Just before Christmas we needed to formally remove London's crib from her room. She had learned to scale its walls despite the fact we had drilled new holes into the legs, leaving the mattress nearly on the floor. I guess if you can do the Chinese splits in the air, hook half an ankle over the edge and then have the strength to heave yourself over it, you've officially shocked your parents enough to earn yourself a big girl bed. At least that's what it takes in this house.
So that day had come and sadly (for me) another day quickly followed. It was inevitable of course ... my daughter would go through it just as all little girls before had ...yes, it was the day she only had eyes for the color purple. *sigh*
Not that there's anything wrong with purple but I had carefully planned her room using less traditional colors and a more unusual theme. It had a woodland creatures vibe, using soft greens, tans, chocolate browns and orange accents. It was cute, and I really liked it. But now a purple princess room had been requested and who was I to stand in the way of a two year old's happiness? (Actually I have every right but it seems futile; battles need to be carefully chosen in this kingdom.)
So, I decided to do some stretches, quick DIY exercises, and get the work underway. I began by assessing what we already had and determining what could be repurposed. The first of which was a cute orange lamp that she uses each night. I picked up a new can of spray paint, taped off the neck and the cord of the lamp and got spraying.
Here's the after...
I also took an orange butterfly off her wall and sprayed that with a deeper shade of purple spray paint that I already had on hand. Because it's so cold outside, I moved this work to my basement, using grocery bags to line the floor. Say hi to Pick 'n Save's "Chairman Bob" everyone.
Before:
and after ... oooh la laa
Shortly after moving into this house, I painted a white tree on London's wall and hung some birdhouses among its branches.
I opted to leave the birds without shelter but decided to keep the tree (where they could still rough it if needed).
Here's the tree in it's birthday suit, dresser gone ...
To give it a little makeover, I stopped at Michael's craft store and picked up this can of bridal confetti. Then I got my hot glue gun cookin' and applied flowers among the branches to make this little tree bloom.
My arm nearly fell off and I was cursing myself for adding so many branches, but it was fun when it was done. Here's the tree after spring had arrived ...
and here's a shot from a distance.
As luck would have it, the day I completed the tree, a package from an artist on etsy.com had arrived. I had ordered two new prints to replace the cute owls that had previously filled these white frames, which when hung, flank her bedroom windows.
and the new ones ...
As much as it killed me to think it, the new prints did seem to instantly brighten the space. I considered adding a lilac colored mat to frame them but have decided against it for now. The clean bright, white feel was appealing and got me thinking about plans for this cute table, and mirror I had picked up over a year ago and had yet to use.
The table was from Marshall's or TJ Max and was part of a set of three nesting tables. I thought it would be a cute dressing table or desk for when London was young. Likewise, I found the mirror there too and thought it had a Snow White kind of feel.
But with the new lighter feel in the room, it wasn't very snowy or very white so I called upon my friend, Rustoleum in Flat White, and began its transformation too. I needed to use tiny pieces of painter's tape to make my way around the curved edges, but eventually it was ready for a dusting of color.
Nearly done. With that, I just need new bedding, a clothing solution since I opted not to bring the dresser back in and some room for toys. It's a work in progress, though I'm nearly there so stay tuned!
To be continued...
