Little Girl's Room.

Finished at Last!

Ok , so here it is, the finished room. No great masterpiece, but definitely a big improvement !

After

Before

 The bed and matching chest of drawers is new from MyPod Beds , although, as is usual for me I managed to hunt around and get both in the sale. I repainted her changing unit in a soft grey and white, which looks so pretty and blends in well with the rest of the furniture. The walls are Farrow and Ball Palma Grey and Middleton Pink - both of these paints I had already so it cost me nothing new. I re did the white dado rail and skirting as it looked very yellow next to the white shelves - again I used Farrow and Ball All White eggshell.

I printed off a few new prints ( chosen with the help of my little big girl) and put them in some white frames from Tesco . They have a really good selection of different frames you can pick from. I was ruthless with excess furniture and toys - giving things away to friends or to charity. Of course it was her birthday this week as well so she had a few new toys to put into her lovely new room too!

MyPod MidSleeper Bed Unit with Pull Out Desk.

I stuck a couple of black and white spotted waterproof mats onto the pull out desk to protect the surface. I got these from Tesco again for just over £1.00. They look fun and do the job. The top drawer is full of her 'office' bits and pieces! The Rosebud Duvet Cover , looks very Cath Kidston with a heart cushion and matching heart fleece throw - all again from Tesco and not at all expensive so easily changed when needed!

Peter Rabbit - her first cuddly toy.

Rosebud Duvet Cover and Heart Cushion

Pretty bunting and cupcake clock from Jo Jo maman Bebe

Still got plenty of girly bits and pieces.

The main light came from Laura Ashley a few years ago in their sale and is gorgeous. A good light fitting always makes a room look more finished I think.

Laura Ashley pink gingham curtains and rug.

White frames from Tescos

In one of these frames is the saying from Winnie the Pooh- "Remember, you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think". The boys chose this saying for her - classic! She loves it!

A place for hanging girly handbags!

Wedding hedgehogs from our wedding.

Plenty of storage

Revamped Changing Unit

I do still have a canopy and some fairy lights to add at some point and a chair to pick up for her desk, but I think we could call it done. I am pleased with it - it is quite a small room as you can see, so to get the amount of storage in we needed , to have a full size bed and still get it to look pretty is a bonus. She was thrilled - a great birthday present for her, particularly as she came down with chicken pox on her birthday this week - what a rotten present! I am now fired up to tackle the rest of the diy jobs that are waiting for me....... 

Little Girl's Room.

Baby girl grows up

I am at my best working to a deadline and this is a tight one! We get back from holiday this weekend , I am taking my youngest son to Wimbledon on Monday and my little girl's new, "big girl's bed" arrives on Wednesday. So that gives me a day to repaint her room and rearrange it into a more grown up space. Oh, and I forgot to say Tuesday is her 5th birthday. However, I do have everything I need - paint, filler, accessories, a new toy box that I made etc so it is going to be an extra birthday present for her - albeit it a day late. I am not changing the colours - Farrow and Ball pinks and blues, but giving them a freshen up. I have a selection of white frames to put some girly prints into as well. If the room is ready they will be able to assemble the bed for me, so with that as an incentive I shall work all night if I have to. The bed is a midsleeper so not an easy job to put together I hasten to add! We are not having a party for her until the weekend so I'm off the hook with that - a simple family supper with cake will do the trick. 

So here are the before photos - lovely and pink and full of girly clutter, which is how it should be, but needs rearranging and sorting and made a little more 'grown up'. The furniture is all too small for her now and she needs a lot of the toddler toys giving away or selling on e.bay to fund future purchases!

The New Toy Box

This box cost me ten pounds at the local Steptoes yard - sanded down, a lick of eggshell and a new cover and it looks great! Bargain!

I will post at the end of the week with before and after photos of the whole room....watch this space - just hoping it comes together alright. x

House Project 1.

For the past couple of years one of the most frequently heard phrases in our house begins " When all the children are at school I will..... ! The opportunity of having some time to complete many of the unfinished projects was suddenly drawing closer to being a reality, with all three children at school! Despite the fact that my little girl had pneumonia within a week of starting school and then was home again for some time , I do feel that there is now some time to tackle some of these jobs around the house! My aim is to start room by room so I am not completely overwhelmed by all there is actually to do to complete this project of a house. We do have some fairly major plans to knock down two garages and create a beautiful kitchen/family room. The plans have been agreed so hopefully I will be able to share that journey and pictures of progress with you soon.

In the meantime I decided that for once I would make us a priority instead of the kids - radical I know- and am starting in our bedroom! We have some pretty vibrant pine furniture - all of which needs a good coat of white eggshell to soften it down. I have also decided that working on my lap is not good for my long suffering back, so a desk is in order too. So off I set on a trip to one of my favourite places in the world - second hand furniture stores. I ended up at Steptoes - full of junk, or if you are like me, treasures that just need some TLC. I came out with a large chest ( I must admit this is not for me but for my little girls room , but too good to leave behind.) , a pine table - perfect for a desk for sewing and a laundry basket in gold ( !!!)

A pot of undercoat, a couple of pots of Farrow and Ball and some elbow grease and they all had a lovely new coat of fresh paint. The laundry basket is in Farrow and Balls plumbago grey and the pine furniture in Farrow and Ball's All White.In addition to the table, desk and laundry basket  I have managed so far to also paint the two bedside cabinets and am hoping to tackle the chest of drawers and wardrobe next week. However , here's how Ive done so far. I'm pretty pleased! I'll post some complete before and after photos of the bedroom when I'm completely finished!

Table washed, sanded and ready!

Table and Laundry basket undercoated and first coat done.

3 or 4 coats of paint later - done!

With all my bits and bobs!