Collette's Big Girl Room

For Collette's birthday, LL and I decided we wanted to make over her room.  We actually had been talking about moving her to a new bedroom for a while now-- her nursery  really is suited best to be a nursery, because the room is not only the closest to our room, but also tiny in comparison to the other bedrooms.  It's literally half the size or less than the other bedrooms.  So, we decided with Baby Brother on the way, it was time for Collette to have a new room!

There was just one small problem... every other time we have redone a room in our house, we have completely gutted and redone.  For Collette's room, this just wasn't an option.  Because of a lot of factors, tearing down the paneling in the room, tearing out the horsehair plaster, pulling up the carpets, and sanding and resealing the hardwood floors just wasn't going to happen at this point in time. But the room wasn't cute for a little girl, either.  Here are a few "before" pictures I took when we first set up that room as a guest room.  You can see what I mean about the "trailer paneling" on the walls.  It's a different pattern but the same stuff we pulled down when we redid the nursery. 

One of my friends told me that they just painted over the paneling they had in their house, and the paint covered well, so we decided to try it, and find some bedding that would match the light blue carpet we are keeping (for the next several years, at least).  I ended up finding all of the bedding and accessories on clearance at Target-- so exciting! I love Target's Circo "Love Nature" line, and clearance makes everything better! :) I found twin bed sheets, throw pillows, wall decals, and wall art for all $5 a piece or less!

LL, Collette, and I all went to Lowes together to pick paint.  I was originally thinking that we should pick a light green or tan color, or maybe a very light pink. Well, we got to the paint chips, and Collette looked at the colors I was considering, and said, "I want pink!" So I got her a pink paint chip to hold.  And then she said, "I want more pink!" So I got her another one.  And then she said "I want that pink!" and picked a brighter pink.  LL and I looked at each other.  Well... it is her room... and it's not like we are going to keep those walls forever... and what little girl doesn't want a pink room? Collette won, and we came home with "Silver Strawberry" colored paint. :)  (And in 0 VOC, too, so it's safe for me to help paint).

When we first started painting, I'm not gonna lie... I was a little freaked out by the pinkness of the room, but when we finished it, I have to say, it's pretty cute!

Here is Collette's new room! We decided we wanted to debut it at her party, so our family and friends could see it, too. Of course, that meant we were up until about 3 am the night before her birthday, finishing painting and decorating, but oh well. We are crazy like that. :)

Here's the big reveal!

The view from her door way:

View from her bed on the far side of the room (you can see where LL painted magnetic primer on a small section of the wall, too). 

LL's special project-- we used magnetic primer and chalkboard paint to make her a chalkboard in her room! She loooves it!

And of course, the Big Girl Bed is awesome!

We are planning on changing out this dresser, because the bedroom has no closet, and LL's grandma offered us a wardrobe that is in her house that will use for hanging clothes.

How cute are these $3 clearance decals?

Collette loves her new room-- it is soooooo much bigger than her old room, and we have moved a lot of her toys up there.  She now has room to play, and will ask me excitedly every day to "go play!"