A Tale of Two Rooms - Part One

Well, I *did* say that this blog would include different things.......

Darling Girl will be turning 10 in October, and she had asked me if I would turn her room into a "big girl" room for her.....then she pointed out that she didn't have a say in the room colors because when we moved here, she wasn't even 3, but she understood that I didn't want her to have the same gray-blue walls that her big brother had.....okey dokey then.  She and I started brain storming ideas - last year she said she wanted a pink/purple/turquoise/yellow bedroom....I immediately thought of Rainbow Brite when she said that.....told her to give it more thought, and this spring, she decided on purple/black/white....that works.

Since she already had the white furniture, we weren't going to mess with that, and the black was going to be used in accent pieces, not covering walls - though she did try to get me to do the trim in black (nope, sorry, not going to happen - mainly because when you mess up, it takes more paint to cover the black up).

So.....here is what we started with (painted in 2005 shortly after we moved into our house):

The upper part of her walls were done in "sun-kissed peach" (what can I say, I *hate* pink) and the  bottom was done in "garden pansy" (as a nod to my Nanny who passed away when Rebekah was 4 months old).  The trim and stripe color were actually leftover paint from the upstairs bathroom (when we moved in, that room was eggplant purple and has no windows, so it was like walking into a cave....it NEEDED to be lighter, so....there you go).

After 8 years of looking at this color combination, she decided she'd had enough, and honestly, I couldn't blame her.  So...we started making the room over....first was the curtains:

 She saw these at Lowe's and decided they were the ones she wanted....I tried to convince her to get a similar pattern but in thermal curtains but she was set on these....and yes, they went up while the room still had to be painted.  Behind the curtains is a purple sheer with sequins {sigh}  though I shouldn't say anything because I have the same sheer in turquoise in my sewing room...lol

Then it was time to paint....just a note...they are selling "paint + primer" these days...yeah, whatever, it still takes 2 or more coats to completely cover the walls....just buy Kilz to prime and regular paint and save yourself some heartache and possibly some money.  Anyway....here's the transformation:

Yes, I tackled the trim first...I wanted to work from the top down, so....at first she thought the paint was pink, but it is really "pristine iris" which is just a pale purple.  This was the compromise that we came up with because she either wanted black trim (nope) or white trim (would have blended into the ceiling), and I thought the light purple would pull everything together instead of just having the darker purple walls, bright white furniture, and black accents...needless to say, she liked it and told me I made a good decision.
 

 First coat of paint....yeah, not happy that you can see the peach through it

 This, I expected considering how dark the stripe was around the room, but still..."paint + primer"!!!

 Showing the difference between "garden pansy" (old purple) and "Mountain majesty" (new purple)

 First wall completely done (closet door still in process)

 Yeah, silly me...I decided to rip out one of her shelves - AFTER I started painting - forgetting what we learned in the past - that the previous owners tended to use things like DECK SCREWS to put things up in the house {sigh}...a little patching and it was ready to paint

 Finished walls and a completely trashed room - instead of emptying her room, since we didn't have any place to put her things, and no place for her to sleep, we just shuffled things around as we needed to...but, you can see the final colors in these.  The second picture shows the current set up of her bookshelf, doll crib, and desk...to the right of the desk is where the closet is located.

 Last wall sections and corner shelves that we still are undecided about.  She likes them, but doesn't like the finish.  I have zebra-print contact paper that I was going to cover them with, but she has already placed some of her Littlest Pet Shop critters and other "dust catchers" on the shelves, so...I guess I'll just wait until she's ready to clean them off for me to work on them.

 Finally, after all that work and a couple layers of paint on the walls and the trim, her room was finished and accents were added....she was speechless for a bit then said that I "do good work", so I think that's a good thing and a compliment from her....:

 The chalkboard wall that she asked for....no, not traditional shape, but I figured she needed something fun and funky, so she has a thought bubble instead of a boring square

 Wall decals over her  bed : Live, Laugh, Love

 Wall decal over her dresser: With God, all things are possible

 Reading corner with 2 new wall shelves (currently holding a jewelry box, a mini dressmaker's dummy, and some "dust catchers".  The chair is one that folds up, but she loved it and can curl up in it, so thank you Target "dorm essentials"...lol.  The table behind the chair was also found at Target and has a white top with black wire bottom, and the lamp that you can barely see is the Eiffel Tower - in black metal.  The 2 frames hold her county fair ribbons and her Science Fair medal.

 {sigh} Zebra-print rug.  It was smaller than we expected (found at overstock.com) but is actually the perfect size for her room....it's usually in the reading area, but lately she's had it next to her bed.

 Wall decal in her reading area: In a world where you can be anything.....Be Yourself.

 Wall with her desk and bookshelf (still not sure why she wanted the bookshelf on the opposite side of the room from her reading area).  Found the print when out shopping and bought it as a surprise for her.  The wall decal on this wall is mirrored and just says "dream" with black flowers around it.

 Wall decal on the desk wall

 Finished closet door - she was surprised at the paint job, but likes it - something to do with the fact that her brother has a nameplate on his door that was an engraving mistake from when Ken was in the Navy (they engraved it "T. Vann" instead of "K. Vann" for some reason).

 Started as a cheap desk chair with somewhat itchy blue woven fabric....less than an hour, and it has been recovered in black denim....go me...lol

 Yep, messy pre-teen girl's bed, but it shows the rest of the furniture layout...nightstand next to the bed, dresser near the foot of the bed, just to the left of the door as you walk in...and yes, black sheets, zebra blanket and pillow, and reversible purple comforter (she already had the comforter).

 Last bit that needed attention - the back of the bedroom door with her new mirror (though I don't know why we got it since she never seems to use it and always has to be sent back to brush her hair and sometimes to change clothes), showing her belt rack with all her previous belts in karate....that's right, my girl is a Junior Black Belt Candidate...woohoo!!

And that concludes Room #1...took about 9 days to get everything done, furniture moved, etc. but she likes it and says she never wants to change it...we'll see what she thinks in another couple of years