Be Bold. Be You. Do What YOU Want To Do.

In doing this project, I bashed my head on a window sill and have a dent in my forehead. I also encountered a very large furry spider, which didn’t survive it’s head being bashed. I survived and have lived to tell the tale of making over my daughter’s bedroom. This is our story.

We moved my daughter out of her old room recently. I have been wanting to make some changes in her new space for her, but was procrastinating because I wasn’t feeling inspired. I really couldn’t stand how pink her last room was, so this time I decided we’d leave the walls of her new room the boring beige and I’d just work with the stuff in the room to make it cute and girly but not over the top pink. We kept all of her furniture and bedding and I simply made a few small changes to make it feel special and girly for her.  Her bed, vanity, and bookshelf are all white. The built ins are white, the trim is white and the walls are beige. I was thinking I’d just paint the one thing that needed painting – her dresser – white also. Bo-ring! No wonder I was feeling uninspired.

I decided to pull colors from this DIY wall art that hangs on her wall and have a little fun in her room. I wanted it to feel punchy and whimsical.

She had this dresser that has been in my family for a long while and needed a little love. I am sure it would’ve looked lovely all white.

Instead, we dug into our paint stash and found a green we liked. I wasn’t going to play it safe. It’s a little girl’s room. What mattered most was how excited SHE was about it. She wanted it vibrant and fun. I was the silly one thinking I had to play it safe. As soon as I started putting the green paint on, I loved it. When I was ready to do the drawers, she asked if I would paint the drawers yellow. I was really hesitant but couldn’t resist her “PLEASE?!?! It will be so beautiful and I will love it more than anything!!” My sense of fun and whimsy was being tested. I had to remind myself it isn’t MY room. It’s her room and it’s what she wants. It’s who she is.

I probably don’t have to tell most of you that all while this project was going on, my husband was rolling his eyes and mumbling about how i ruin antiques. By the time it was done, even he was admitting it was really cute. He even told me I did a nice painting job. Then I died. I truly love it. I love that she saw through her 6 year old eyes something I couldn’t. I love that all she cared about was making a part of her room really her. And once I realized how her it was, it was easy to be inspired and continue to make the space fun for her.

I bought a small play table at Goodwill a few months back. I didn’t have the right space for the table, so I kept the bins and gave the table away. They were so easy and fun to make over with the green and yellow paint and some chalkboard paint on the fronts. Instead of a closet, she just has a wall of built in shelving in her room. The bins fit great in one section and are going to keep the wide open shelves from being cluttered and disorganized.

I have had the idea in my head since we moved her to this room to put a curtain up in the opening that connects her room to her little brother’s room.

Without knowing which way I was going to with her room in terms of colors, I hadn’t done it yet. Once the dresser was painted, it was easy to pick fabric, with her help of course.

For $21 (cost of fabric and the tension rod for the curtain), her room went from pretty blah to pretty cute. For the rest, I used things we already had and leftover paint all for a fun makeover that makes my little girl feel pretty special. It was so fun to do this with her input. I love when my kids teach me along the way. To be bold. Be you. Do what YOU want to do.