This week’s installment of our One Room Challenge update is a bit of a cry for help. Things have been going pretty smoothly thus far. I have my design direction. I found some killer ideas for cool paint features. I’ve zeroed in on my furniture plan (will be sharing next week!). But there is one part of my son’s room that continues to stump me. It is….

curved wall on apartment 34

The dreaded curved wall!

You see, my son’s room is basically shaped like a shoe box – except for the right corner – which curves in to accommodate our curved staircase on the other side. (btw, the beat to a pulp three-year-old glider, Home Depot paper blackout shade on the window and that too-big rug are all going buh-bye and I can’t wait).

But back to the curved wall conundrum. I see the options for this thing as follows:

> Paint it – either as a feature or maybe some kind of mural. Bu that feels a little too permanent. Plus I do love my paint color.

> Wallpaper – this would definitely make that wall a focal point. But I’m a bit of a wallpaper-phobe. Wallpaper on a curved wall also seems like you’re just askin’ for trouble.

> Decals – Some sort of cool (non-cheesy!) decal to add some adornment is a viable option. But non cheesy decals are few and far between.

> Simply leave the wall as is. Maybe it’ll fade into the background with the other focal points I’m creating in the room. But that seems like a missed opportunity, no?!

Here are some of the ideas I’ve been considering.

kid's room ideas on apartment 34

I could do something large scale like a massive tree sticker. But I’m not sure it will age well. What’s cool at three years old just might not cut it at five, six or seven.

The world map is fun but I’m afraid all that color and noise would be too overwhelming.

Then there are repeating pattern ideas like a series of clouds, dots, stars, ships, planes etc etc. It’s a viable option. But clouds feel pretty babyish. I’m kinda into the abstract paper planes moving up the wall, but it also feels rather random and not cohesive with the rest of the room’s design. Le sigh.

I know there are plenty of ideas that would work, they just wouldn’t be the perfect fit.

If you have any creative ideas or amazing sources for a brilliant unforeseen solution, please (please!) send them my way. Cuz I gotta figure something out and real quick!

To catch up on the ORC to date, click HERE for week 1,  HERE for week 2 and HERE for week 3.

And be sure to click on the links below to take a look at everyone else’s progress. There are SO many good projects.

 

ONE ROOM CHALLENGE 

Beginning in the Middle | Coco & Jack | The English Room | The Gold Hive

Gray Malin | Jenna Sue Design | Jojotastic | Kelly Rogers Int. | Linda Holt | Marcus Design

Michelle Gage | Natasha Habermann | The Painted House | Rambling Renovators

Sacramento Street | Shannon Claire | Sketch 42 | Stephanie Kraus | Bisou Style

Media Partner House Beautiful | TM by ORC

 

What do you think?

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30 Comments

  1. I like the idea of the paper planes moving across or diagonally around the curved wall. It’s not babyish or too random and its a little cool, maybe even a little hip. Nobody else will have that and it could inspire future creativity plus its easy to remedy if you hate it later on. Looking forward to your final reveal!

    1. I’m def leaning in that direction – thanks Terri

  2. I really love the idea of wallpaper! But, as you have mentioned, maybe chalkboardpaint?

    1. I’ve thought about that but always question if its a good idea to make writing on a wall ok! 🙂

  3. What is the rest of the theme? Is the room beachy? Wrap it in sisal rope?
    I immediately saw a cool barrel in my mind. Industrial metal strapping?

  4. How about magnetic paint? I’ve never used it myself, but I’ve heard that it works beautifully from other bloggers I’ve followed. My understanding is that after you paint using the magnetic paint, you can cover it in any other color you want, allowing the wall to blend in with the room. Functionally I think that this would be a great solution because the lower half of the wall can be covered in magnetic numbers and letters while the upper half can be used to display art projects. As your son grows, the art can be switched out for A plus book reports and movie posters, reflecting your son’s interests and accomplishments, serving as a living scrapbook wall.

  5. I love 2 and 6, especially 6, I think the curve will add to the playfulness of the decals!

  6. On the curved wall:
    vertical shiplap
    IKEA Deka wire/cable system to display his ever-changing artwork
    Paint stripes , they always seem masculine, in a good way

    1. I thought of stripes, too. I envision wide horizontal stripes of the main wall color, with either white or another color, but not too contrasting. The way that curved wall is situated between a door frame and a window frame, I would extend the stripes to both frames, rather than only on the curved portion. In fact, any design you choose might look best extended out to the door and window frames to make the design more the focal point than the actual curve of the wall., especially since you’ve already painted the room with the ceiling color extending down to the tops of the frames (which I love, btw!).

  7. LOVE the idea of wallpapering that curved wall!

  8. I am with Colin on the magnetic paint, it would add a lot function-wise. Only from my experience, put more coats or a thick one if possible. The one we used isn’t very strong, unfortunately. Or just test it first. I love the tree (one) too. I can see you go for the scandi look and the tree would give it an unexpected twist. Well, good luck deciding!

  9. OOH I definitely throw my vote to the magnetic paint idea! Love the idea of it becoming a unique gallery wall for whatever he wants to stick up there, but because it would be sticking to the paint and not anything obvious, it becomes a MAGIC wall. Which would be fascinating to me as a kid, and let’s be honest here, me as an adult.

  10. Your plans for the room are so fresh and clean! What do you think about adding a growth chart to the curved wall? maybe using washi tape or a simple geo pattern.

  11. What about getting a thin sheet of metal and having holes machined in it, so it could be a really cool, clean lined magnet board? You could have the holes set to go into studs, and it would just bend along the curve of the wall.

    Or…you could get three or five really cute hooks and display some of his stuff, like baseball hats or superhero costumes on hangers, like art.

    A compass rose sticker might be cool too.

    Good luck,
    The Other Marian

  12. Love this wall color you chose! I also love the idea of the massive tree sticker! Cannot wait to see the final results!