Ella's "Big Girl" Room

In one weekend, my friend and I transformed my daughter's room into this!

 

I don't have a before picture of the space.  I know, I am very disappointed in myself.  I wasn't thinking of blogging at the time.  I worked on cleaning out the room for a month before this weekend.  I got rid of a ton of "boy" toys and even some girl stuff that we just weren't using.  Less is more, right?


Wall color: I wish you could really see the color of the walls.  They are this beautiful green that just makes the pink POP!  I know the paint is from Sherwin Williams, but I honestly can't remember the name.  I love you guys, but not enough to go dig through the 25 gallons of paint I own to look up a name that is likely unreadable anyway.  Next time I paint, I will make note of the colors for you.  The walls were already painted this color.  I already had the pallet on the wall and it was in that spot.  I can't tell you how happy my husband was that we didn't move it (deck screws don't make small holes).

Layout:  Her bed was under the pallet before, with the headboard where the toy bin is now.  This room has a very awkward layout.  There is a window over where her bed is now, but it isn't centered on the wall at all.  There are two large windows behind the bookshelves on the right.  They aren't floor to ceiling, they are also not centered on the wall.  We used these "curtains" to hide the awkward placement and size.  This gave us a much bigger room to work with.  Previously, not much could go on the right wall. I can't take credit for this layout at all.  My friend, Brandy, was the genius behind the furniture placement.  I am not sure we knew how it was all going to come together until we started moving it in.  The wall to the right of this picture wasn't changed much, so we never took pictures.  I will update the blog later with the wall above her bed and the wall to the right.  For now, we will talk about what you can see in the picture above.

Bed:  I bought this wooden sleigh bed from a friend.  When Ella moved out of her crib, we bought a small Ikea bed that was low to the ground.  We moved her into a bigger bed in 2013 because my husband was tired of squeezing into her tiny bed with her at night.  I wasn't as worried about her falling out and getting hurt.  She struggled to climb up into it for a while, but it was good exercise for her.

Bedding: Who doesn't love Pottery Barn Kids?  This is the Madras bedding.  I love it so much that my boys have it in their room as well (not in pink, obviously).  The Euro sham was a happy accident.  It is the perfect place to prop up and read a book with Ella!  The throw pillow is custom made.  The pink is the same pink fabric as the curtains and the print is from a sheet set I found at Walmart.  She probably has more pillows on her bed than necessary (there are 3 regular pillows, the sham, and the throw), but in the beginning most lined the floor for a soft cushion to fall on...just in case.

Curtains:  We totally cheated (and you should, too)!  We used a sheet set that we found at Big Lots.  My friend sewed a pocket to fit the rod (a cheap expandable one that we knew would be totally covered).  We used two twin flat sheets for the window above her bed and two full flat sheets for the larger windows.  We wanted the ruffle at the top, and we wanted a full look.  If we had only used one sheet, it would have looked like a flat sheet hung on a cheap rod.  Even buying 4 sheet sets, we spent less than we would have on floor length curtains.  This trick made all the difference in the layout of the room.  I am so very happy we did this!  Behind the curtains, I do have a blackout shade on the actual window.  Her room gets morning sun, and without the blackout blinds, it is absurdly bright.  Even with them, I don't need to turn on a light to see during the day. 

The doll bed:  This was actually my baby doll bed when I was little.  I remember playing with it from a young age.  I also remember flipping it over and using it as a desk (random, unnecessary fact).  It was in bad shape, we used some wood glue and a few finishing nails.  I actually got a before picture:

Please excuse my scorched grass, we didn't have much rainfall that summer.  The bed was white, and to my knowledge had never been repainted.  We spray painted it.  There was no way I was going to attempt to get a paintbrush in all those areas!  We bought 3 colors of spray paint at Home Depot the day we started our project; purple, turquoise, and pink.  I don't remember why we chose purple for this piece, but I am glad we did.  All of her babies live in this bed, I am so happy I could pass this onto my daughter!

Pallet:  I mentioned earlier that the pallet is heavy and mounted to the wall with deck screws.  I had this made custom for her 5th birthday.  Peace, Love, & Pallets is a local place that does amazing work!  In case you can't read it, it says Happy Girls are the Prettiest.  I know it is an Audrey Hepburn quote, but we didn't give her credit.

Lingerie Chest:  I bought this piece when I was in high school.  My grandmother owned an antique store and she sold me this.  It sort of matched some other furniture I had inherited.  I actually never used the pieces together, but I did use this chest through high school and most of college.  It got moved up to the attic sometime after I got married.  It works perfectly in this small space.  Here are the only before pictures I have:

You can see in the top picture where I tried to take the paint off years ago (foolishly thinking this was real wood).  Brandy and I picked the entire color pallet for the room at Home Depot the day we started the project.  We decided that this was what we were going to paint this turquoise color.  We used an oil based paint, but we didn't buy very much of it.  Here are some close ups of it finished:

The ribbon pulls were not planned at all.  When we originally discussed painting this, we weren't sure if we wanted the handles to be the same color or contrast.  That decision was made for us when we learned that all of the handles had been put on the drawers using ANCHORS instead of screws.  We are crafty ladies, but we only managed to keep two handles from not being bent up/ruined.  Pinterest came to the rescue, and the bows were adopted.  Between her stash of ribbon and mine, we didn't spend a dime on these handles.  Even after a year of use, they work great!  Brandy gets credit for tying all of these pretty bows and painting and distressing this piece.

