It was one of those "if you give a mouse a cookie" situations. I need to paint Emmie's scarred bedroom walls that housed her brothers for 9 years, but her ceiling really needs to be painted, too. I don't want to paint the ceiling until we replace the broken light fixture, and if we're going to replace the broken light fixture, then we need to install a fan because hers is the only 2nd story bedroom without one and it gets hot up there. Tyler had a busy May but set aside some time to install the fan. Because it had only had a light, it involved cutting drywall and installing the proper framing and it took 4-5 hours. Tyler hated every minute of it, but we powered through together and he got it done. Then it was my turn. He went on a business trip to Stockholm, and I raced around like a madwoman trying to get everything done so that it could be finished before he got home (he's not a fan of renovations and I love a deadline).
My kids were awesome helpers. Jacob is always willing to use tools, and since he put at least 1/3 of the hundreds of holes in these particular walls, I let him help spackle round 2. (Grandpa kindly did round 1, and I did a third round. I have never seen so many holes and dents in one room before. Thank you, block wars and push pins that have been banned from my house). I also gave Jacob the job of disassembling and reassembling Emmie's bed frame, because if her walls were going to be pink, the wood bed frame would no longer look good and I wanted to paint it white (if you give a mouse a cookie syndrome).
Isn't this young man such a good sport? I can't thank him enough! I'm pretty sure it was a younger sibling that wrote with permanent marker under the window - see the black scribble?
These walls looked awful. The pictures do not do it justice. Boys. For at least a year, all three of my boys shared this room. I just want to remember the holes and dirt and grime. They are a little more house broken these days.
While removing the phone jack cover I discovered what color this room used to be. Whoa! I was never a fan of this light tan, but I'll take it over brilliant blue.
Incidentally, the painting of this bedroom not only eradicated the last of the light tan from this house, it meant that now every single wall finish in this house has now been chosen by me - almost 11 years in the making.
I was a little sad to see these stars go. Happy memories, painting these for some tiny boys of mine. Sherwin Williams paint is the best. I did a light sanding and the dark stars didn't bleed through at all. Also, I have graduated from painter's tape. It is so much faster to just paint the ceiling, not worry about what gets on the walls, and then cut in by hand when painting the walls.
Just seeing the new paint going on was exciting - the room is starting to look brighter!
We were also dog sitting during this time. Our neighbor's sweet Great Dane, Angie, was gracing us with her regal presence. One night around 10pm I had the 4 younger kids tucked into bed and Hannah was lounging on Emmie's bed talking to me while I painted. I heard some tapping at the door and I was mad - those kids sure better not be awake - it was a school day tomorrow! I peeked my head out and found Angie. Sweet, arthritic Angie, who had made the trek upstairs simply because she didn't want to be alone by herself. She snoozed while I painted. I love this dog. It was a challenge painting around her, but worth it.
Furniture was the last fix for this room. Notice there are no before pictures of the room. We jumped right in and I never took any. Picture a hodgepodge of furniture, toys, and battered walls. Add in a broken light fixture with one bare bulb and some wooden blinds that were broken and could not be opened.
My husband loves the look of wood. I do too, but I just knew this would be so cute in white. He has never commented on the fact that I painted this bedframe.
Emmie had been asking for a bedside table for a long time. I had this antique table that was in my house growing up that is so cute and was just in the storage closet. I was torn about painting it, but the finish had a lot of water marks on it - not the pretty kind of antiquing.
The bookshelf was an afterthought but with the new room coming together I knew that it would look better if I changed the green to blue. I started painting the right side of the roof before I realized that I would want a before picture.
I had definite ideas about the color scheme and style that I wanted for this room, and I consulted with Hannah and friend Skye. The best part about it is that I achieved the look I wanted on the cheap!
New purchases: floor-length curtains, paint for the room and furniture
Finds from around the house: unused curtain rod that I spray painted (spray paint was just in the garage), sheer curtains in my get-rid-of pile, the quilt and sheets were from the older girls' room that I had loved and saved, throw blanket from the linen closet, side table from the storage closet, and some pictures that had been in storage ended up being perfect for the look (I did get one frame second hand for $3 to update the temple picture). I see other bloggers pull together a great look with things from around the house and I have always thought not my house, but this time it really worked!!
I was sooo close, but didn't quite get the room all wrapped up in time for Emmie to move back in before Tyler came home from Sweden. We had a few other surprises in store for him for an early Father's Day that took precedence. He kindly installed the curtain rod for me and I am so grateful. It takes me 4x as long to do that as it does him - he's pretty great that way.
Little girl loves these Hopscotch Hill dolls that she inherited from her older sisters. If they are in clothes at bedtime, she dresses them into their nighties every night while I read to her from our current chapter book. The temple picture is a cross-stitch that my sister Jayne did for us when we got married. It wasn't currently up on our walls and I was happy that it fit in her room so well.
This other gold frame houses a quilt square that my great-Grandma did. I framed it for my bedroom in our last house and it has also been in storage. The little rocker was mine. Grandpa S. made it for me when I was 8.
Tyler slept in this cradle when he was a little baby. Our first couple of babies did, too, but then it was too easy for older siblings to have access to the baby so it now houses beloved stuffed critters.
Emmie is thrilled to have her own little table. She bought herself a second hand CD player and she loves to listen to audio books and music. She HAS to have a cup of water by her side when she sleeps at night. Nightmares do not send her running into my bedroom in the middle of the night, but lacking a cup of water will.
Thank you, Emmie, for letting me pick the finishes in your room. I know that it will never happen again, and it has been delightful putting together a sweet and girly room.
I feel like it matches my precious little girl perfectly.
