all grown up

Back in February my friend, Meagan, came up and helped me brainstorm a few ideas for Blythe's "big girl" room. We knew we were going to be moving her to what had been our guest room, and that the nursery would be staying essentially the same for Baby Girl #2. Since I wasn't changing much in the nursery, I wanted to do a little something special for Blythe in her new room. I had some ideas, and Meagan helped me nail down the paint choices and furniture arrangement [which was tricky: We wanted to keep the full size bed for when company comes, but also wanted it against a wall so Blythe didn't/doesn't fall out [thoughtful of us, I know]. The only 'good' wall is up against the kitchen, and I didn't want her there simply for noise sake, so Meagan had the idea to make the bed a "day bed" for now, and then when we don't fear her falling out as much, we can switch it back]. 

Then it was time to get busy. Brent and I were able to get it painted in one afternoon, since the chair rail was already painted. I love the pale aqua we picked for the walls, and knew the coral would pop against it! My aunt had given me a dresser that didn't work in her house, and my grandparents set to work repainting it. My parents recently redid my old high school bedroom, and came up with two extra shelves that my grandpa had made for me back then. So those were painted the coral as well. 

Why am I explaining all this? Let's just look at the pictures [which aren't great…the lighting in that room is awful, but you'll get an idea:)] :

And can we just talk about this headboard for a minute? 

I fell in love with this bright, coral fabric, and thought it would be fun to do a covered headboard. That was the extent of the instructions/ideas I gave my grandma and grandpa and they created this beautiful piece! Right now we have it lengthwise, to create the daybed look, but it will work as a headboard for the top of the bed as well! Love the way it turned out. 

I had fun with this little "gallery wall" as well. I knew I wanted the beautiful canvas that my friend, Micah, had made for Blythe when she was born to be the focal point, and other than that I rummaged for old frames around the house, painted them white, and printed a few things and used some of Blythe's current artwork. It's fun. 

And the other day when Blythe woke up she randomly pointed to it and said, "Mommy do that. Good job, Mommy!" It was funny and out of the blue, since she's been in this room for well over a month now. 

Across from the bed is the vanity that was always in my room growing up. It's a very cool piece of furniture [I didn't get a good shot of this wall or the vanity.] 

We moved the rocker from the nursery into here, because it's the best chair ever, and because I wanted to get another chair anyway, so I figured giving Blythe "her" chair might make the transition easier anyway. My aunt recovered this chair when we were doing the nursery [are you catching on that I have incredibly talented people in my life?!] 

And look at those curtains! Beautiful. They match the headboard and I LOVE them. 

I also moved Blythe's canvases with her character traits on them into her room and they flank the window. Ask her to say "modesty" and "hospitality" for you sometimes-- it's awesome. 

I also wanted to bring in a little more of the coral color, so I quickly painted over some existing canvases I had and slapped up some favorite lyrics from a favorite hymn. 

And obviously the picture collage HAD to be hung up after all it had been through. 

I think the dresser is my favorite piece in the room [the headboard a close second?]. It is absolutely my favorite shade of coral, and I like that we decided to leave the old hardware on it. Not only does it look incredible, but it is huge and functional too. 

Across from the window and dresser is where I decided to hang the shelves. This room is situated kind of funny in our house: it has a door on one side that leads to the hallway [normal], and a door directly across on the other side that leads to the kitchen [kind of not normal]. Blythe loves the two doors and when she wakes up she'll point to which door she wants to go out of, and sometimes halfway there she changes her mind and says, "NO, that one!" and wheels around. Having two options is awesome when you are two. 

Anyway, all that to say, it kind of serves as a hallway of sorts, so we couldn't put any big furniture against that all. The shelves ended up being a good option and her awesome dollhouse sits below them. 

One of my favorite things about putting a "new room" together is getting to decide on all the little finishing touches. I had a budget of $0 for this part, so it was really fun to go shopping around the house and pull out certain things and see how they worked here and there.

Micah painted this awesome canvas, especially for Blythe's new room. It is incredible. 

This is the framed outfit Blythe came home from the hospital in, as well as her cup from Great Grandma Ann, her piggy bank from Great Nini Pat, and two cases that will one day hold her "first tooth" and her "first lock." I have a feeling her first tooth may happen before her first haircut! 

I've had a lot of fun documenting Blythe's life, and these books had been in a closet, so I pulled them out for display. The boots were her first pair from Aunt Lesa [don't worry, she already has another pair], and the little pink piggy from Aunt Beth. 

I took these out of the nursery for her. The canvas I made with lyrics from Shane and Shane's "The One You Need", and look at sweet 4 day old Blythe in the frame!

I wanted to do a mini name-banner for her [the baby has a bigger one just like this, waiting to be hung up in the nursery!]. I found free, pre-made printable letters online and love the way it turned out.

I also wanted to do something a little whimsical in the room, since she is just two. So I borrowed some hole punches and used a sewing machine for the first time ever. I strung the circle garland all around the room and it adds a little color and a fun touch. 

 Blythe transitioned PERFECTLY. Seriously. The best advice we got was from my sister, and she said, "Just act like it's not a big deal. The night you decide to put her in there, just do business as usual and lay her down." That's what we did. She never even questioned it. She never asked to sleep in her crib again.
And she only fell out of bed once. 
The first morning she slept in like usual and when I went in to get here she was up playing with her dollhouse, and had turned off her fan, and had thrown her blankie and paci back in her bed like she knew she was supposed to! What's funny is, that is the ONLY time she has ever gotten out of the bed. We never really "coached" her on it, but I guess she just figured out we want her to stay in there. She's awesome.

I think she kind of likes her new room.

I had a lot of fun [and obviously a lot of help] putting it together and I love the way it turned out!