pink retreat

Over Presidents' weekend we did two room makeovers. Blake took an extra day off and we decided to update both Lucy's room and ours. Our room is almost done but I need to do some more accessorizing and find something to put on our super bare walls before I show the finished room. Lucy's room is complete now and I'm in love! The first thing I do when she wakes up is open her blinds (that's the first thing I do in EVERY room - closed blinds in homes is probably my biggest pet peeve), make the bed and check on the mini inside rose bush she and I found at home depot. I'm sure I enjoy it more than she does!

I'm pretty sure it was my 8th birthday (the year before my sister was born) that I had a full room makeover. The colors were peach and cream. I had the most beautiful wooden cream-colored canopy bed, matching dresser, desk and hutch. My bedding was peach and I had a peach-colored bedside lamp. It was my most memorable birthday. I remember just sitting on my bed admiring all the special little touches, artwork from Appleyard Art, peach silky ribbons hanging from the canopy posts - ahh I can see it all now! I remember I got a journal that year also and instead of writing some scandalous 8 year old secrets I made a list (my all time favorite past time) of my favorite items in my room. How weird-o is that?!

Anyway...bedrooms, special places to retreat are really important to me and so I wanted Lucy's room to create that same feel. At almost four years old I think she'd rather sleep in our bed with us and the dogs but I'm sure she'll appreciate it soon. She sure does love to show it off and give a detailed tour so I'll share it on the blog...

(oh and I don't have an amazing camera like everyone else does nor do I have any interest in getting one - that being said these pictures REALLY don't do the room justice!)

Blah - this is the before. This picture does show Lucy's new bed. Once we moved out the toddler bed and cancelled the RCWilley order for a really boring wooden slat headboard - this arrived. It's no carriage bed - but Lucy approves. So notice all the dark wood furniture? When I was pregnant Blake and I found a perfect nursery set at Babinskis and I justified the cost by saying Lucy would use the furniture for at least 8 or 9 years. Well, now all of that pretty dark wood furniture is stored in a spare room downstairs. Pink and cream (much like peach and cream) is kind of a necessity for a four year old princess.

This pink on the walls is a super cozy pink - I'm still in search for the right bedskirt.

The mirror on the wall used to hang on my wall in high school but was a really stark white so I spray painted it cream to add to the soft look of the room. This dresser was a great find from KSL. I went from a dresser and changing table to this one large dresser and finally packing away two drawers of baby blankets. I changed the top knobs out on the dresser. Originally I thought I'd paint it but the gold goes perfect in her room.

Did you know you can paint wood laminate? I was looking all over for the perfect sized book case and everything was too pricey or too tall. Then I realized this piece in Blake's office was the size I wanted. I was leery about painting on something fake - I though it would just wipe off. But spending some time online there's plenty of tips on how to paint cheapo wood laminate. So for the price of a couple cans of spray paint I created the perfect piece!

Like me, Lucy loves accessorizing and finding cute little decorative pieces. We've spent many mornings hunting for goodies.

Most of Lucy's toys are in her playroom but she keeps some of her treasures in the drawers of her vanity. I love to see how similar the two of us are. The way she arranges and organizes all of her stuff. It's been so fun to shop and decorate her room when she's so into it.

So that's her cozy little retreat! I've had so much fun working on it but I couldn't do any of it if it wasn't for Blake. He spent his whole weekend painting while I wandered the house and pretended to help. I'm great to come up with an idea, gather supplies, envision results and shop for the "fun" stuff. But when it comes to work, eh, I seem to disappear. Blake would be painting a full room by himself then walk down the hall to find me flipping through decorating magazines under a blanket on the couch.

I think he prefers to work alone though - he's kind of a perfectionist when it comes to painting. I tend to rush through things because I'm too impatient. That's why the book case I painted had a few too many drips - I was painting in 30 degree weather. But what better way to get through the dreary months that a room makeover...ours will be up next!