Ella's Big Girl Room!

It's basically done (aside from filling in the cubbies)...finally.  Looking into the room...

The dresser...

The bed and quote above the bed...


Unfortunately, you can barely see the quote so I may have to go over it in aqua or dark pink, but this is what it looks like...

The storage unit...

The sign Gary made...

It's Happened

I'm doing exactly what I said I wouldn't do.  Making my home the most useful and practical I can for kids rather than simply "pretty".  So sad.

See my beautiful and rarely used living/dining room combo...well, that space will soon be a thing of the past.  I'm tired of having such a large space be wasted.  I thought about building a wall to make half the room enclosed so that it could be used for a playroom or craft room, but I think that will make the room too dark and claustrophobic feeling.

I'm also tired of having toys all over the family room and kitchen, and my kitchen island covered in crap (mail, keys, wallets, sunglasses, paperwork, bills) at all times because we have nowhere else to put it downstairs.

So, we are going to turn the LR/DR area into a family room/playroom.  We will move the big couch into that room, wire that room for cable (which means Gary gets to buy another GIANT tv- great.) and hopefully find a great toy storage system so that I can *finally* stop looking at toys 24 hours a day.  Seriously, does anyone else feel like vomiting when they see toys?  Is it too much to ask to have a clutter free and clean home?  I'm SO over living in a constant state of messy.

We will then move the dining room table (which has most recently been used as my sewing table) into what is now the family room.  I think that will look cool- kind of an informal/formal dining room area attached to the kitchen.  Since we will still have our fireplace and flat screen in the "old" family room (see photo below), I will move the LR couch (and maybe the two cute little LR chairs if they will fit) into this new dining area so there will be somewhere to sit besides dining room chairs. 


If there is room, I also plan on putting either a couple of bookcases or storage units to house my fabric and some craft items since I will probably still use the DR table as a sewing table.

For the "new" family room, we obviously need some sort of entertainment center for the tv.  I was thinking something like this...

The only issue with those is that I don't need any shelf space or bookcase...I need as much closed storage as possible.  After all, the purpose of this change is to organize and HIDE all our crap.

I like low storage for the playroom part of the room like this...

I'd also like some sort of secretary desk to store all our mail and paperwork that ends up all over our kitchen island...

Soooooo, what I'd love to do is just go to Pottery Barn online and order $10,000-$15,000 worth of entertainment centers, storage, baskets, bins, etc. and have it delivered right to my front door.  But alas, that is not an option.  We need to keep costs way down in this little unnecessary redecorating/room change extravaganza.  The next best option would be to have Gary and my dad build something exactly like what I would buy from PB, which they could do.  However, between adjusting to a 2 year old and newborn and living in a house verging on a hoarders episode, my sanity can't wait for all kinds of fancy carpentry to be completed. 

Therefore, my only option is to start searching for some deals!  Of course, Ikea was our first stop.  I actually think we can create a decent (and inexpensive!) room from there.

I'm thinking either the Billy series or the Besta series for the entertainment center.  There isn't a photo of the combination we would do for either, but I have a few photos of each (except we would probably do them in white, not dark brown).

BILLY

BESTA

For the toy storage, I really like the Expedit bookcase with baskets (again probably in white, not dark brown)...

Although it's not the ideal situation, I'm still excited about getting to redecorate, and I'm going to try and make it as cute as possible. :)

More Big Girl Room Talk- Bedding

Well, I found a fabric I love to make a duvet for Ella's BGR (think Ella the Elephant, even though that's not what it is)...

With this as contrasting fabric...

HOWEVER, I think I've talked myself out of making the duvet. Despite the fact I love this fabric, it doesn't come wide enough so you have to cut and sew together three panels, which is really 6 panels since there are 2 sides, and having to buy all that fabric will cost over $100 JUST for the duvet- this doesn't include any extra fabric for pillows and window seat covers. Doesn't that sound like a lot for something I'll have to spend HOURS sewing??

Now I'm kind of resigned to the idea of buying something already made that I probably won't *love*. Probably something along the lines of this from PB...

I'm not in love with it, but I like that it's roses for Ella Rose.  I'd prefer if the blue was more of an aqua or Tiffany blue rather than baby blue.  These are the sheets...

The other choice is from the Shabby Chic collection at Target ( http://www.target.com/dp/B003KQUQGO/ref=sc_qi_img_viewdetails?ie=UTF8&title=view%20full%20details )...the best parts about it are that it is very inexpensive, and the background color is more of an aqua-ish green, but it's hydrangeas instead of roses. :(  These are the sheets, which I actually love: http://www.target.com/Simply-Shabby-Chic-Mon-Sheet/dp/B003KR6DBA/ref=sc_qi_collection_item_0?ie=UTF8&altString=Simply%20Shabby%20Chic%26%23174%3B%20Mon%20Ami%20Sheet%20Set%20-%20Pink

I'm thinking it will be worth saving all the time and money.  Especially since I have to sew the very large drapery panels for our master bedroom and Ella's birthday dress with a new pattern that isn't a quick sew.  Plus, the floral prints are more in line with what I thought I originally wanted to make the room very girly unlike her nursery.