The drawer contents:
Top (small drawer):  Thermometer, a few necklaces that she never wears, and some keepsake items.
Second: Socks.  We have a surprising number of these, but she rarely wears them.
Third: Bathing suits.
Fourth: Pajamas.
Bottom: Underwear, bloomers, and tights.
These drawers are the perfect size for her clothes right now!

The ball of light:  My father in law comes into town every year around Christmas.  He almost always buys my boys their basketball shoes for the season.  He was a basketball coach, so this is quite fitting.  After we walked around the crowded mall for hours letting the boys try on different shoes, he wanted to buy something for Ella.  He and the boys made her a Build-a-Bear (the brown dog seen coming out of her pink toy bin), but he felt like that wasn't enough.  We passed a kiosk by one of the shoe stores that had these cool lamps that were made of different colored plastic pieces.  I can't really describe it, but I will take a closer picture of it while it is turned off and include that in the update.  This isn't a purchase I would have normally made, but Ella certainly didn't need any more clothes or shoes, and this was in the price range.  I originally wanted a pink and white combo, but they didn't have enough white to make one the size I wanted.  This sat in her closet for 8 months because I refused to hang it without having something to cover the white cord.  Thankfully, we could work it into our design and Brandy made a cover for the cord using the sheet set I found at Walmart.  Everyone loves this lamp, I am so glad I let my father-in-law buy it for her! 

The pink toy bin:  This is another PBK purchase.  I think I bought this right after she was born.  It says Ella Clare in cursive in a green thread.  This has held everything from toys to dirty clothes to therapy items, and now stuffed animals.  We have some stuffed animals from hospitals we have been in, some favorites from the boys have been passed down, and some new ones that she has gotten for gifts.  I try to rotate them every once in a while, otherwise the ones at the bottom don't get very much love.  I am glad this ended up fitting in her room, it is great storage!

Ironing board:  This is another item I bought from my grandmother.  I didn't get it until a couple of months before this project started.  Before:

The iron had a cord that plugged in.  At some point, this thing actually "worked".  We took out the guts of the iron and removed the cord.  It was kinda rusted in spots, but it otherwise looked great.  Ella has never really played with a toy ironing board, but what little girl doesn't need one in her room?  Brandy did a great job spray painting this!  She used some gray I had from a previous project to do the bottom of the iron, the rest was the pink and purple we used elsewhere.  A close up photo:

Isn't that detail amazing?  Brandy is super talented, I just love her!  Ella does actually play with this sometimes, but when it gets knocked over it is LOUD!

Bookcases:  When I was 14, I asked my parents if I could redo my bedroom.  These bookcases were two things I used in that redo.  They were bought from a local store and they were finished in a medium stain.  I popped the glass out of the bottom door on the bookcase (but it didn't break).  I stored the glass forever under a dresser, and I think I accidentally threw it out not that long ago.  I need to label that stuff better.  These never got stored anywhere else, they have been in use for over 20 years now.  At one point I stained them darker.  I didn't stain them at the same time, and they didn't always sit next to each other.  That is why this before picture is the way it is.  I was cleaning out Ella's room to get ready for this renovation, so excuse the mess.  I really had planned on getting rid of these, but I am so glad I didn't!

We used an oil based paint that had a pink tint to it.  It isn't really as white as it looks.  Brandy is very good with paint colors.  I was really just at Home Depot with her to pay for everything and nod my head when she asked my opinion ;).  If we were doing this project now, we would likely use chalk paint and save ourselves HOURS of waiting!  The back being an accent color was always the plan, but the stripes were a last minute thing.  I am glad we didn't do anything more detailed on the front of the desk area, the stripes are just enough.  Closer up pictures:

The purple chair:  This chair was given to me by my friend, Nitia.  Her mom bought two of these at Big Lots years ago (probably 2003 or 2004).  It was a honey color before.  This chair didn't match my kitchen, but it was the perfect height for Ella to sit comfortably at the table with us.  At the last minute, I decided to incorporate it into her room.  If we have a lot of people over for dinner, it will get pulled back up to the table, but otherwise she sits in it in her room and looks at her books.  The first coat of spray paint is the turquoise color we bought.  It was really too bright for the space, so we went over it with the purple and distressed it.  I like the layers.  Closer up:

Decorations: Most of her decorations came from Hobby Lobby.  There are some candle sticks on the chest and candles that will never be burned, some cute stands with glass domes on top that I couldn't resist, an Eiffel tower lamp I got at Target, the box with the bird cages on it came from Big Lots ages ago, and the large pink Eiffel tower came from Hobby Lobby.  On her wall she has a framed Piggy and Paws print of her hands that are decorated to be a butterfly.  She was so tiny when we did that, it is a great memory!  I am always on the look out for cute decorations for her room.

