YHL post-book tour: will things change?

[hesitantbride]

I know, another tiresome YHL post.  But here it is, nonetheless.

I believe their book tour is coming to an end, and it seems they are hanging out with BowerPower now that they are in Atlanta.  (I'm not looking forward to posts on whatever collaboration or new video they are cooking up.)

Once the book tour is finally over, do you think the blog will get better?  Hope springs eternal for me, but Clara's new room doesn't bode well.  I'm really not liking the rug at all, nor the curtain choice.  I'd really wish they would just hire an interior designer, ironically enough.

What do you think?  If they can finally put more attention back on the blog, do you think the content will get better?  

And what do you think of Clara's new room?

[hausfrau]

I think for a kid's bedroom, I would have gone with color on the walls and an easily cleaned floorcovering, like a cotton rag rug. I'm not particularly fond of the clashing patterns between the curtains and the bedspread. Things don't have to be matchy matchy, but they don't feel like they even go with each other.

[SusanBAnthony]

Agree with hausfrau that the rug will get nasty. It seems unpractical for a kid.

[pugz]

i do not like that rug, the lack of symmetry hurts my eyes, hate the gradient.

i also don't like red and pink together

[teeah22]

I wish bloggers would just let their kids rooms look like kids rooms instead of some overly designed extension of the rest of the house. Chris loves Julia is doing the same thing with their little girls room, it just doesn't look like a kid lives there. I really hope these kids are begging for My Little Pony bed-in-a-bags in a couple years.

[McGavin]

I don't hate it but I wish there was colour on the walls. I think navy walls would look great with the pink. That khaki sheet looks terrible but maybe it's not staying. I'm sure the curtains look better in person since they look gray on screen.

[Blueper]

Feb 9, 2013 10:14:20 GMT -5 teeah22 said:

I wish bloggers would just let their kids rooms look like kids rooms instead of some overly designed extension of the rest of the house. Chris loves Julia is doing the same thing with their little girls room, it just doesn't look like a kid lives there. I really hope these kids are begging for My Little Pony bed-in-a-bags in a couple years.

Yikes I love that room for ME!  Grass cloth is a bit too mature for such a young girl (hello their inspiration room belongs to that of a fictional high schooler), they could have at least done an actual color.

[Blueper]

Oh and my opinion on Clara's room is that the walls and curtains look like they're from a 70's office building. Everything else is really busy, but I don't have to live there.

[TEM325]

I like the carpet, cute for a little girl's room. I dislike the curtains the use of teh West Elm Day Bed as her big girl bed....

[Deleted]

Feb 9, 2013 12:07:40 GMT -5 TEM325 said:

I like the carpet, cute for a little girl's room. I dislike the curtains the use of teh West Elm Day Bed as her big girl bed....

That bed looks terrible for a little one. I can see arms and legs getting stuck in those slats. I can also see the pointy edges being uncomfortable. 

[jhawks482]

Meh, it's alright I guess. The rug doesn't bother me, especially from a cleaning perspective- my kids don't eat spaghetti or stomp around with dirty shoes in their rooms and I bet Clara doesn't either. The worst I've ever vacuumed up from their floor was a spilled container of fish food. I also dont really see the bed as an issue- she isn't a baby anymore. My DD is younger than Clara and wouldn't have any issues with a bed like that. Overall I'm not in love with the room, but I don't hate it either. Maybe once they add some more toys and play things it will look a little more age appropriate?

[pinkeggs]

I really dislike Clara's room, pretty much for the reasons discussed on the GOMI thread.

I don't know how things will change now that the book tour is over. I think they need to change things up again. I think John should go back to work, they should get out of the house more, take a breather, and get some perspective.

I don't think that will happen though.

[heyjude]

Clara's room is so disappointing! It's just a mess.

[emjacobs]

I don't love the room but I don't think that kids rooms need to look like show pieces, it's a kids room...they will barf on the rug and everything else, stomp crayons into the floor, put a sticker on the bed that even fire can't get off. Keep it simple, cheap, and best of all cleanable.

If Clara likes it then I guess they did their job. I hope there is more storage in that room because a bed, kitchen, and table seems a little stark to me.

[lemondrop]

Feb 9, 2013 12:14:16 GMT -5 @gingersb said:

Feb 9, 2013 12:07:40 GMT -5 TEM325 said:

I like the carpet, cute for a little girl's room. I dislike the curtains the use of teh West Elm Day Bed as her big girl bed....

That bed looks terrible for a little one. I can see arms and legs getting stuck in those slats. I can also see the pointy edges being uncomfortable. 

