The Perfect "Big Girl Room"
Guess what? We finally finished the "Big Girl Room" upstairs. Sure, the girls (and I on most nights) have been sleeping up there for a while, but it's finally complete. I've been waiting for months to share the finished product, because I'm so proud of how it turned out.
For starters, the girls were getting bigger, and Charley was ready for a big girl bed. She was over the crib, and so were we. We decided that instead of having two toddler beds in our room, we should make the girls their own bedroom. They would share for a few years until they got a bit older and decided they wanted their own rooms, especially since Grace is such a scaredy cat and would never sleep alone.
Since we take pretty frequent trips to Newport, and the girls are in love with mermaids, we decided to go with a mermaid theme. The initial thought came over a year ago when we saw these amazing mermaid paintings at the Silverton Aquarium. I called about getting one, and when they said they wanted $2,500, Isaac nixed that idea immediately.
I didn't want the mermaids to be too commercialized, since it is a big girl room, after all, and I started browsing the Internet for some sort of beachy bedding. I came across these seahorse sheets from Pottery Barn that were perfection. I wasn't a fan of the comforter/duvet sets they had that matched, but I found some pretty quilted pillows and got different colors from three sets to finish up the perfect big girl bed.
Once the bedding arrived, we were ready to pick out some paint. Isaac and I went to Sherwin Williams and got a few samples. Luckily, we fell in love with the first one we tested on the wall, and it was on sale. The following weekend, we went back to get the paint and made plans to get started. I really wanted to do wainscoting since I spotted it in some pictures while searching for a nursery theme for Char (she didn't actually end up with a nursery). I was looking at different options when I came across the chair rail and knew that it was exactly what I wanted. We could paint the top half of the walls a lighter version of "tame teal", do a white chair rail, and leave the bottom half sand-colored.
Since Isaac loved the idea, we had to figure out how to install a chair rail. Fortunately, we have the greatest neighbors of all time, and Nick came over bright and early one Saturday morning to spend the day helping us figure it out. We started by taping off the wall where we wanted the chair rail to go. We decided to do it about a third of the way up the wall, mainly because I really love the Tame Teal color that we picked out.
The next step was taping everything off and then painting the top half of the walls.
Once the paint was complete, we started nailing up the chair rail. We finished early Sunday morning, and it couldn't have turned out any better.
After a few touch ups the next morning, we were ready to move in furniture. How amazing are these walls? I now want to paint my own room the same way.
The first item we moved in was the closet. I was excited to move their clothes and shoes upstairs and to get my own closet space back. It turned out so cute. We added shelves above the second row of hangers to lay out all of their headbands for easy access, and being the professional organizer that I am, I color coded all of their clothes, shoes, and hair accessories. Grace has been collecting the Ty Beanie Boos for years, and we have way too many. I decided to line the top of their closet with them, and they fit perfectly. (Why do they have to sell these in EVERY store?! The girls are always spotting ones that they don't have yet, and the HAVE to have them. No idea where they get that from...)
In addition to the great bedding at Pottery Barn, I also found the cutest chandelier complete with sea shells and pink diamonds. What more could a girl want?
The wall next to the door has an armoire and an Under the Sea hook set for their dance bags and purses.
I made this amazing lamp (see tutorial here) and completed the top of the armoire with sea shells and a Doterra oil diffuser (that literally runs 24/7).
I think the girls' favorite part is their dress up corner. They have a vanity and a dress up station full of play dresses, shoes, make-up, and every accessory they could want or need. They spend a lot of time playing in here and becoming different princesses. Grace also loves to style Charley's hair, and surprisingly, Char lets her.
Next to the dress up corner is their big girl bed. I couldn't love this bedding anymore. It matches so well with the rest of the room. Of course, we have to finish it off with the princesses (minus the ones they left at school where they each have to take different ones on the daily). I also found a pretty water color painting to hang above their bed of two sister mermaids and a mermaid statue to hang in between the two small windows.
The next wall has a large window. My sister Allison found this awesome beach wall decor made from rope. We accessorized it with some shells that Jessica brought us back from her beach trip last summer.
The final wall is where their TV sits on top of their dresser. I got a crown molding shelf to hang above it with my favorite picture of the girls snuggling in their bed. I also found a lantern to put there that holds all of the seashells we have found on our Newport trips. I figure we'll keep bringing them home until it's full, and it will always hold these great mementos from our amazing family beach trips.
This room turned out so much better than I had imagined. It truly is the perfect "big girl room", and the fact that they love it just as much as I do makes all of the hard work (and dollars spent) totally worth it. Here's to hoping it lasts for many years to come.
(Special thanks to Nick for all of his help! You guys are seriously the best!!)
