A lavender and gray room can be simultaneously sophisticated and kid-appropriate. Gray is the hottest neutral for 2012, and it is neither overwhelming nor hard to decorate. Because it is muted, gray can make any color pop against its subtle shade. It is the color of the moment, yet it is also timeless, glamorous, and inviting – especially when paired with pastels.

When designing with a lavender and gray color scheme, you must first decide which color will be the background color and which will be the accent color. For a more sophisticated look, use gray as the background color with lavender accents. For a girlier, more youthful room, use lavender with gray accents.

Children’s bedding is an easy way to introduce lavender to the room. In cribs, lavender bedding creates a soothing atmosphere, perfect for naptime and bedtime. For older kids, lavender bedding satisfies their independent streak without making the room look like it was decorated entirely by an 8 year old.

Accessories are another important way to introduce color to a room. Lavender picture frames add a pop of color against an otherwise-neutral gray wall. Paintings, toys, and even lavender lamps can splash color against a neutral background. To really personalize the room, hang lavender letters on the walls to make your daughter the envy of all her friends.

Lavender is the perfect color to accent the cool undertones of a gray room. Lavender adds a soft, feminine touch to gray’s understated character. A color found in nature, lavender creates a tranquil, serene environment that is perfect for a bedroom. And best of all, lavender is a little girl’s dream come true.

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Guest post on Radicalparenting.com by Kim Gellman

The process of instilling responsibility and organization within children is a considerable task for parents, one that begins in the home. Although cleaning a bedroom may seem like a lonely or even disciplinary chore for children, using the time as an opportunity to bond and encourage teamwork will surely relieve the stress.

While kids are expected to keep their rooms both clean and tidy, parents should arrange their bedroom furniture in a manner that will help promote and maintain an organized atmosphere. A smart bedroom layout is one that promotes storage and coordination to its maximum level of efficiency. Shelving is an excellent way to store knickknacks, odd pieces and a number of other accessories that would otherwise clutter the floor, dresser or nightstand. Taking into account the height or children, parents must be sure to use storage units of an appropriate height and accessibility to enable children to organize on their own.

As one the biggest and most visible focal points of a bedroom, encouraging children to make their bed on a daily basis will go a long way towards maintaining a clean image. Making a bed will ensure that there are no stray pillows or sheets draped around the room, and the clean sheets will give kids a flat surface to prepare and organize other parts of the room.

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The idea of a pink themed bedroom brings many images to mind. From an elegant and ornate princess themed room to an electric and over-the-top hot pink décor, the traditional applications of pink to the bedroom palette have become as harrowing as they are cliché.

Designing a pink themed bedroom is more than just repeating a simple hue or constant theme throughout a bedroom. Juxtaposing a wide array of pastel blush colors against deep and vibrant fuchsias and magentas will make a room truly harmonize.

Choosing the starting shade of pink is usually up to the personality of a person. Have you traditionally been drawn to red or purplish pink, or a more orange and coral pink? Whatever your decision may be, pick two or more shades to accompany your choice, usually a brighter and more robust tone and a softer more subtle hue.

To break up some of the color, try adding a splash of nature-inspired tones. Earthy browns, sky blues, and leafy greens easily complements the abundance of pink in nature and gives the room a unifying feel.

Bedding that repeats similar colors will help balance the walls with the room’s texture, and parents may wish to use additional colors to offset the pink walls. An assortment of colors similar to pink include an array of blues, purples, reds and oranges. These colors typically have some of shade of pink within them, yet are distinct enough to stand on their own.

Accessorize with the essentials to complete the process. Pink related accessories come in a number of themes, including princess, flower, animal and many other subject matters. Big and bold accessories include anything from rugs to pillows to wall art, while small and intricate accessories include knobs, fan pulls, picture frames, and a number of other trinkets.

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6 Things Kids Wish Their Parents Knew By Vanessa Van Petten, creator of RadicalParenting.com a parenting website written from the teen perspective to help parents understand them. She is also the author of the parenting book, “Do I Get My Allowance Before or After I’m Grounded?”

When I was 16 I thought it was my Dad’s goal in life to make me miserable. I was convinced that he had a running list of all the ways he could embarrass me in front of my friends, trick me into doing more chores or make my curfew earlier. Our relationship would have continued to fracture until one day I saw my Dad reading a parenting book. I flipped through it while my Dad was in the bathroom and realized a lot of the things he did that drove me crazy he was getting right out of this book! I looked at the other parenting books on our shelves and realized that they were all written by adults. I wondered—has anyone ever asked teens to write to their parents?