This was my thought as well. I know they're repurposing, but it just doesn't seem like a good idea.

The rest of the room isn't bad, but it's not great.

[pitterwoo]

is this her playroom or bedroom? I don't care for that bed as an actual bed. I really enjoy the rug for a little girl's space. It's my favorite part of the room.

[beanieweanie]

I like the rug and the curtains, but not together. I'm not a fan of the bedding, and the layout is awkward so far. Yeah, just not digging it.

[pugz]

I'm all for non-traditional kid rooms but I'm just not seeing their vision here

[Deleted]

I like that they honored her color choices but the execution of it failed with those fabric and pattern choices, It looks more pre-teen than toddler. Its like other than letting Clara pick the colors they're trying to control how the room looks instead of just letting it look like a room where a kid lives.

[artichokie]

I think the rug and big girl's bed are great for Clara's room.  Love what they did with the table and chairs too. 

The curtains are not my favorite.  Nor the color on the walls.

[timetomove]

I like the rug but hate the curtains and the sheet and wish that Clara had some wall color.

I think the blog won't get better. I do still check-in with their blog tho.

[smiley]

I think the walls need more color. I don't hate the curtains but the bedspread is awful! I think the bed frame is cute but a little too "old" for their daughter at this stage.

[Roc A Bee]

I hate the curtains, wall color, and bed sheet. The rug isn't my fav either.

[emisi]

I actually like the rug. Not a fan of the curtains, but the rest of the room is decent. I like the bed, too - short enough for a little girl to get in and out of easily, but it won't be too babyish in a few years. It's economical.

As for the people complaining that it doesn't look like a kid's room, that they should let her go crazy decorating it... my parents let me decorate my room when I was about 6. Two years later I HATED it, but it was wallpaper and too expensive to take down. I had to live with it for several more years until they let me rent a steamer and I could get rid of the horrible PINK BOW WALLPAPER I picked as a dumb kid.

So... yeah, not a fan of letting kids dictate everything about their decor. Sorry, just me.

[SusanBAnthony]

emisi, I agree with you, but if they are going to let her pick pink and red, let her pick the bedspread, sheets, even curtains or paint color family, and things like that which are fairly cheap and easy to change.

DD keeps insisting that she is going to have a purple bed, and I am like yup, there is a tiny bit of purple in your quilt! Yay purple! But no way in H am I actually going to paint her bed purple, lol.

I have thought about the room more, and I think a different quilt that wasn't so ugly and pre-teen-ish could change the room in a great way. That quilt just ruins it for me.

[TBM]

Nothing in the room is awful on it's own. It just looks like they used leftover stuff and grabbed things with red and pink without paying attention to the undertones, and doesn't all work together.

The bed is great, but it reads as a large scale pattern. The quilt is a big, busy pattern I like it, but not with the lattice on the bed)...same with the curtains. Even the rug is a large scale pattern-just more subtle.

I think the bed would have been cute with a sold panel of color behind the lattice on it, and smaller scale pattern or something simple with it. When you see patterns mixed in Morocco, you would see the lattice with a chevron, but it is all about scale and color to get the right balance.


Paint is cheap and easy to change, so I feel like wall color is an easy way to let kids have a say in color. I think there needs to be a balance though between what the kids want and parents guiding them. My mom let us make mistakes with color, and let us choose bedding (not like we bought anything super pricey), but really asked the right questions to make sure that we didn't waste their money on the stuff that is harder to change.

[mikehoncho]

I get that it isn't "done" yet but the placement of the furniture is what is throwing me off I think.. The bed feels like it is too far from the walls and that table and chairs is looking too big or something. The rug makes me cringe (specifically the ombre) and I can't believe they spent that much on that fug rug. I don't hate the mix-matched fabrics but I hate the wall color, especially because they insist on painting everything sterile white.

[hesitantbride]

Sigh.  On today's update:  

The postcards look better, but I am irrationally annoyed that they are simply redoing things from their first house.  In this room alone they have the post card ledge and gallery wall, same day bed, etc--all things from the first house.  I wouldn't mind if it looked different somehow, but it all looks the same.  Where is the imagination?  

[lemondrop]

I have no issue with using a more mature color scheme and bedding. I'm super cheap and growing more aware of my impact on the environment, when I do DD's big girl room, the main elements (curtains, furniture and bedding) will all be things that can be used for years to come with tweaks to paint and wall art.

That bed, though, scares me. I'd be so worried DD would get her arm stuck in the "railing." The size is great, though.

[artichokie]

They probably don't want to go out and spend money on new things or build something when they have stuff that will work just fine. And it works. Perks up the walls and serves a purpose.