Girls' Bedroom Makeover (A Photo Story)

Mostly, it started from this:

The $20 bed I found on Craigslist (very crappy).

Piper asked me, not long ago, "Why does Geneva have an under the bed but I don't have an under the bed?" 

That's when the guilt of "second child" set in.

They've been sharing a room since January '11. I had been paralyzed with indecision over what I wanted to do to Geneva's "old room" to make it a shared space for both Geneva and Piper. Bunk beds? Loft beds? A new color scheme? 

Finally, Piper's innocent question lead me to seek out an inexpensive "in-between." The least I could do was give her an under the bed.

Post-primer, pre-paint

I knew I wanted to give the entire room a makeover. I'd been over-pinspired and even started a separate "board" for ideas based around their room. You can explore it here, if you're so inclined. 

Before I could paint Piper's bed, I needed to settle on a color scheme. Geneva definitely had her own opinions regarding this point. She chose this for the walls:

"Egg Blue"

THE palette: Aqua Blue, Charcoal Gray, Watermelon-Poppy

However, I get ahead of myself... Care to see any before pictures?

(I could have actually had the girls clean up their room before I snapped the pictures... but it's so much more dramatic this way.)

Piper's new bed has been painted Charcoal at this point.

Dark

Disorganized: No storage.

First up (after the paint hit the walls): Paint the furniture.

Charcoal Gray to match Piper's bed

Great Helper

Silver spray paint!

Next up: The light fixture.

Daddy's a great helper!

I love Ikea's prices: $59
I do not love self-assembly.

Richard Parker was willing to help (attack wire wraps). 

After

Button Monograms and Target Plates
with the Ballerina Wall Art

Updated with spray-painted knobs
and gray card stock.

New storage with a bookcase from the
downstairs closet.

The pillows from Posh Street Pillows on Etsy
(Yes, this photo was taken pre-pillow insert
for the gray chevron striped pillow.) 

Painting from our Guest Bedroom
(spray-painted frame)

Sister Love

Gray buckets from Target $1 bins.
Striped baskets from Target.

Silver with Aqua knobs
Poppy Lamps

Love is in the details.

I loved remaking this room for the girls. It is definitely their space now.

It's so much brighter and more cheerful.

One of the things I most enjoyed was having a heavy hand in the actual painting, crafting, and designing that made this room come together. I ruined my new winter coat (oil-based primer), destroyed all of my fingernails, made countless trips to Lowes, Home Depot, Target, and Michaels, and learned more than anyone needs to know about sanding, primer, and spray paint versus canned paint. It was worth it to have this sense of accomplishment and the satisfaction of doing this with them and for them.

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Three Pinspired Crafts

The first little craft I tackled was inspired by this idea which uses felt and paperclips to create these sweet little page markers. While they are adorable... they looked a little fragile for small fingers (and I had no felt).

{Little Lovlies Tutorial}

I picked up some "jumbo" clips at Target and I was on my way...

I modified and simplified the design a bit and used some ribbon scraps I had from some stationery projects along the way. 

A simple, looped knot was all it took.

A tiny drop of glue helps keep the simple knots nice and tight.

 I think they turned out really well. I'd be happy to see these poking out the pages of any of my cookbooks or any of those novels written for "young adults" that I find myself enjoying too much lately (The Hunger Games, Twilight, The Girl of Fire and Thorns, Divergent). I actually added these to a PiperSimone Papers gift basket I donated to a local school charity.

The next project came about by accident.

I had intended to use all of these beautifully packaged Martha Stewart craft supplies to make some sweet monograms for the girls' new bedroom makeover. 

It all looked so easy...  

Sadly, after several failed attempts and smudgy, smeared results, I was growing more and more frustrated.

Smear-fest

 Glancing to my right, I found the small pile of paint chips I'd been slowly collecting over the past few weeks as I pondered decorating palettes for the girls' room and the bathroom. I'd seen some great ideas on Pinterest using these paint chips and so I picked up at least 2-3 of each color to save for future crafts.

My salvation. 

 A few paint chips and some tape...

And I had this:

So much better than the smear-fest!

 Here's how they look on the wall:

The failed Martha stenciling project left me without any monogramming in their room (and if you know me at all, you know I love a monogram!). So the next "pinspired" project was underfoot.

I picked up some wooden letters from Michaels and set to work trying to make something similar to this:

{Letter Perfect Designs on Etsy}

Supplies needed: white paint, Elmer's glue, buttons

 The girls got to help with this project. It was so easy (and they did something similar last year in Sunriver on vacation with our friends thanks to Heather Stewart and her crafty ideas).

