If your child's bedroom were the first thing you saw when you walked through the front door, would you leave it decorated the way it is now? Faced with this decorating challenge in a young family's New York City apartment, designer Esther Sadowsky came up with a beautiful solution. Because in this case the child's bedroom is the first thing a guest sees when entering the apartment, the old-fashioned decor of the rest of the space needed to be taken into account. The apartment's deep-mulberry carpeting sets the tone. New wallcovering in a tea-stained antique-floral pattern reflects the warm rose of the carpeting and connects the room with the rest of the apartment. Antique furnishings and floral fabrics in pale tones of cream with touches of gold add to the continuity between rooms. The first thing a guest sees upon entering the apartment is a view of the child's antique hand-painted chest, lit by a pair of old-fashioned lamps with floral-patterned pierced lampshades. A gilt-edged mirror hanging above the chest completes the pretty picture. A draped canopy over an antique reproduction daybed lends a charming ambience to the room. Dressed up with bolster pillows and illuminated by a charming sconce of perched birds, it's a cozy spot to snuggle and read stories. A trio of English cottage-style dollhouses acts as a storage unit for stuffed animals and books. Different doorways and roofs give each dollhouse individual charm. A unit of this type offers opportunities for fantasy play and provides plenty of display space -- as well as hidden storage capacity. A tea party set-up in old-fashioned style and color complements the room's decor. Even the hand-painted border on the tea table reflects the floral patterning of the fabric used in the room.
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