I decided to build a website where teens could answer questions and write to parents called RadicalParenting.com. I couldn’t believe how quickly it grew and how happy both teens were to get their voices out and parents were to have a new outlet for connecting with their kids! We now have over 120 teen writers who give advice. Here are the six things they wish their parents knew:

1. Don’t Ask ‘Answer-Questions’

An Answer-Question is a question that already has the answer in it. For example, moms love to ask, “Don’t you think that girl Sheila is mean?” or, “Do you think you should do something about that very important extra-credit assignment?” Sometimes Answer-Questions drive us crazy because it makes us feel like our parents don’t think we know what to do, or belittle our opinions.

2. Comparing Us Hurts More Than You Think

Whenever a parent starts a sentence with, “Why can’t you be more like…” teens automatically cringe. Fill in the blank with perfect best friend, older sibling or a younger, more obedient version of Mom. Many parents don’t realize that comparing us to others makes us feel bad about ourselves and sends us the message that we should be less like ourselves and more like someone else—never a good feeling.

3. The Issues Are the Same, the Circumstances Are Different

We know that every parent was a teenager once—although it is sometimes hard to believe it. Even though all teenagers have some of the same issues, like dating, curfew, pressure at school and bullying, we want parents to know that the circumstances are different. Colleges are more competitive and technologies like Facebook and texting add a new layer of complication to teen relationships. Please don’t assume things are the same as they were when you were a teenager and talk to us about what is different.

4. Risk Is Tempting

Risk is much more appealing to us and this is backed by science. Researchers at University of Texas found that there are parts of the teen brain that are more tempted to take risks. Teenagers want their parents to know this so that parents can encourage positive risk-taking. Extreme sports, running for student government, going to a theme park these are all positive adrenaline producing activities that scratch that risk itch.

5. Just Because We Are Rolling Our Eyes, Doesn’t Mean We Aren’t Listening

We often pretend to not listen to our parents or care what they think, but we do. Don’t let our eye rolling, lackadaisical attitude fool you, we are often listening and what you say matters to us more than you think.

6. Social Rejection Is Actually Painful

Many parents do not understand why we care so much about what our friends think. Two researchers at UCLA discovered that social rejection actually registers as bodily injury or pain in the brain! There might not be that big of a difference between a punch and a catcall. For us when our friends disapprove or we feel socially rejected it can feel worse than a punch in the gut. So have patience with our obsession with friends and help us find great ones and balance social time with family time, work time and alone time.

In conclusion, ask your own kids what they wish you knew about them—they might surprise you. All of these tips come from my book that I wrote with my teen interns for parents. It’s called: “Do I Get My Allowance Before or After I’m Grounded” and it offers a totally radical perspective for parents to connect with and build relationships with their teens and tweens. Please check it out! Radical Parenting Book

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Purple has long been a popular choice for young and teenage girls when designing their bedrooms. Purple’s ability to convey a sense energy and vigor lies in its historical roots, as it was the primary color to represent royalty, yet the array of purple hues in nature suggests a feeling of serenity and tranquility, a unique trait that owes to purple’s versatility.

Paint colors ranging from a lush and exotic purple to a soft and soothing lavender give designers a wide array of choices when painting a room. When deciding which purple is best for your decor, perhaps the best choice is to juxtapose strong tones against lighter hues. Strong tones are abundant in nature, taking the form a plum, eggplant, or acai purple. Fruit-inspired tones suggest a bold and robust sensation, invoking a sense of luxury and liveliness. Other natural colors include a lavender, orchid, or thistle tone, owing their popularity to the silkiness of the flowers they represent. With a combination of nature-inspired hues to breathe life into the walls, repeating purple and other natural colors throughout the room will surely complement the overall décor as well.

Flowered bedding collections seamlessly match any nature-inspired theme, adding a splash of bright and pastel colors to the purple of the walls. Patterns and prints will similarly add an eclectic feel to the room, making an overall statement with a tangible and soft texture to relax on. Bedding collections that come with a broad set of fabrics offer the ability to place lightly differing tones alongside one another, complete with comforters, shams, bed skirts, and other features to bring the room’s fabrics together. With bedding and fabrics that match the walls, the final step is to accessorize.

Repeating the  flower theme throughout a room is easy with a number of nature-inspired wall decals and wall art. Smaller additions include flower-shaped furniture hardware and knobs, as well as other wastebaskets, tissue boxes, and other smaller features. Departing from the nature theme, similar embellishments include ornate lighting. Elaborate and glamorous lamps, lighting and desk lamps echo the luxury of royalty with a supremely lavish feel. Lighting can be complemented with room themed mirrors to reflect your child’s interests from every angle.

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