The Girls' Bedroom

The last time I mentioned the girls' bedroom on the blog was back in the summer of 2013 when we were getting it spruced up for Vivi's arrival.  It's changed a lot since then, so I thought I'd post some pictures.  

There's still more to be done.  I think there will always be more to be done.  And, on the off chance that I do ever "finish" their room, they will probably be old enough to want to change everything about it anyhow.  The room is very pink because it's Madeline's favorite, but we joke that someday Vivi will paint her half black in protest.  In the meantime, I get to have fun and do what I want in there.  

There is only one window in the room.  It lets in a lot of light though.  My iPhone pictures are a little washed out, but the removable polka dots on the wall are metallic gold.  The walls are a very pale pink/peach.  I love that color.  I would paint the whole house that color if Eric could stomach it.    

As you can see, the ceiling is sloped on Madeline's side of the room under the eaves of the house, which makes fitting furniture a little awkward.  Still, I think Madeline feels cozy nestled into the corner at night.  Her bed is pretty high off the ground, so she uses a rail to hold her in.  

There isn't enough space between her bed and the radiator for a nightstand, so I have plans to add some small book racks on the wall.  When I check on her at night, she always has piles and piles of books surrounding her, so maybe she'll be more comfortable if she has someplace to keep them.  

Madeline's dresser and bookshelf are at the foot of her bed.  The dressers are from Ikea.  I painted them a shade darker than the walls.   

The bookshelf fits perfectly under the eaves and behind the closet door.  We keep our oversized books, hair ribbons, and a piggy bank on the top.  The shade on the lamp broke, so that needs to be replaced.  There's also an embroidery sampler that I found at a thrift store hanging on the wall that reads, "Love is Awesome."  

Madeline's banner is left over from her first birthday party.  They are printable letters from Martha Stewart's website. The mushroom nightlight was a present for Maddie's first Christmas.  

See that yellow spot on the ceiling next to the closet door in the photo below ?  That's some recent water damage resulting from the winter from hell.  The ice dams on that side of the house were pretty bad since it never gets any sun and is too high for Eric to reach.  I'm not sure how to fix that spot, but it's on the list.  

This wall faces the window.  There's a random rectangular column in the middle of it that encases our chimney.  The shelves house an old iPod dock that we use as a sound machine, their snowglobe collection, and some delicate toys.  My sister passed that glider along to us when Madeline was born.  I still use it to rock Vivi to sleep.  When we're done with it, that space will be perfect for a desk or some bean bag chairs.  

This corner of the room is rarely neat as it is usually covered in books, shoes from the closet, (my girls have a thing about trying on ALL the shoes) and stuffed animals from the basket.  Vivi is working on taking out some books in this very picture. About two minutes after this it was taken, this corner was a mess again. 

Vivi's name banner is hanging from the shelves temporarily.  We had it above her dresser, but she kept pulling it off the wall.  Babies.

Vivi's side of the room is still rather bare.  We use Viv's dresser as her changing table, although the older she gets, the less we actually change her diaper up there.  Vivi uses the same blue crib from the old apartment that Madeline used.  It converts into a toddler bed, so she'll be in it for a while.  Eventually we'll either get a bed to match Madeline's, or we're considering bunk beds along that wall.  

That wall needs some artwork and a mirror above Vivi's dresser.  

The old butterfly mobil I made while pregnant with Maddie is hanging above Vivi's crib just out of reach.  She really likes to watch it, but it's kinda out of place there.

 I still want to change the light fixture above Madeline's bed.  We have that same fixture throughout our house.  It's heavy, black, and very Victorian looking.

The curtains have a pink pompom trim that I added to a set of plain Ikea curtains.  Ikea curtains are wicked inexpensive.  Like, you can't buy fabric that cheap.  I was sold.

So that's where my girls sleep, play, and plot future world domination.  

Closet Makeover

This is not the door to Narnia.

Rather, it is the small door to Madeline's larger-than-expected closet.  And for the past two weekends, Eric has spent more time in this thing than R Kelly.

Madeline's closet is the largest one in our house, but it was a little run down and is very awkwardly shaped, so it hasn't been used for anything other than a dumping ground for left-over baby items since we moved in.  Yes, I know we moved in over two years ago...let's not dwell on the past, shall we?

Due to my ineffective pregnancy brain, I forgot to take a picture when the closet was full of junk.
But, we pulled this pile of stuff out of it.

And this pile too.

 Oh, yes, and most of this pile.  (Except for the child.  She does not sleep in the closet.  Unless she's bad.  I kid!)

Needless to say, this walk-in closet was not very walk-in-able.

When we found out that we were having another girl,  Eric declared that he was going to redo the closet.  I told him that this was a brilliant idea.  Two weeks ago, we finally got around to doing just that.

However, the problem with having a pregnant wife is that while she's not very handy when it comes to helping during home improvement projects, she remains full of good ideas and harebrained schemes.  I think Eric envisioned slapping a fresh coat of paint on the space, putting in some organizers, and calling it done.  I agreed, but I also wanted beadboard and new flooring.

My biggest concern was the enormous cracks in our plaster walls.  One, I was worried the roof may be caving in.  Two, I was certain large spiders would crawl out of those cracks and drag us back in to feed their babies.  

Eric assured me that the roof was not caving in, and I believed him.  But just in case I didn't really believe him, I called in my step dad, Bob the Builder, to give us a professional opinion.

Bob confirmed that Eric was right, and he also convinced Eric that beadboard was a great idea.  In the end, we were both winners.

