a not so extreme room make-over

For the past few weeks I've been scurrying around quietly attempting to pull together a surprise room make-over for my girls! Since we've moved into our new home, their room has gotten the shaft as we pulled together the more "public" rooms that our friends would see when they came over and then we focused on Sam's room when we got the news that he was coming home sooner than expected.

I promised (pinky promised actually - and that's a big deal around here!) Addie and Ellee that when things settled down a bit, I would get to work for them. As it became clear that things would never settle down, I decided it was time to get busy! I finally completed this little project this morning!

My blank slate was actually lime green and pale pink! Back in the fall, the girls spotted some lime green minky dot comforters at Bed, Bath & Beyond and they fell in love with them. Because they were on clearance, I fell in love, too! And honestly, the comforters are crazy soft and I wouldn't mind having something like that on my bed! The pale pink was on their walls from when we first moved in.

Because I mostly worked late at night and really random times in attempts to keep this all a secret, I didn't take any "before" or "during" pictures, so the final project will have to do.

waiting...

OPEN!



An old lesson from my 10th grade history class ran through my head as I worked on the room - "Necessity is the mother of invention." The truth is that I could have easily gone to the Pottery Barn Kids website or the Land of Nod website and ordered my happy little self into debt. Because that's not really what we're going for, I had to get creative.

I used a lot of hot pink spray paint to give new life to some old things like picture frames, vases and dresser knobs...

I took some pointers from good ole' Martha Stewart and made tissue paper balls from tissue paper I had on hand. (Laugh away dear family - my obsession with keeping tissue paper pays off!)

Behind the girls' beds, I made "make-shift" headboards with their initials on them. I simply covered two pieces of different size wood with fabric and hot glued them together. I then took wooden letters from Hobby Lobby, painted them and glue those suckers right in the middle. Finish it off with a ribbon and you're done! (Now don't look too closely - you'll see just how homemade-ish they look!)


In the outdoor section of Hobby Lobby, I found these flowers that I thought would look cute on the wall. I waited until their outdoor stuff was on sale and bought all of these for less than $4.00.


I found hot pink curtains and hot pink bedskirts on clearance at Target, added a few other things, and the room was complete! I was pleased with the way it all turned out, but most importantly, the girls seemed just delighted!!


I really do treasure doing things like this for my family! Although using the "add to cart" button would be easier, I find this so much more rewarding!