Big Girl Room...Continued

I feel like there will be a lot of these posts!  I'm definitely getting more inspired.  Here are my thoughts today...I think we will definitely do very light pink on the walls.  I can't find bedding I like so I'm going to head downtown to Michael Levine's and see what I can find in terms of fabric to make her bedding.

I think I'm sold on the Ikea iron bed...I just haven't seen anything else that comes close to it, and you can't beat the price!

I'm going to have Gary and my dad do storage like this on the wall with the large window- the only problem is that the window in our room is not centered so the unit will have to be bigger on one side than the other.  I think a little window seat will be adorable (except that I'll also have to make a window seat cushion in coordinating fabric as if I don't have enough to do!).

I'm still not sure about color besides light pink.  I guess the bedding will be the final determination, however, I'm thinking of possibly either doing a shade of Tiffany blue similar to this (and I would paint her dresser that color, which I'm hoping to find at a flea market!).

I feel like you don't see light pink with Tiffany blue/aqua...it's usually either red, orange or hot pink so it would be something different.

Although I'm not a huge fan of the pink and green color combo (there is nothing wrong with it, I just overused it in the past and got sick of it), I do love me some apple green, and I'm actually loving the contrast in this photo of the light pink and apple green...

Oh, and I'm a member of pinterest now, but I can't figure it out...how the heck do you find anything on there??????

Projects- Need Big Girl Room Inspiration

We have two projects going on right now...re-decorating our master bedroom (I know exactly what I want) and doing Ella's "big girl" room (I have NO idea what I want).  Well, I guess really three projects since I'm also planning E's 2nd birthday, but that's a whole 'nother issue.

I'm having the hardest time finding inspiration for E's BGR, and I don't know why.  I usually have no problem knowing exactly what I like and want when it comes to decorating.  I think two problems are that (1) I can't find any furniture that I really like (let alone bedding), and (2) I really want to do pink since her nursery was so neutral (even boyish), and I don't really get inspired by pink...I'd rather do red and white or gray and yellow.

I do love iron beds.  Of all of them that I've seen, I happen to love most this very inexpenive one at Ikea...

Isn't it darling? I just love it. BUT my issue is that it's technically a toddler bed (I think?) even though it does stretch to be a normal twin size, so it's really low to the ground...therefore, I feel like it may get swallowed up by the rest of the room...dresser, storage, bookcase, etc.??? 

We currently have this bed in what will be E's BGR...

I love this bed as well, however, it's black so I'd have to paint it white, AND it's a full size. I'm just not sold on the idea of a full size bed for a child's room. Not only will it take up a lot of space in her small room, but I just like twin beds for kids- they look so cute and tiny. :)

So I've been scouring the internet for inspiration and haven't come up with much.
I like the pink color on the walls of this room (I've also always loved that jenny lind crib and considered getting it for E's nursery)...

I like the wainscotting in this room with the shelving, but I don't think I want to do paneling again since we did something so similar in her nursery, and because we have to anchor all the furniture in her BGR, and I don't want to anchor through paneling.  I also LOVE the dresser in this room and NEED to find one just like it...antique swap meets, here I come!

This room has very similar (or the same?) adorable iron beds, and it still looks pretty cute, although you can't see a large dresser or bookcase to see what it would look like with such small beds.

I love that this room show a very small toddler bed and a large shelving unit on the right, and it still looks decently proportioned.  I also like the layout of this room- great use of a really small space.

And finally, after seeing the idea of three dimensional flowers on the wall in a PBK catalog, I decided I *may* do it in E's BGR then I found this photo online, which is so well executed...

So, if anyone knows of a great idea website, please let me know- I need help!

Let the Craftiness Begin- Wreath

About a month ago, I bought all the supplies to make this (but with all white/cream flowers) for Ella's room (from PB catalog):

I finally made it yesterday, but it just wasn't 'right' for Ella's room, and Gary said it would excessively annoying to have those ribbons hanging down in his face all the time!

So instead of wasting everything, I took the entire chandelier wreath apart, and I decided to make a regular wreath for the front door, which I needed anyway since I still had an Easter egg wreath on the door! (Please ignore the fact that our front door desperately needs to be repainted).

And just for fun, our pretty cabbage roses to match the wreath. :)

Before & After (Living Room/Dining Room)

I've been meaning to post before and afters of our LR/DR, but I've been putting it off in the hopes that I'd get some better photos...alas, I cannot figure out how to get quality photos in that dark room (w/o using my 50mm, which won't get wide angles) so I've given up and will just post what I have!

This may be a long one.  And please indulge my photography obsession (I'm not very good, but I'm trying!) by forgiving my attempt at "artistic" even though they really don't show anything of value.

BEFORE

 

AFTERS

 

 I couldn't find pillows I liked so I made these.  I heart the fabric.

 

 

 China cabinet.

 

 I also couldn't find chair covers that I liked so I had these made.

 

We recently switched out the DR chandelier, and I'm in love with this one.

 

 Once again, I couldn't find pictures that I liked so I bought a hard cover book with rose pictures, cut them out and framed them...inexpensive and beautiful!