Therefore, Eric and Bob spent an entire Saturday afternoon affixing sheets of beadboard to the closet walls.

Meanwhile, Mimi, Madeline, and I played downstairs.

See how those nasty cracks are magically gone?!  Or at least covered up so that giant spiders don't come get us?

 Eric spent the following afternoon finishing the trim, patching up holes with wood putty, sanding and priming.

Priming took a very long time.

He had to wait until the following weekend to finish up.  Painting also took a very long time.

But when it was done, it looked pretty and shiny and new, and my toes curled in excitement when I saw it.

 The cracks are gone!

Eric spent the rest of the weekend finishing everything off.  He installed the organizers.  We opted to go for something that is easily adjustable to suit our ever-changing needs as the girls get older.

Finally, we chose new wood laminate flooring to replace the worn green carpet.  As it turns out, under that ugly green rug was even uglier laminate flooring from the 1950s.  It's probably filled with asbestos, so the new floor went right over that old one.  Surprisingly, the flooring was probably the quickest part of this whole project.

Ta-DA!

So much better than this:

And it looks even better with all the girls' clothes in it!

 I pulled the baby clothes we saved out of storage, and have started adding to the collection when I see good sales.  Eeep!  Adorable baby clothes once more!

I'm not finished putting everything back in the closet, but I'm getting close.  I love that we've got a place in the back for spare sheets, blankets, and anything else that we don't use on a daily basis.

Madeline likes to play in it.  She calls it her "hideout," or sometimes pretends it's a kitchen.  We're also getting her in the habit of putting away her clothes since she can reach the lower bar and shoe rack.  She actually asked for more laundry to put away the other afternoon.  Sure, Maddie Bear, have a BLAST!  We'll see how long that lasts.  

So, thank you, sweet husband for making my dreams of a functional, not-scary closet come true!  You spent a lot of hours in that closet, but it was so worth it!  

 Now, I'd really like to talk to you about crown moulding for the rest of the room...

Livin' in a Pink Paradise

One of the perks of having a second girl is that all of our offspring can sleep together in the same room.  These girls are either going to have fun sleepovers every night, or they'll kill one another.  I have visions of future me screaming up the stairs, "Stop pulling your sister's hair or I'll cut yours off!"  I'll do it too.  I already have.    

Our little house has two bedrooms on the second floor.  There's also a very small third bedroom downstairs that we currently use as an office/playroom/dumping ground.  If this baby had been a boy, we would have had to eventually move Madeline into that room.  (Alright kid, there's a new baby around these parts....git!)    We certainly weren't keen on the idea of moving Madeline so far from the rest of the family, so thankfully, things are working out in our favor.  

In reality, all we had to do to get the room ready for a second girl was dump a bed in there for Madeline and call it a day.  But I'm a dreamer, Dotty, a rebel.  I fully intend on tricking this hovel out into a full-on girlie-girl paradise.  (Cue inspirational music for me, and groans from Eric who will end up doing most of the work.)   

When we moved in two years ago, we painted her room a raspberry-pink color.  It was light brown before that.  It took my mother-in-law and my husband's aunt several hours of painting in sweltering heat to achieve that lovely hue, which I deeply appreciate.  But, I decided it had to go.  

It was just too dark for the space.  Besides, Madeline loves light pink.  Or "lightning pink" as she calls it, and I think everyone should start calling it cause it sounds way more bad ass than "ballet slipper" or "apricot dreams."  

Anyway, we painted.  

Actually, Eric painted.  I helped prime, but he got sick of me criticizing his manly skills, so he  kicked me out to go shopping on day two.  Poor me.

Next, I decided that "we" needed to add quarter round molding to the base trim in order to cover some unsightly cracks.  Eric did the measuring, cutting, and nailing himself,  but he did let me and Madeline help a bit.  I was particularly good at caulking.  

Madeline was pretending that the clamps were a family.  This clamp is the baby sister, and she's rocking it to sleep. 

 Our old house has original wood floors and horse-hair-plaster walls.  For the most part, everything is in good condition, but there are certainly plenty of areas that I wish we could magic eraser away...like all these gross, crumbly cracks.

 Ahhh...I feel so much cleaner!

I know this doesn't seem like a huge change.  Even Eric wasn't sure it was worth the time and effort when I first introduced the idea, but in the end, we both decided that it makes the room look ten times better.  It's neater, cleaner, smoother.  Fancier....

Here's what the room currently looks like:  (Don't mind the twirling Maddie Bear.  She's a photo hog.)

Here's what it used to look like:

More images of her room can be found here if at all interested although our plans have changed.

I love, love, LOVE the new color.  It's a very pale, peach-y pink, and it brightens up the room so much.

I found the new rug on Overstock last week for half the price as listed on other websites.  It's darker than I thought it would be, but very much a coral tone in real life.  Madeline's pink dresser is from Ikea. I painted it a shade darker than the walls.  I sold her old armoire on Craigslist.  I was sad to see it go, since I had decorated it myself, but it went to a nice, new home that is expecting a baby boy.

The girls' room is coming along, but there's a lot left to do.  The next big project is the closet.  It's big, but awkwardly shaped due to the sloped ceilings.  There are also cracks in the plaster that make me all sorts of nervous.  Eric claims he knows how to fix it.  I've decided to have faith in him.  We also need to finish touching up the trim and painting the doors to match.

After that, it's just a matter of decorating, refurnishing, and rearranging.  That's the fun part!