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About's Fashion Guide offers tips

Decorating a child's room can be lots of fun. But what do you do when you need to get it done in a real hurry? Could you make the decisions, do the work, and finish in time?

Three years ago Cynthia Nellis already had a hectic life as a fashion journalist for About.com and The Dallas Morning News. Twice a year she would jet to New York to cover the spring and fall fashion weeks where she photographed cutting edge fashion at numerous trendy fashion shows.

With all of that on her plate you'd think she'd scarcely have time to breathe. Yet when she and her husband decided to adopt two boys she hardly missed a beat as she focused on decorating a room for her two new sons. The "blue room" worked out well and soon the family embarked on building a large new home where everyone could spread out.

Still writing about fashion and photographing the New York runways at every opportunity, Cynthia recently announced that she's just adopted a baby girl. We were tempted to think it's probably because she wanted to buy all of those darling baby clothes -- yet once we saw pictures of her new little one it's easy to see how it must have been love at first sight.

Since becoming an "instant mom" to three active children, Cynthia has planned and decorated rooms for each of them. Along the way she's learned a lot about what works and what doesn't. She's found sources, tried her hand at stencils, and come up with unique items to add to her kids' rooms.

We recently sat down with Cynthia to get her tips on creating fun themed rooms for kids. Here's what she had to say.

Q. Tell me briefly about the timing of the boys' adoption and what decorating you did before they arrived.

Cynthia: We adopted the boys when they were four and six. We had less than a month to prepare a room, so I concentrated on just getting it painted and furnished. The walls in that first room were bright blue with yellow trim and doors. I also put their names on everything -- a painted file cabinet, door hangings, coin jars -- so they would feel more comfortable in their new room.

Q. How involved are the boys in selecting items for their rooms?

Cynthia: As I said, we had the walls done and the furnishings were in place when they arrived. After the boys moved in we let them pick out their own bedding: one chose Pokeman, one Toy Story. We've since moved into a larger home and each boy has his own room. One decided he wanted a pirate room View Photo) the other a sports room. We started working on their rooms just a few weeks after we moved in and there's still more to do a year later!

Q. What are some of the most creative touches you've added to each themed bedroom?

Cynthia: I picked up a some cool stuff on eBay -- a treasure map and "Pirate's Rules" -- and had it framed with weathered wood View Photo. The window covering is a fishing net with a pirate hat that you can see over the window.

In the sports room, I painted a stencil border that took more than 40 hours to finish (see photo below). I've also added a few vintage wall hangings mixed in with new items. Both rooms have a stenciled growth chart so the boys can check their height.

Link to Photo

In the hall by each room, we took their sports trophies and put them in a shadow box (see photo below). The interior is backed with denim and is a great place to display their achievements.

See more Kid Room Tips on Page 2: Pirates and Sources