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Greta’s Room: Before and…errr Progress!

May 17, 2011

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Greta’s room was maybe, at one time, a really cute little girl’s room.  The bow stenciling around the ceiling and the little border at the bottom were done with care.  But over time, that ruffled little curtain got REAL dingy looking, the stenciling went out of style–like yeaaaarrrrssss ago, the home made corner shelves got covered in wax and “I love ___”graffiti and the maroon carpet collected dust and got worn out.  This is how it looked our very first night in our home.  
The next morning, we snapped another picture at a slightly better angle capturing the light fixture and a better shot at the carpet.  We had already torn down the curtains and shelves.  Demo had begun.

Fast-forward to this morning.  Greta slept in her “new” room for the very first time last night.  She slept like a rock, too.  We aren’t officially calling her room done-zo because there’s still tons we would like to do with it and we are sure it will constantly be evolving, but it is her room now, and we’ll update you as we add things.  Here’s the grand after progress shot taken at the same angle.

We have done a lot to this room!  The biggest thing was getting new carpet, but it’s all the little details that really make this room feel kid-chic.  We snagged those floor to ceiling white curtains from Ikea in the as-is section for $9.99 because they were the floor models.  They add a really soft look, especially next to her new blinds.  We went with a dark bamboo roman shade (only $28.99 on Overstock!) that really helps block out light for her naps when it is closed.  We did a quick switch of the light fixture and changed it to a dimmer switch, too, which eliminated the need for a lamp.

All of the doors, trim and baseboards were almond-colored and all of that got 5 fresh coats of crisp, white paint.  You can see how dingy they looked below in the picture on the left against just one coat of white paint.

Greta’s closet doors also got new knobs.  I found them at Hobby Lobby and with a 50% off coupon, both were just $5–money well spent to replace those old, dirty plastic knobs.

You can read all about the gallery wall above Greta’s crib here and here.  Opposite of her crib, on the other side of the room is where some work needs to take place still.  We want to paint her little desk and add lots of toy storage and maybe even a hanging chair in the corner.  We also want to add a place to stash all of her books.  Ultimately, we want her room to be a place where she can play and feel comfortable and be safe.

If you are wondering where her changing table is, we put it in her closet.  After lots of thinking and moving things around, we decided that would be best.  It’s nice to use the above shelf for storing her diapers and wipes and all of her clothes will be in one place.  Plus, the temptation isn’t there for her to throw all of her clothes out of the drawers.  So far, it is working great for us and we are excited that there is more room for her to play.

So, that’s how we went from this:

To this:

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What do you think?

  1. Meagan says:

    PERFECT! Absolutely PERFECT!!!!

  2. Michaela says:

    So cute! I adore the color…perfect way to brighten up the room. Genius idea to put the changing table in the closet- more space!

  3. Its looking really good so far! I love the color of the walls that you chose. You are really creative chica!

  4. Meagan says:

    PERFECT! Absolutely PERFECT!!!!

  5. Karlenn says:

    I just can’t get enough of that wall color. And I’m soooo copying the gallery wall thingey you have above her crib for my little man’s room. Um, but maybe not until we’re back from China. Right now I’m too busy trying to figure out homeschooling over there, buying Chinese phrasebooks and Michelin guides, finding someone to mow my lawn, etc. Yikes.

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