Back in January, Anna and I began talking about redoing her room, taking it from "little girl space" to "teenager zone". She was on board, and ready to make some changes. So we scoured Pinterest for ideas, drew up some plans, and then waited. And waited. And waited. It was June before we could get started on this project, mainly because we had so many other irons in the fire.
First order of business was to choose a paint color and paint. Anna went with this deep turquoise called Rushing Stream from Valspar. We chose the Valspar HD paint, which went on in one coat and is super rich and vibrant. And with that white trim, it just pops!
After paint came construction. We knew we had two major pieces to construct in this room: a bed with tons of built-in storage for books, and a desk so she has a space to be creative. First up was the bed, and after much discussion and brainstorming Jas dreamed up this perfect bed. It utilizes the platform from her loft bed, but underneath are now three full-depth drawers on casters that she can roll out to get to all her books. You wouldn't believe the amount of storage in those drawers! He added a face-frame all the way around so that the whole piece looks custom and built-in, which looks amazing! Anna wanted hot pink accents, so we found sheets in the perfect shade at Walmart. We also picked up a blackout curtain in the same hot pink.
The desk was next to build, and after once again doing plenty of inspiration research on Pinterest, we went with a desk made from modular shelving attached to the wall. It adds all the space she needs, but in a much smaller footprint. And, with no bulky legs and nothing sitting on the floor, it makes the room feel larger.
Anna wanted all her clothes in the closet, so the dresser is now being used to house all her art supplies. Three shoebox-size containers fit side-by-side in each drawer, so all her arts and crafts materials are easily accessible from the desk.
The last part was adding finishing touches. I found some hot pink desk accessories at Target and Hobby Lobby. The pink cow was already on hand, as were the various turquoise and pink journals. We reused one of the lamps from our room, and I added turquoise and hot pink glitter jewels to the shade to make it really stand out. Mom found a beautiful and oh-so-unique piece of art to hang above the bed. Little by little it has come together over the course of the month.
The last big piece to finish was the desk chair. I asked people to be on the lookout for a metal folding chair for as cheap as possible. The condition didn't matter, as long as it still folded and no legs were broken. Dad came through almost immediately, finding an old Samsonite chair for free in Chaffee. Jas had to rebuild the seat, because it had water damage. I sanded like crazy, and then we painted it glossy white. We added a new foam cushion (courtesy of the old padded headboard) plus some adorable fabric Anna found at Hobby Lobby. It turned out super cute!
All that's left is to add some small decorative frames for pictures on the dresser, and either a fabric-covered bulletin board or pillow made with the chair fabric. Then we can call this project finished! (And start on Connor's room!) :)
