Hello friends! It’s Cassie here with my monthly guest post. This month I am so excited to share with you our daughter’s new bedroom! We have been doing a lot of work on the “kid” spaces in our home this year, and we finally managed to somewhat finish one.
As we are expecting our second child (a boy!) come this August, we knew we would have to move some things around. Our daughter’s nursery was in our smallest bedroom, and our second bedroom was being used mostly for storage and sometimes for guest. We knew eventually that we wanted to move our daughter into the bigger room and keep the small bedroom a nursery. We also knew we wouldn’t need to buy very much since we would mostly use what we had already.
We were/are planning to move her into a “big girl” bed, but are waiting a few more months until she is a little older. So although this is her room, she actually still sleeps in her crib in the nursery. One purchase we did make was her toddler bed and bedding, which we kept very simple and gender neutral so we can use it with her brother when he gets old enough.
We wanted to keep the whole room pretty gender neutral, with just some accents being more girl specific. We know that someday, a boy and a girl might have to share this room, and I would prefer not to have to repaint or buy any big purchases over again. I used art from her old room, and some tissue banners we used for her first birthday party to dress things up a little. I also brought out some of her fancy shoes and put them on display, because I think they are far too pretty to keep in a closet!
We ended up only painting two walls, the wall behind her bed and the wall behind the shelves (which is only half of the wall technically.) We chose the color “Fawn Brindle” which is a neutral, warm grey that I think works well with what we already had, but wasn’t too similar to her old room. We also added some cloud decals in white and gold to dress up the bigger wall and I think they add a little touch of whimsy.
The two biggest DIY projects I did for this room were her dresser and the curtains. The curtains were simple, white panel curtains that hung in her old room and they had blackout curtains attached to them on the back. I really liked how they looked and didn’t really want to buy new ones, but also didn’t want to have plain white curtains. So I decided to dip dye them myself. I mixed two colors of fabric dye, a light pink and a tangerine, to get the coral color I wanted. I found a few good tutorials on how to do this, and I thought it was pretty easy. I also love how they turned out!
The dresser took much, much longer than the curtains. We have had this dresser since we got married, as it was given to us from my husband’s parents. It is the dresser my husband grew up using, and it was previously a golden-honey color. It was very well made and I knew I wanted to refinish it, but couldn’t decided what I wanted to do for the longest time. I then stumbled upon this tutorial, and was sold. I loved how it turned out, and it was so similar to my dresser that I knew it would look good when I got all done. I added some fun knobs, and then my husband very securely attached it to the wall.
Although we have a few more minor things to add and finish up, we are so happy with how this space turned out. And even though she doesn’t sleep there, our daughter also loves it. We used mostly what we had and tried to be smart about what we did have to buy.
I love reading your comments and hearing from all of you with my monthly posts! A few of you have asked if I have Pinterest or Instagram, and I do! My Instagram is set to private because I try to be careful, as a post a lot of pictures of my child. Please feel free to send me a request. You are also welcome to find me on Pinterest.
Thank you all for reading and catching up with me this month!
Such a cute room! I love the curtains and the dresser. Great job!
Thank you Jann!
One of the things I love about your projects is that you think far ahead and make really practical decisions! The room is simple and not too girly and timeless and I adore the shoe display. You did an amazing job! So great to have kids rooms simple with lots of room for them to play and express their own personality!
Thanks Leslie! I did try to keep play space in mind and keep as much of the floor as open as possible!
This was a very nice surprise! I’m so happy to see that you guys are using what you have to decorate the room. I love the bright and colorful yet tasteful and spare decorations. Those pom pom tassles are killer.
Thank you Jennifer!
What a lovely room! The dresser looks fantastic! We have three little kids and I love that they’re still young enough for Mommy to have a say in decorating their room! Someone once told me not to wait until last minute to move a child to a different bed when a sibling is born, because the change of having a new baby in the house is already so big. It can be helpful if they are already comfortable and feeling safe in their new bed (and the baby didn’t ‘steal’ their crib). Depends on the child of course! But it’s definitely a beautiful room she moves in to!
Thank you Talitha! That is what I have heard too! We are aiming for her to be in the new bed before baby, but she is still very young, so we shall see. I am trying to stay flexible as I navigate this whole parenting thing!
What a lovely place for a little lady to enjoy! The preparations and adjustments for/with a new baby are so much fun and so overwhelming all at the same time. Our youngest is now 8, and the time has gone so quickly. I hope you have many happy moments as you wait for Baby Brother’s arrival!
Thanks Laura! I am trying to enjoy this process as much as possible. I have found working on my kids’ rooms to be the most enjoyable!