Flashback from 2010

 Then I glued them onto some canvases I had spray painted aqua.

They took 196 buttons.
I know this because I purchased 200 and we had
only 4 left-over! 

 Here's how they turned look on the wall:

There you have it.

Three little crafts we had a ton of fun making and feel really proud about creating.

I hope you're pinning and playing!

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Things I Love Thursday

• Having the girls home from school during Spring Break--but also having them at Art Camp for a few hours a couple days this week. :) Balance.
• This face: (I cannot believe Addison Grace is 3 months old already!)

• Geneva's growing love of everything written. 
• Watching her read to her cousin.

• Family weekends. The kids are getting bigger and we're able to experience them in different ways lately. Their relationship with one another is developing and it's been great to watch.
• Carving out the time to update my blog.
• Visits from Papa Mike and especially watching him and Geneva enjoy a game of chess.

• Bedtime. I love it lately. The girls are becoming very independent and there is less and less for me to do--but I still get to read to them when it's not "Daddy's turn."
• These new labels I just got that have inspired some simple, new packaging:

• When she "helps" me with the laundry. Ok... maybe I don't actually "love" this all the time, but I try to be positive and patient, hoping that it will payoff in the end when she actually becomes effective at folding clothes.

• Pilates. On the Reformer. Addicted.
• Doing Pilates with Greg whenever he's home on the weekends.
• Watching Geneva thrive in her school.

• The way my kids eat almost anything. They're amazing in that way and I try to acknowledge this in them and compliment them on it often. 
• Cooking for a family that lets me know how much they appreciate it.
• Affectionate moments I happen to catch with the camera in-hand.

• The flowers my mom, Debbie, planted in February in the pots on the porch. They are one of the few signs of spring around this drippy place!
• Sister Performances

• Listening to our "Morning Song" each day. It's Rhianna's, We Found Love. The best part is when we all start jumping up and down with our arms in the air. It's a lovely way to get going in the am before the caffeine has kicked in!
• Piper's braids:

• The prospect of a sunny vacation on the horizon... :)
• My new cocktail: The Vermont Vixen

Vermont Vixen
2 ounces whiskey
1 ounce pure maple syrup
1/2 ounce agave nectar
juice from 1 lemon
Shaken vigorously and and served over ice with a lemon twist.
Cheers! 

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Bathroom Brightening!

We have lived here for four years. The builders chose a beautiful, dark, khaki brown for the paint accents. As a neutral, it really is nice; however, it is in every room. We've happily lived with it for the past four years. Finally, I've been pinspired {wink} to update/change some things. I started with the girls' room (blog post coming) and their bathroom/guest bathroom.

Before
(The shower curtain actually has some green and
pink stripes which are cute--but very subtle.) 

The inspiration for the bathroom makeover started with the shower curtain that I found at Fred Myers while shopping for my St. Patrick's Day corned beef and cabbage ingredients. Yes, you heard that right, corned beef and shower curtains. (If you have not experienced Fred Myers, you are missing out. It's got a little bit of everything.)

After
I really wish I were a better photographer--
it's really so cheerful and lovely! 

The walls are a lovely greige (gray and beige) color and the change brightened this small, windowless space up SO MUCH. (Mission accomplished!) 

As a bonus, I got to express a few of my latest "pinsiration" ideas in the form of some very simple projects for this little makeover. I saw this idea online:

{Courtesy of TWRpainted on Etsy}

Then I scoured the house and collected a handful of unused picture frames I thought would update well with a couple cans of spray paint.

Rainy Oregon Days = Garage Paining Studio

Quite early in the hunt, I found a great "designer" color in the right yellow. However, the darker greige color was a bit of a challenge. Everything was too brown, too gray, too green, too wrong. After searching rows and rows of spray paint (Lowes, Home Depot, Fred Myers) I finally realized that the exact color I needed had been staring at me all along. I'd been subconsciously blinded to it:

Camo, Baby!

Finished Grouping

The next crafty project I got to embrace was pinspired by this:

{Lowes}

So I grabbed the seagrass bathroom accessories we were already using in the space and took up my paint brush:

Before

After

And in the new bathroom:

{Insert "oohs and ahhs"}

Added some of the extra yellow spray paint to this votive holder.

 And that about sums it up!

We went from brown, dark, bland...

Before

... to fresh, bright, bold, simple:

After

{bonus shot of two Jones cuties}

I had a great time making-over this bathroom. I'm totally inspired to tackle the next project.
I'm nearly done with the girls' room and I've been busy with my "40 Bags in 40 Days" challenge so the spaces available for mini-makeovers is growing! Look for more updates to come!  

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