girls' room makeover

We've been in our house for almost two years and have slowly (so slowly) been tackling each room and giving it a little love, paint, sweat, and no tears that I can recall but other than a couple of beige hallways - I think we are pretty much done. For the moment. I wished I'd just started with the girls' room because it felt like the biggest eyesore every time I walked in but that also meant that it felt like it was going to be the most work and procrastination is a strong suit of mine. We discovered after we bought the house that the carpet in their room was covered in pet stains (covered by a large area rug - sneaky, sneaky) so we did our best with area rugs of our own but finally priced factory grade carpet (that was already in the boys' room but also stained - albeit much less noticeably because it was darker) and found it surprisingly reasonable so we had new carpet put in their room and the boys' room and it made a WORLD of difference. The salesman kept telling us that we didn't want such cheap carpet but we assured him that we did and I just wished we'd done it MUCH SOONER.

Oh well.

(Simon told me not to cover it with an area rug but I couldn't help myself ... it's just a little area rug, in my defense)

I've never really thought the girls looked very much alike until Becca sent me this photo ...

(and um, all the photos - her skills will forever amaze me)

Their room is small but not super small and it fit Julia's twin bed, Phoebe crib, and a dresser pretty comfortably and we definitely didn't need to put bunkbeds up but looking longterm I think Bosco, Theo, and Sebastian will eventually share this room with a set of bunkbeds and a toddler bed and the girls will get the boys current (smaller room) soooo why not jump the gun?

Okay here's the only before I could find (anyone else delete pictures way too rashly?) ...

No shot of the old carpet which is in everyone's best interest, honestly.

Phoebe has been climbing out of her crib for over a year and has been napping in Julia's twin bed for months so we thought she could handle a bunk bed and we could save some space in the process. We got the IKEA Kura bed (not technically a bunk bed but a twin mattress conveniently fits on the floor and so - a bunkbed it is!) and they've been happy campers with the new arrangement. We put a six inch mattress on the top bunk just to make it safer but I don't think it was absolutely necessary. I think Julia feels like she has a bit of her own space (although I'm 98% sure Phoebe sneaks up there to nap) to hide her treasures and arrange and rearrange her colony of stuffed animals and dolls.

I found this yellow velvet chair on Craigslist and thought it was a fun addition to make a little reading nook with the help of a black lamp and white cube shelves (technical name) and baskets that we moved out of the playroom.

Julia is either really good at reading or memorizing books ... I'm not sure which ... but the younger kids don't seem to care ...

The chair is in decent shape but might need a little trim on the bottom - oops.

I can't seem to quit the Instagram clips ... old habits die real hard.

Initially I was looking for neutral colored bedding but the girls are both BIG fans of pink and so I thought these sheets were a good compromise between super neutral and Phoebe's preferred Disney Princess bedding. I did go with white/beige comforters because boring mom.

but also practical mom because I know they can be bleached and the boys can use them if we want to shake things up like the crazy cats that we are.

A little peek at the little area rug ...

... and Becca's dog, Truman. His adorable underbite kills me. Despite being 1/3 (1/4?) Diego's size I think it's safe to safe they established that Truman was the alpha male of the house during his visit.

You know I can't help myself when it comes to gallery walls and the girls' room is/was no exception ...

I used mostly things we had on hand, framed a picture Julia drew of her and Phoebe and added these ubiquitous animal heads (Phoebe REALLY wanted the panda -- I REALLY feel like it's staring at me every time I walk in - personally, I was a fan of the flamingo but - maybe Simon would like one in our room?).

Katrina very, very sweetly painted this for me after we lost Felipe - a quote from St. Felipe de Neri and I love it so much ...

girls' got serious talent. I thought the floral design went best in the girls' room but I may or may not have the same quote (same artist) hanging up in the living room too. I like what I like.

We found this dresser at a thrift store ...

to replace the IKEA dresser we'd found on Craigslist in St. Louis that Simon had repaired over a dozen times and is now living in our storage room and filled with tools etc. I painted it this coral(ish?) color and I think it could use some bigger handles but we had these on hand so they work for now!

I spray painted the wooden mirror that I've had since college ...

... and added some faux greenery to liven up the sound machine decor.

One last shot because I think it captures their personalities oh so perfectly ...

... before we move onto the boys' room ... (not this post, don't worry)

... and our newly organized hall closet ;).

Thanks again to Becca for the photos (and Simon for assembling the bed which I know was a big fat pain in the neck - to put it politely).

And some other house before and afters if you're feeling clicky ...

guest bathroom
guest room
boys' room (updated dresser)
master bedroom
nursery