She actually has a rug, but it hadn't been put back in the room when we took these pictures.  I will take pictures of the other two walls, the lamp not lit up, and the "poof" that Brandy made her tomorrow.  I will post an update at some point, but this should be enough info for one night!

A huge thank you goes to Brandy for all her hard work!  I felt like I did little more than take care of my three kiddos, make sure she ate 3 times a day, and chat with her while she worked her tail off.  We like doing projects together, and I am thankful that she drove the 5 hours to my house to help me out.  I certainly couldn't have done this on my own!!

One more picture, just because I love how it all turned out:

 Another project we fit in that weekend:

Brandy took my boring bar stools and painted the bases black.  She took my kitchen wall color and painted a base coat on the top.  After distressing it, she free handed this design in orange.  I love everything about these stools now.  If you look closely, you can see little paw prints in the design (we've got school spirit, how about you?)!

Update on Ella's room

As promised, here is what was missing from the last post on Ella's room.

Lamp:  Here is a picture of the lamp turned off:

You can also see her Piggy and Paws print better here.  This is a fun and functional lamp.

Poof:  You could kind of see this in some of the other pictures.  Brandy sewed this for Ella before this project started.  Ella's legs are perfectly imperfect and she shouldn't sit on the floor all the time.  I saw something like this on Pinterest and Brandy came to the rescue.  I used the sheet set from Wal Mart.  She had the turquoise used for the cording and the purple print we used on the handle.  We used old pillows to stuff it, and you can't unzip or open ours.  I worried a bit about the light colored fabric getting dirty, but this picture is after over a year of use, and I think it still looks fine.  This gets so much use!  I sit on it at night while she is falling asleep, she sits on it to play, and the boys sit on it when they visit her in her room.  When I want to clean her room, it stands up behind her closet door.  Love this!

I took a picture of her sitting on it for scale.

Please excuse her bed head, we are still in our pajamas!  Ours ended up being bigger than the ones in the blog, but we are happy with the end result.  Isn't that the best part of Pinterest?  I find something I like and make it work for me.

The wall over the bed:  I didn't do this the weekend Brandy was here.  This wall was a joint effort between Brandy, Nitia, and myself.  We all picked things up as we were shopping and her collection gradually grew.  I have changed it to add a few things, and I fully expect this to be a work in progress for a while.  Here is how it looks today:

I have to give my oldest son a s/o for holding the phone while Brandy and I used FaceTime to tweak this layout.  I love technology!  Here are some close-ups of the details.

The majority of these decorations came from Hobby Lobby.  There are a couple of exceptions.  I got the "Keep Smiling" print from Zulily. The orange canvas that says "She believed she could, so she did" came from Icing in the mall.  The plaque that says embrace it all was a gift from Brandy.  I have command strips on the back of the larger items to keep them from shifting or falling.

The wall between the closet and the door to her room:  I said that we didn't change this wall that weekend, but that isn't totally true.  I forgot that the shelves before were dark wood.  While we were at Home Depot buying paint, I got white shelves to brighten the space up.  

Bottom shelf - baskets came from Hobby Lobby 6 years ago (I think).  They both hold bows.  She has many bows, but these are not hanging with all of her others.  The basket on the right holds pig tail bows that are clipped in matching pairs.  The basket on the left holds larger bows that won't clip on the ribbon of her holder and the smaller pig tail bows.  Brandy makes bows, therefore Ella has every color and style we could ever ask for.  I have never bought a single one, it really pays to have crafty friends!

Second shelf - The frame with the cross has a 4 generation picture of my grandmother, mom, me, and Ella with an inset of one of my grandmother holding Ella.  The white frame is my favorite picture of Ella right after she was born.  Both pictures were taken by the splendidly talented Sara Welch.  Again, having brilliant friends pays off for me!  The basket holds miscellaneous items like extra toothbrushes, diaper rash cream, and lotion.

Third shelf - The blue/white polka dot container is part of a set of three that I got at PBK ages ago.  It has some old toys of mine in it (I think).  There used to be less books on this shelf, but Ella has gotten more destructive lately and I am attempting to save some of our favorites.  The bunny is just a soft ornament.

Top shelf - I got these memory boxes from PBK not long after she was born.  The large one with her picture on it holds all of her sentimental items from my pregnancy and her birth.  The other two hold cards and artwork from school.  The blue bear has been around since I had my oldest, and she occasionally asks for it.  The sheep came in a gift from my grandfather. Sara took that picture of Ella as well.

I put these shelves up when she was very young because I didn't have enough storage in her room.  I also felt like this was a good use of this wall space.  The space between the door coming into her room and her closet door isn't much bigger than this.

This is what sits under the shelves:

I got this at Target a couple of years ago.  Sometimes these bins are moved around, I think the pink was on top last week.  I intentionally left one cube open for display.  The toy that usually lives there was being played with when I took this picture.  Between this and her bookshelf, all of her toys have a home.


I wanted to post a better picture of the wall color. 

I think that was all I was missing from her room.  I don't think I will be remodeling this room any time soon, but if I do any major changes, I will update the blog :)