling. A star quilt or rug will complete the theme.

Moonlight is another great one.Create a wonderful, soft look with by the light of the moon. The ceiling might be midnight blue, with painted moon and stars, or use some of the stick-on glow-in-the-dark stars. Embellish a colorful painted bookshelf with crisp white stars, or liven up a plain white chest with a rainbow of star shapes. Find a moon and star quilt or fabric to use for window treatments. Then add a moon cutout headboard.

Angels, Fairies, and Elves

This universal theme will be adored by girls of any age. Angel themes could use faux painted skies and clouds, fluffy canopy beds, and soft icy pinks, blues, and lavendars. Fairy shapes are appealing with transparent wings, sparkling wands, and silvery magic dust. Try to incorporate some sparkles with glittering accents, silver paint, and magical designs.

Flower Power

Bright and bold oranges, sun yellows, lime greens, and watermelon pinks are the basis of this retro-60's look. Find colorful borders and fabrics featuring stylized simple flower shapes in hot colors, and match these with some plain fabrics for ruffles, valances, and window seat pillows. These flower shapes would be easy to enlarge on a copy machine and trace onto the walls in random patterns, then paint with wild colors matched to the fabrics.

Sunshine

Paint a mural of hills, with the sunrise peeking over the top. Use sunny yellow checked bedding and quilts, green rugs for grass, and paint the ceiling a soft sky blue. Waking up will be easy and fun using this summery look which is sure to please many a young child.

Cottage Style

This is a great theme if your child will be using hand-me-down furniture for her room. Think lots of white and paint all the furniture for creating a cottage style room. Then use either light colors (pink, sky blue, pale green) or set the white off against bright clear colors like grass green or marine blue. You can also use fabric patterns such as tea-stained cotton florals, or use brighter florals, ginghams, or stripes. Find more tips on cottage style.

Color Themes

This theme is easy. Just pick the color that your little one LOVES, and go with it--everywhere. Paint the walls in her favorite color, then go for it in borders, fabrics, pillows, and accessories. Whether it is pink, purple, blue, or primary crayon colors -- your little one is sure to feel right at home in a colorful room done just for her.

Butterflies, Bees, and Dragonflies

Anyone who has purchased gifts for girls in the last few years knows that butterflies are big! If your little one loves this look, there are many ways to incorporate it into a room. A mural of garden and butterflies is a natural, or go with a butterfly fabric for the comforter. Small painted designs can be added to chair backs, picture frames, headboards, and flit around a colorful chest of drawers as well. Use butterfly hair clips to perch on a lampshade, bulletin board, or along one edge of a curtain.

Mary Engelbreit

You'll find lots of cute ideas for decorating a girl's room in the "Mary Engelbreit's Childrens Companion" book. Just find a photo you like and follow this whimsical artist's lead. Colorful walls, painted furniture, and stencil designs will give the room a smile. Then "don't look back," as Mary likes to say.

Cats, Dogs, and More

Cats, dogs, horses, bunnies, or other darling animals may be the perfect choice for an up-to-date girl's room. Certainly your little one has a favorite--or make it a menagerie if she can't decide. Choose from color themes in pastels, medium tones, brights, or primary colors, and use these happy designs on furniture, borders, and accessories.

Princesses and Castles

Your Princess can have a room befitting her high status if you use sheer fabrics and fanciful details. Embellish the walls with faux painted castle walls, murals, and blue skies for a truly memorable girl's room. Contrast the weighty look of faux stone walls with trails of stenciled ivy or flowers and swaths of pretty netting used as a bed canopy.

Tea Party

Pretty hats can adorn a room with a tea party theme. She can arrange her toy pals in chairs around a tea table and play until supper time. Be sure to include a pretty tea set and other tea themed accessories throughout the room. Cheerio!

Sports

Young girls who avidly participate in any sport -- whether it's riding, skating, softball, swimming, or soccer -- can readily identify with this decorating theme. Wallies or a wallpaper border is a perfect place to start for a color scheme and in a search for coordinating curtains and bedding. Look for innovative touches to support the theme and be sure to include display shelves to house awards, game photos, and medals.

Storybook Characters

Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit, the Little Mermaid, or Barbie might be the starting point for a wonderful theme room. Search the net for specialty character sheets and bedding, then take your color cues from there. Frame book illustrations as wall art or use cutouts of book pages for decoupage on furniture.

Toiles

The toile look has made a huge comeback in recent years and can help create a more sophisticated look for an older girl. Find this timeless design in fabrics and wallpapers, in colors that range from blue, red, green, black, and beige patterns on a white background, to newer iterations that incorporate multi-colors such as yellow and blue on white or ivory.

French Rooms

Black and white checks, vintage-look accessories, and any type of French poster or decoration can be just right for a fabulous Parisian bedroom. Learn more about creating a French room here.

Shabby Elegant

Tea-stained florals, comfortable slipcovered chairs, vintage accessories, and painted white furniture is the look that's all the rage. Explore the elements of a shabby elegant room here.

By now your decorating enthusiasm should up and running! You'll find more great ideas everywhere you look. Remember to include your child in this process of choosing a theme. Children have wonderful, innovative ideas, and seeing their wishes take shape in a wonderful room, created just for them, will give them confidence and a memory they will never forget.

The information for this article was found on about.com, the picture is from artstudio.com.