Themed Rooms: A mermaid moment

Mermaidcore is a 2023 trend we’re loving lately, so we were thrilled to transform and redecorate a mermaid-themed room — featuring Nuggets, of course! We hope it gives you inspiration for creating unique spaces in your own home. We had a lot of fun with this Themed Room feature, so keep an eye out for more in the future!

The theme: a little mermaid moment

For our inaugural blog of this series, we head to Atlanta! The City of Trees might be landlocked, but that hasn’t stopped six-year-old Nuggeteer Harper from falling in love with water, swimming, and mermaids. She and her mom wanted a soft, seaworthy aesthetic that would age well with Harper as she grows.

Softening the palette

If you’ve seen the Little Mermaid, you might immediately picture jewel tones, iridescent accents, and sequins for this design challenge. We had a real soft shell for a gentler, more subtle approach.

Instead of opting for deep aquas and purples, Team Mermaid leaned into a more elevated palette: foamy whites and sandy neutrals, with soft pink, lilac, peachy, and mauve accents. This allows for the room to “grow” with Harper as she ages, and it gave everyone more flexibility in sourcing more timeless decor pieces.

The rule of three

Great things come in threes! This smart design principle pulled double duty with this mermaid room — in both shopping and styling.

Anyone looking to change up a room will likely need to purchase a few items along the way.

You don’t need to dip into your life savings to find cool, unique pieces that fit the theme. Try shopping in threes: One item from a mainstream store, something from a local shop or a boutique, and a thrifted, upcycled, or handmade item. This helps balance your budget, and ensures a unique design aesthetic.

Once you’ve got some cool pieces you love, it’s time to style them! Team Mermaid created vignettes around the bedroom, using another interpretation of the rule of three — simply grouping items in trios. This creates visual interest and texture, and it’s subconsciously very satisfying.

Look at this stuff. Isn’t it neat?

Get organized before you start shopping — starting with an inspiration board. This will help guide you to on-theme items and prevent any, “Oh wait, but this is a cool oddball thing I must have!” moments. Decide what piece of furniture and decor you want to keep, and which items need updating. In Harper’s room, the dresser, desk, and bookshelf all stayed put — which really helped keep the budget attainable.

Harper’s room came together quickly once the vision was in place. Several items were thrifted from a local thrift store — like the hanging board shelf, the vases and containers, and the bronze mermaid. One of our favorite finds in this room, the vintage turquoise mermaid wall hook, was sourced from an Etsy shop, along with two mermaid finials that were a perfect fit for Harper’s lamps.

Harper fell in love with her new, handmade mermaid doll — sourced from local ATL maker Cali Zuzu. A new rug, fresh curtains, a fun mermaid-themed blanket, velvet headboard, and soft bedding helped round out the mermaid theme in a subtle, warm way. And of course — the room wasn’t complete without Nuggets. We suggested the surprising combo of Moonshot and Dunebuggy for its soft, dreamy aesthetic and close fit with our theme. Harper loved it — and she dove right in for some imaginative, seaworthy play.

Notice how the colors — dusty rose, soft peach, pastel purple, a pop of terracotta, and muted neutrals — introduce a more mature vibe to the room, without aging it beyond Harper’s own tastes.

Team Mermaid polished off the room with a fresh coat of paint. Farrow & Ball’s Slipper Satin in Dead Flat finish helped brighten the room and aligned perfectly with the subtle, sophisticated aesthetic.

The finished product

Once Team Mermaid spread the new treasures around the updated room (mostly in groups of three!), the theme came to life. The room feels beachy, light, personalized, and stylish. The rule of three keeps the room feeling balanced, and the color palette and Nuggets keep it feeling young and fresh — wholly appropriate for Harper and her love of the ocean and mermaids.

Got a cool Themed Room in mind? Let us know what type of room we should feature next!