Tween Girls Room

As much as I don't want to admit it, Sassy is growing up.  She's no longer the girl she was when we purchased her Pottery Barn Kids Butterfly and Flower quilt when she was probably 4.  And as much as I still love it, it was time to say goodbye (well, actually it's washed and folded nicely in our basement waiting for a new home... at some point).

I showed you her new window treatment last week, but here is the entire room and the story behind it.

Sassy and I decided to work together and redo her room.  We first began looking for a new comforter or duvet.  She was drawn to dark colors, black mainly.  I wasn't so sure about that so we kept looking.  She looked online, in stores and in catalogues.  When she'd find something she liked,  I wouldn't.  When I'd find something I liked, she'd just shake her head.  It went on like that for awhile.  Then finally last November (yes, almost a year ago), I found a comforter, that we both liked.  It had just enough black for her and enough color for me.  We purchased it and began to plan her "new" room around it.

By the time we got the quilt and decided on a new paint color for her room, it was January.  Since then, we've painted and decorated.

And now you can see for yourself.

Her previous quilt (I didn't take any "before" pictures ~ what was I thinking!)

Her walls were a bright, yet pale yellow color.

Those are now a grayish, aqua color (I don't remember the actual name of the color ~ the original color was a Benjamin Moore color, but we had it color matched at Sherwin Williams)

And the window Treatments, of course.  You can see the tutorial for those here.

Here is her "new" room finally finished.  Well, mostly finished.  We need to either purchase a new night stand, or paint the current one.  The pale green just doesn't quite work in the room.  And we would like some artwork for the wall to the right of the bed.

But other than that, we are pleasantly please with how everything turned out.

Room Details:
Shine print ~ wrote about it here, purchased from Studio JRU
Mirror ~ given to Sassy from her Aunt who purchased it at Target years ago and isn't using it in her house anymore
Softball Quote ~ saw on Pinterest, but didn't have store/shop link so we recreated it.  Frame is from Hobby Lobby
Color outside the lines ~ Hobby Lobby
Comforter ~ Pottery Barn Teen (no longer sell this one, but these two are similar ideas: Lilac Boho and Hampton Lola)
Love pillow ~ Pottery Barn Teen (no longer sell it)
Valance ~ Tutorial Here
Calendar White Board ~ Home Goods
Book Shelf Configuration ~ Ikea, Billy corner configuration
Bench ~ Lowes, years ago (was in our mud room before we redid it)

No Sew window treatments for a Tween

Sassy's room redo has been a work in progress.  I can finally say, it is almost finished.  Really, I'm not joking.  I posted this picture on my blog way back in February of me working to put her new Ikea shelves together.

Yes, they are up, they are filled and new decor  is on the walls.  However, I'm not writing today to show you her entire room, but to show you her new window treatment (which we actually finished in April, but I am finally posting about it!)

Right around Christmas last year, we purchased Sassy a new quilt to start the ball rolling on her room makeover.  It took awhile to agree on one, but she ended up falling for one at Pottery Barn Teen (which they no longer carry).  It has a paisley design and lots of fun colors.

Anyway, we took down the pale pink curtains that had been gracing her room, repainted, and put in the new quilt.  The next question was window treatments.  Obviously the pale pink curtains were not going back up, and since here room faces east, she gets lots of morning sun ~ and that can be tough on a tween :)  We ended up purchasing black roman shades, but still couldn't decide on a fun treatment to go with them.

And then, inspiration struck.  We were seeing all of these fun fabric scrap banners all over the internet.  Like these for example:

(VIA)

(VIA)

We decided a valance above the roman shade would be perfect.  We loaded up the quilt, headed to JoAnn Fabrics and Sassy picked out just the "perfect" fabrics to create her one of a kind window treatment.

I measured the fabric out  cut them into random width strips and made sure to cut each strip so doubled up they would fall just below the roman shade when it was fully opened.

Lots of cuts later, we had some pretty piles of fabric strips.

We looped them onto her existing curtain rod ~ no specific pattern ~ just took turns grabbing and looping.

Sassy was (and still is) very happy with the outcome.  The colors and fabrics she picked worked perfectly ~ some cotton fabrics, some sheer.  And the treatment itself adds just the perfect punch of colors/patterns to tie everything together.

An easy and fun project for us to work together on!

Stay tuned ~ I promise I'll post the rest of her room soon :)

I'm here, and find lots of other inspiring projects and yummy food by stopping by these parties:

Hope Studios
Chef in Training
Home Stories A2Z
A bowl full of Lemons

Hammer Time

(source)

Sheesh, It's been awhile since I blogged!

Quite honestly, I don't really have time today either.  My mind however has been busy blogging, but I just can't seem to find the time to sit down and type it out.

I've hardly even picked up my camera in the last 2 weeks and for me that is quite odd.

But today I am sneaking in a quick picture.

Smiley and I putting the 3rd and final bookcase together.  Bookcases?  Yep, I've been working on redoing Sassy's room.  Finally, the walls are painted (yep, I used that ladder in the background).  Bookshelves together and in her room.  Next up we need to do some accessorizing.  Curtains, wall art, the fun stuff really!

Anyway, while we were "working"  Smiley kept picking up the hammer trying to "help".  I kept saying "Hey, it's NOT hammer time, yet!"  :)

Hopefully I'll be back very soon.... my mind is racing really and I have a lot to say :)


Until then, don't forget to pick up your camera and embrace it ~ even if it's only a quick shot of a 3 year old helping Mommy put together a bookshelf for her big sister (with bad lighting and a messy family room!).

Saying Goodbye

This little stinker has been crawling out of her crib for a long time.

She is so tall ~ greater than 97th percentile for height.  She just turned three and often gets mistaken for a 4 year old.  I mean, this little girl has been able to just swing her leg over the top of the crib and slide on down to get out for-ever.

I took these pictures last March ~ she was moving fast, and my little point and shoot couldn't keep up, but you get the point:

Not too long after that, we decided to put a toddler bed in her room.  I admit, I was sad.  I sat in her room, holding her, rocking her, taking in her sounds, her scents and her size.

You see, to some people it may just be a crib.  But to me, to me it's the end of a chapter.  Kind of like a chapter in a book that is so good, interesting and comforting that you just don't want it to end.  One that you will remember, but can not relive.  Sure there are more chapters to write, but this is one I will always cherish.  The memories of my babies all snuggled up with their "blankies", "snuggles", and toys.

We put the toddler bed in her room, but left her crib in as well.  We wanted her to be able to transition to the toddler bed (even though it is the same size as a crib) on her own terms.  In the beginning she thought the toddler bed was fun, but wanted nothing to do with sleeping in it.  Then she moved on to going back and forth between the two.  And in the end, she was still going back and forth, but sleeping more often in her toddler bed.

Finally, Smiley and I decided the other day that it was time to say goodbye.  Goodbye to the crib that held all three of my babies.  Goodbye to the security of 4 sides.  And goodbye to being a baby.

She was excited and quite the little helper when it came time to take it down.  We embraced the moment together.

But when it was down. She asked me to put it back together "downstairs".

 We didn't.  And I am happy to report that she has adjusted very well, and so have I.  :)

Now go

embrace the camera and savor the memories you are making

even if they aren't your favorite ones ('cause they're all important)  ☺