This is my daughter’s bedroom. We recently renovated it into this pretty, more grown up room. What once was a room with bubble gum pink walls and a garden mural, is now a room that she can once again enjoy as a tween and continue to grow into. I REALLY wish that I would have taken before and after pictures for you to see as it was a really big transformation!
My husband was laughing at me because when I get an idea and know what I want to do, there is no stopping me. The kids had a week off of school and I had some extra time off due to the Family Day holiday. I am always so gung-ho beginning these type of projects and then when I am smack dab in the middle of a huge mess I go, “what the heck possessed me to start this?!” Anyone else do this? 
I want to give you the deets of what I did here as well as the pros and cons to doing a project like this yourselves. First off we had to do the usual prep work when painting. I pretty much always let the kids choose their colours with a wee bit of guidance of course. But really it is just paint, it is not like it can’t be changed again if you don’t like it or outgrow it. It is nice for them to have a comfortable place to enjoy. We toned down the bubble gum walls with this more neutral colour. The theme wall is a vibrant and gorgeous turquoise. I was advised to do two coats of primer and then two coats of paint. This was a total of 16 hours of painting alone for this project! I wouldn’t want to cut corners with painting though as then you will not be happy with the coverage and end up with an uneven colour on the walls. I have to say that I may have been slightly high from the fumes over the course of two days!
Here are different views of the room with a little description of what went on.
This corner used to have a clothes hanger stand, a huge teddy bear and this shelf. The shelf was full of knick knack type things plus papers and posters. Now we have all of her nail art/make-up stuff off of her vanity desk and she uses this shelf to organize all of that. This shelf was in her room already and was bought for $5 from a garage sale! The branch wall decal was $17 and tied in the colours nicely. It was easy to apply and can be removed just as easily.
Her vanity was a present from us a few years ago and is her most expensive piece of furniture in her room. She uses it ALL the time for homework, getting ready in the morning and doing her nail art. Together we decluttered the desk drawers and the surface as well as the shelf on top. The shelf and mirror were purchased from her school garage sale a few years ago for $5 each. We repainted and distressed them with paint that we already had. Score! Less is more when it comes to surfaces. She is able to let the things she loves shine whereas before she just had too much stuff out; it was very cluttered and she didn’t have room to be the creative gal that she is!
Here is the area behind the door. I wanted to make use of all spaces and leave these things accessible but not in the forefront. So I purchased the little over the door hanging storage to hold her purses, robe, scarves and hats. It really works well and was just $10. The bulletin board I kept in the room so that she can keep her calendar up and display her awards and fave. pictures. My handy Mom and I made this a while back; it has pockets and ribbons to hold her papers/pictures.
This corner houses her tall dresser. We were able to get her canvas crayon picture up that she just made. (I think that it is important for them to be able to display their creative art!) Over here she has her special Himalayan salt lamp and alarm clock. She bought this over-sized pillow for $13; it will be nice when her and her friends hang out. There are two new curtain panels and rod in her room that cost $60. The curtains are supposed to help keep the cold and light out – bonus!
With a new coat of paint the window box that my hubby made went back up. She applied some of her cute stickers to dress it up. It is mostly empty right now; we used it for stuffies before. It works nicely from hanging all of her headbands neatly. The chandelier is one of her favorite things in this room. She now has adequate light and thinks that it is so pretty. It was the most expensive purchase at $50 plus the cost of the bulbs. It was so worth it as she says the light makes her happy! We wanted some of her photos displayed that remind her of things and people that she loves. The frame was $20. She used to have several homemade frames (from Popsicle sticks and such that she had outgrown.)
There are always pros and cons to projects and I wanted to share them with you!
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All in all this project cost about $400. This includes all of the paint (I have lots left), drop cloths, brushes (which I can re-use), rod, curtains, over-the-door hanger, wall decal, chandelier, bulbs, duvet cover/sham, pillow, register and picture frame. It was well worth it and I saved money by putting in the labor ourselves. Not to mention we are getting money back from the old décor and toys that we have sold. We were able to get rid of one bag of garbage, one bag of recycling and we donated three bags of stuff. Decluttering creates a canvas for us to be creative.
Yay us!! I am so proud of my daughter for staying with me the whole time to get the job done. I didn’t have to ask her once to help out. Plus she made us lunches every day! She now has this skill to take with her when she gets her own home. She loves her room especially the new, happy lighting. 
Thanks for following our ‘little’ project!
Krystal
