Recently we gave our girls’ bedrooms makeovers. They are each in new seasons of life and their “little girl” rooms needed to be updated to reflect the young women they are growing into. We had a blast determining the styles, colours, furniture and accessories that they wanted to include in their new rooms. Isabella, our youngest, was super hands-on and loved the whole process of bringing her vision to life. You can see her bedroom reveal here.

Our oldest daughter, Olivia, however, wanted to pick the items out, and wanted very little to do with pulling it all together. This allowed me to make a key design decor decision, that truly became the star of the show. Let me give you a bit of backstory.

In 2019 Olivia went to Cambodia for 4 months to teach English. (She had fallen in love with the children in Cambodia when our family went on a short-term missions trip two years prior.) As she wrestled through the feelings of fear, worry and the unknown while preparing for a long haul trip overseas alone, she kept on hearing this phrase whispered in her heart: “born for adventure.” This phrase became an anchor when fear of the unknown and separation anxiety felt overwhelming. Fast-forward to 2021 and Olivia is carrying a deep love for the people and culture of Cambodia in her heart. So much so that she dreams of going back and looks back longingly on the four months she spent in PhnomPenh.

While decorating her room, I found the most meaningful item to include in her room. And because she was slightly more hands off than Bella was, I was able to sneak this item into her room and do a “reveal” where she was surprised with this item. Guys, the reaction was incredible. She was moved to tears when she saw this personalized wall art in her new room. I won’t spoil it all. Instead, you can watch her surprise reveal by clicking the video below.

If you are interested in browsing the selection of customizable, meaningful decor pieces, you can see them here, and use the code MAPIQ1 for 10% off of your order.

Happy decorating!