Lovely job Cassie! You put a great deal of thought into this project and your future needs. I am very impressed. I am about to refinish a dresser and so I was particularly liked seeing your work here. :)
Thank you Nancy! Good luck with your dresser! It really is the best feeling when it’s all done and you love your results.
This is just the inspiration I needed for our daughters room whom is nearly two and a half. They are such tricky spaces and you’ve made it look so lovely. Especially the shelves with the adorable shoes and of course my favourite childhood books by Beatrix Potter. Thank you so much for sharing and wishing you much happiness for the future arrival of your son!
Thank you for the kind words- I am so glad you found it inspiring! I think the shelves are my favorite too. I really try to decorate with what I have, and I love when results are both pretty and practical!
Love that paint colour!
Thank you Corinne!
Love this room! Where do you put toys? We have an art corner and play area (just one bin of legos) in our living room and the other toys are in their rooms. They are overtaking the house no matter what I do. Any storage advice?
PS: I sent a Instagram request. I think I was one of the one’s asking about it :)
Hi Sarah! Thank you! We actually have a sort of playroom area thats right outside both of the kid’s bedrooms and bathroom. We store most of the toys there! I tried to just keep “soft” toys, like stuffed animals in her new room. They are stored in the striped bins under the shelves. I am hoping to share a playroom reveal in the next few months once it is finished! My best storage advice, especially for kid things, is to find the best boxes/bins that work for what you have. We currently are using an Ikea “Kallax” unit with Land of Nod bins, and it has been working great for us!
Is that the playarea, with the Kallax unit under the window? I loved the look of that. We have a small area by the kids bedrooms and bathroom too, but I’ve tried that and it becomes an obstacle course to reach their room lol!
Maybe a sneak peek blog post ;) Maybe a Kallax unit is what we need under our window int he living room to store and organize more toys. Thank you!
So cute! For the dresser, did you just do the tea and vinegar steps? I like the shade of how yours came out as opposed to the more brown tone of the one from the tutorial you followed. I assume that is because you didn’t stain it after the vinegar wash? I love it and will definitely be trying that!
Thank you Kim! I actually did both the tea and vinegar wash and the stain. My vinegar wash turned out much lighter, so I needed to use a stain. I just used a slightly different color and used very little as I wiped it off, sort of like if you were waxing a car. I also finished with a wood wax, but I don’t think that was really necessary.
Such a gorgeous room Cassie – can I ask where the rug is from?
Thank Vicky! The rug is from Overstock.com! They have several color and size combinations!
Love the room! Where’s the cloud pillow from?
Thank you Jenna! The cloud pillow is from https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheFoxintheAttic. I had been eyeing it for a long time!
Adorable! Love it.
Thank you Kara!
Very pretty! Would love to see more of the curtains and maybe even a tutorial :-)
Thanks Tiffany! I wish I had better documented the curtains, they were sort of a late-night-spur-of-the-moment project. I will for sure consider making a tutorial though! Especially if I make another set.
Hi Cassie, I love the new room you’ve made for your daughter–especially that beautiful dresser. I was sorry to see the book shelves so high, though. My thought was, “Oh, no! She won’t be able to reach her books!” I can understand wanting to keep them safe from getting torn up, or whatever, but I hope she would love to learn to love books, and want to read them often, so they would be down at her level. I love the baskets you have on the floor. Congratulations on your new little guy who’s coming!
Thank you Marilyn!
I had a few questions about the books via Instagram, and I wish I had explained it better in my post. I totally agree about creating a love for books! We actually have a lot of books on the low shelves in her playroom, which is where she mostly plays during the daytime. The few books we do put on her shelves are her “special” bedtime only stories. We also kept everything very high so when she does end up sleeping in her new bed, we don’t have to worry about anything falling on her or getting knocked over in the middle of the night.
Wonderful!
Sweet, calm, beautiful…perfect.
Thank you Janet!
I’m in love with those dresser knobs! What a cute idea!
Thanks Lauren!
So Beautiful! I like the bright color that you used and the way of displaying shoes. Good Job.
Love it! Not only is it pretty, but you’ve added some terrific storage as well… like the hooks under the shelf and the forward facing bookshelves that turn the books into art. Little kids love it when their books face forward so they can see them! Congratulations on the impending new arrival!!
Where did you get the print of the fawn with the bird? It is adorable!
This is so freaking adorable! I love the little clouds on the wall. Totally loving the drawers too.
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So gorgeous! I especially love how you didn’t do the “traditional” colors for girls nurseries – and yet made a beautiful room for a little girl. So much inspiration!
Oh this is too cute! Love it. Well done, you!
That so lovelly room!
I love this room! Where did you buy the rug from? :)
What color paint and stain did you use on the dresser?