CityView Magazine

28 | October/November • 2009 double bed went out, bunk beds came in. Carpet got tossed and spongy, wipeable, flooring came in instead. Carson, 10, and 8-year-old Tucker were even given their own bath towels, stamped with their names, and toiletry kits to save room in the family's one upstairs bathroom. While Keith attacked his project with the precision of a general plotting his next campagin, next door, Shani's artistic bent led the way. She wanted to give her two girls their own retreats, a tough task in a small room, but she came up with the perfect solution for a pre-teen and teenager: private lofts with curtains and space beneath to call their own. For 12-year-old Amelia, that meant a place for her keyboard and guitar. Alex, 14, needed a large desk at which to work and read. Shani and her mother improvised the rest. Handpainted wall designs in rich browns and black give the room a grown- up sophistication. The two women made everything themselves, from the custom- made headboards to the throw pillows and comforters. Now, Amelia has room for her music. Alex has her books. "I couldn't stop giggling," Amelia said. "It was perfect." That Christmas, the kids spent the entire day in their rooms. And for once, their mother said, four active children couldn't utter a word. "I think they were absolutely speechless." On the other side of Cumberland County, near Linden, Amy Matthews wanted a place her daughter Lauren could call her own. Matthews wanted a classic room that would take her daughter from grammar school to college and home again on her wedding day. Designer Ann Marie Locklear of the Plantation House helped. So did Lauren. She helped pick out the handpainted panels, pink toile and other touches that turn the room into a place fit for a princess, including a canopy and Italian chandelier. Lauren's grandmother provided the painted table just right for tea parties. "I wanted her to have a special room that would be timeless," Matthews said. "Little girls need this kind of special place." Emma McCauley has just that kind of place at her parents' Eastover home. It blends the romantic pinks of a young girl with the more grown-up touches of an 11-year-old with her own pink ipod. There's room for Emma's collectible dolls, many of which were keepsakes passed down from her grandmother, and more recent snapshots of Emma posing with friends and Max, her horse. Antique furniture, a passion of her father's, provides the anchor for Emma's room and that of her older brother, Shepherd, across the hall. At 14, Shep is old enough to pick his own accessories, and the avid reader certainly approves of the rich red leather reading chair which gives his room a masculine feel. It's a true sanctuary, a place to express personality and a safe retreat to memories of childhood, the way any good room should be. Now it's up to the grownups not to be jealous. CV Top | Lauren Matthews, 9, has a room that is pretty in pink at her Linden home. Above | As the McCauley children grow up, their rooms are right in step. Sweet and sophisticated for Emma, 11, more masculine for older brother Shepherd.

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