Project Little Lady: Using What We Had
First off, thank you all for all of the kind words regarding C’s new room!! She officially slept in it for the first time last night so we are calling the space a success.
Once again, here is a little (vague) backstory on the room switch… We are in a bit of limbo at the moment with this and I wish I could be more forthcoming with the details, but basically the watered down version is we are in need of a more permanent guest room. It just made more sense for the potential of this need to switch Chloe’s room to the dining room. This has caused a snowball effect of potential projects for the upcoming year so it should be fun for y’all to see.
I am not going to get all deep & stuff, but I feel like we were meant to make this switch. As soon as we made the decision, everything fell into place. Literally. We dug through my hoard collection of furniture, accessories, etc… and pulled this space together with only purchasing a few building materials, a mattress set, an Ikea Rast Dresser & 1 quart of paint… and a sheep. More on him later. Everything else in the space for the most part was either in our home or storage already or purchased with gift cards or credits from a few of my favorite places.
First off… the layout.
It would have been great to fit her daybed in between the built ins… but it was 4 inches too big. It was also to big to fit on the side wall (the one with the & on it) So luckily we were given, yes… GIVEN this gorgeous brass bed months ago. Once the daybed was out, I knew it was time to pull this beauty out from storage. But there again, it didn’t quite fit. Placing on the side wall left us with about 10″in between the footboard and the “fireplace” so our only option was placing it in front of the french doors.
We discussed just draping off the doors with some curtains, but after a few long talks on the floor of the room with a cocktail or two, we ended up deciding to build a faux wall in front of the doors. We never really used the doors anyway, and it is sooooo cold in front of those windows. We needed to add something with some insulation. And believe it or not, we actually had the drywall & insulation leftover from other projects.
We added this wall in a way that it isn’t going anywhere if she tries to climb the wall, we are hopeful that doesn’t happen π but we also constructed it so it can easily come down and be converted back into french doors in the future. We framed out a shorter wall with some 2 x 4’s & drywall, added a 1×6 for the top ledge & used a few 1×6’s to frame out the windows (so you wouldn’t see the door hinges…)
The fireplace was a similar scenario. We LOVED the logs… but as this was such a small space, we needed every inch to count. So we slid out the logs & I constructed the narrowest of dollhouses with some simple 1×6’s (we used a lot of those in here!) I’ll share more details about the actual dollhouse later this week.
The mirror was staying as I custom cut the mantel to fit it for our Dining Room, so I made it a little more whimsical by adding the “Isn’t She Lovely” using my Silhouette machine. You can read about that here. And the sconces were something I picked up nearly a year ago at an antique market. I had zero place for them & they were bright blue… but they were $10 for the pair. I knew I would be able to use them eventually.
The Dash & Albert Area Rug was also from our dining room. I like how the blue and white stripes break up the sweetness of all the pink accents in the space.
You know how I said everything just kind of fit into the space… I was literally taken aback when I took her little clothing rods from her old room & they fit like a glove into the built ins we constructed last year. Down to the fact that one side of the built ins is a little narrower… one of our rods was a little smaller. This is a perfect solution for our lack of a closet in this space. We still have room for her little clothes to grow & her room almost looks like a little boutique. I did paint the back of the builtins white. We had left the the dark navy for awhile, but it was just too much of a contrast in this space.
Wait Kristin, aren’t those closet doors?!! Yes, it is our laundry closet. So no room for Kiddo items. And as we were in desperate need for a narrow chest of drawers, her new Ikea Rast fit the bill literally. Size wise & budget wise. I stained the Rast using a concoction of leftover stains we had lying around & painted the drawers using the 1 quart of paint I bought. It’s Sherwin Williams Fancy Pink… it seemed fitting. The knobs are from World Market.
The Ampersand Marquee Light used to be on our patio, but after we shuffled that around in the fall we had no more space for the Red Letter. I Sprayed it gold with Rustoleum Spray Paint & then used their spray glitter to give it that extra touch of sparkle. The kid requested sparkle people.
The plain extension cord was wrapped in pink yarn (that was a little tedious) & tied off at the end. Once the entire cord was wrapped I used two little nails at each curve to sandwich the cord & direct the artistic squiggle. It might just be my favorite thing in the space.
Tomorrow we are talking about the bedding & drapery… so stay tuned!!
x o – Kristin
The brass bed is wonderful! I had forgotten about the double doors until you mentioned the wall you constructed… what a lovely space you carved out for your daughter! We own a small home as well and I find that kids don't need a bunch of space! : )
Amazing, as usual!!
Your daughter's room is absolutely adorable! The faux wall…? I don't even see where you constructed a faux wall! Everything flows together just right! Whatever your reasons are for moving your daughter you pulled it off and acts as if it was meant to be!
Gorgeous!! Such a pretty space! So smart to make the wall temporary, so it's flexible down the road π
Seriously!! You did an amazing job!!! That is one special little lady!!
Great ideas! I especially love that you covered the cord in yarn and used it as a decorative piece. I am going through my mind right now on where I can do that in my house. Thanks for sharing!
Erica
thenewnorms.blogspot.com
Love the gold accents in this room. You did an amazing job Kristin.
Amazing! The cord from the ampersand is my favorite. Such sweet little details, Kristin!
I'm loving this! What a lucky girl.
So glad you explained the cord bc I was dying to know how you turned it pink!!
I love the cord idea. It's darling.
Absolutely love what you did with this space, it's adorable! And that & sign is perfection. May need to have a DIY weekend soon.
xo Jessica
My Style Vita
This is beautiful! What a fun project to channel all your talent into. I am certain Chloe is tickled pink. Congrats!
What a lucky little lady to have such a talented mom! It is so perfect in every way!
Yes! It absolutely looks like a boutique in this space and I love everything about it!
You did an amazing job! I love everything about this room! I was wondering if you could give anymore detail on how exactly you installed the faux wall?
LOVING every detail, especially the "Isn't She Lovely" mirror. So pretty
I love how you re-use and re-purpose so many items for your designs. So inspiring (and practical)!
I won't be doing a post as this was so specific for this project. It was a simple process though. We screwed 2×4's into the existing built ins and created a box. Added 2 vertical 2×4 supports within that frame, filled with insulation & screwed a piece of drywall onto that. We topped off the drywall frame with a 1×6 ledge & simply screwed in some 1×6's into the existing door frame to frame out the windows. It all happened within a couple of hours.
You are just plain genius kristin! Fantastic space, truly a room your daughter can grow into easily!
Thanks for your great information, the contents are quiet interesting.I will be waiting for your next post. interior design.
This room is as ingenious as it is beautiful. I am blown away by your transformation of the french doors to faux wall. Brilliant!
This room is so so amazing! There's just enough pink and sparkle. I love every little detail, it's hard to pick a favorite!
Please tell me, where did you get the yellow and white print bedding?! So beautiful! I love all of the details and color combos!