Life: Rose's new SURPRISE bedroom

I promise you this post IS going to be lengthy...So make sure you have a few minutes, and snacks, to enjoy.

A little background.  Rose turned 12 on August 4.  She is the most organized child I know, even at a young age staying up late to make sure her room was clean before going to bed.  What 4 year old does that, other than one using that as a procrastination technique?  No, that wasn't her, she needed to have a clean room to truly "rest".  So we let her. Fast forward several years, paired with my need to change things constantly, I thought about her taking my office in the basement (which is not a creepy basement, it's finished and where we hang out) - the largest room in the house.  She can handle the large space, I have total faith that she'll keep it clean and organized.


My daughters (10 & 12) have been going to camp for the past three summers, two weeks at a time.  I know many of you might gasp at the thought of that, but it FLIES by.  And I take comfort in knowing that they are having the time of their lives.  This year, they would be returning from camp on August 4.  So with the idea of the room switch-a-roo, and my urge to redecorate something - I surprised her with her new bedroom when she returned.

I'm actually really impressed with myself, having a ton of fabric I have stockpiled over the years, waiting for that perfect project, repurposing things, a couple trips to Ikea, and recruiting my Mom to buy her new duvet, I did this all for under $100.  I had pretty good bones to start with, but mainly I just got creative with it, oh and gave my hot glue gun a serious workout.  

Note, the pictures here are taken in a basement, lighting stinks for photography, tried to do the best I could with my lack of skills and the basement lighting.  

I'll start with her priceless (yet blurry) face....(ps, she's not blurry in person, I swear)

The Dahlia on the door....Funny thing, the first Dahlia I made was meant for Rose's room, but I loved it so much it's now hanging on the wall of my new office.  Oopsie.  I didn't even think I'd get around to making another one, dang, they're time consuming, but the end result is beautiful!  And I couldn't resist making another one for her door.  Who wouldn't want to go to their room?  

Bought the book for $4 at a used book store. Since I was going off of Rose's love for Paris (but not too heavy on the Parisian theme), I found an old French book - from the early 70's.  Maybe you've heard of Madame Bovary?  Well, it had sounded vaguely familiar so I Googled it after I bought it....hmmmmm.  Well, let's just say, it was a highly controversial book - court time for the Author, public outrage, etc...Sounds like my kinda book *wink, wink*.  Originally written in the early 1800's, it was about a very scandalous lady.  Maybe it was the Fifty shades of whatever back in the day?  I don't read French, and neither does anyone else around here so I went with it.  I just think it's funny... Well, I guess I read a little bit of French.  Lookie at what I found.  

I also used the book on several other details too, trying not to go overboard, but making it just enough. 

The Dahlia, outlet covers, $5 for 5 cardboard magazine files (I only used 3)

The room was already painted pale blue, and the harlequin pattern in silver was done. Thankfully, or I would have needed an extra week, and more hair coloring for my grays.

Where do I even begin beyond that?  Just spewing pics I guess.  Here you go...  Since I started at the door, I'll just move around the room to the right.  

As you walk into the room on your right will be this mirror. It's been painted over and moved to a million and one places in my house.  I repurpose EVERYTHING - what may not work in one room anymore, might work perfectly in another, I get bored looking at the same things.  Chair, which I painted one for each of my girls when they were little.  I initialed it too and thought it could just follow them wherever they go, when they move out, the chairs will go with them.  (and ps, I have a chair obsession.)  On the shelf is a little picture of the kids and a little cup of shells collected from various trips.  When we go on more trips I'm going to need a much larger jar.  

Moving on to the right is Rose's dresser.  Purchased a long time ago, and not the best functioning dresser, but sometimes I'll take cuteness over practicality.  And Rose doesn't complain so it's a win for everyone.  Above her dresser is my vintage purse collection (I call it a collection because it's more than 1).  I adore these purses and I will cut off fingers if anything happens to them.  Kidding.  Kinda.  Below is an old chandelier fixture I found at a yard sale years ago.  And those fuzzy slippers?  Yes, they're slippers. They were my Grandmother's slippers, she left them to me when she passed away.  I spent hours wearing them around, feeling so glamorous, as a child.  And a few other miscellaneous items on the table, vintage books, jewelry box, and piggy bank.  BTW, that doll?  Creepy...And not sure where it came from. If Rosie comes up missing, we'll know who to point fingers at first. Possessed?  Maybe...TBD.

Next up, Rose's reading/writing nook.  That picture, from Ikea, was perfection for this room.  It's her dream to go to Paris.  Rose loves to read and journal so I thought I'd create a special place for her to do so.  The book shelf, is just two shelf brackets with books stacked on it.  No actual shelf.  I kinda like it floating.

Her desk niche.  Don't you love the word niche?  Do you say "Nitch" or "neesh"?  My hubby says "neesh" all exaggerated because he knows it annoys me.  Sorry for the tangent.  On to the desk NITCH...  Pretty simple and clean.  The picture on the wall is something Rose painted, so I know it's really special to her.  

Her chair WAS hot pink. I had the perfect scrap of fabric to cover it - I completely rigged that baby.  Sewed button holes on the sides and tied it together with scrap gingham fabric.  Easy!  And it was my first time sewing button holes - it got pretty easy after the 20th hole. 

I wanted to keep her desk really clean.  

I covered some magazine files with pages from the scandalous book(above) and then hot glued some gingham flowers on it.  Simple.  Easy. Unique.

On the wall, I painted cork circles to use as a bulletin board.  Much cuter than a giant board. I painted "love" on one of the circles to mimic her headboard.

Her bed NITCH.  I was obsessed with a similar head board on Pinterest, so I recreated it.  With a few scraps of wood, in fact the less they match the better, a little white washing and beating against rocks - voila!  You have a head board.  I mounted this one on the wall with flush mount brackets.  It was pretty easy *cough* for my husband *cough*.  The bedding is not the proper bedding. I'm waiting for that to come in, unfortunately I had to order it last minute.  It's gorgeous though!  And it's white...should be interesting. The gingham pillow I made with scrap fabric I had lingering around - man that came in handy to tie everything together.  

The nightstand was an antique store find years ago.  The lamp, I recovered, sewed strips of ruffles and hot glued them on.  

The right side table was black and I spray painted it white, but I had done that last year.  I bought her a more vintage looking alarm clock. One that is super annoying and will get her little bum out of bed on school mornings.  And probably wake the entire house too.  It's pretty obnoxious, but again, cuteness over annoyance.

The picture on the wall is from a family friend.  She's an amazing children's book illustrator who gave this to Rose when she turned 1.  It's pretty special.  

The window, was just covered with a simple fabric roman shade, but I've always had it tied to the side.  I cut up a butterfly garland that Rose had hanging in her other room, and hot glued the butterflies randomly in an ombre pattern.  I think it turned out pretty cute.  You can't see much of it here because when I tried to take the full shot, the window light was so bright you couldn't see much.  Just imagine it being really cute.

Well, that's it.  Are you still wide awake?  What do you think?  I absolutely adore this space, and worked pretty hard on all the details of it.  I would have LOVED having a room like this when I was 12!  

-Jenny

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