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A few years ago, we decided to surprise my daughter with a bedroom make-over for her 11th birthday. She’d had the same purple and green walls that I’d painted for her when we first moved in our house, when she was three years old. She had been wanting a change and it was long overdue. After talking it over with my husband, we decided that it would be really fun to surprise her with a bedroom make-over!
I planned it all out with my good friend, Lindsey (whose daughter is one of Aubrey’s best friends). Lindsey was throwing her daughter a birthday slumber party a couple of weeks before Aubrey’s birthday, so it was the perfect opportunity and timing to redecorate for Aubrey. I figured that I could send her off to school Friday morning and Lindsey could pick her up after school and keep her overnight for the slumber party. We made up an excuse for Aubrey of why I couldn’t get her after school; I think we told her we were going away that night and wouldn’t be back until Saturday evening. That gave me about 32 hours to get to work and re-design her work! I felt like I was creating my very own episode of “While You Were Out”! [Does anyone remember that show?? It was one of my faves!]
Lindsey and I were shopping at Hobby Lobby, both of us searching for bedroom make-over décor for our girls, and I found this beautiful wall hanging that I ended up using as my inspiration for her room.
I absolutely loved the message, and I loved that there was a variety of colors and patterns to work with. I didn’t want to be stuck to a three-palette color scheme, so this was perfect. I could add pops of greens and pink, polka dots and chevron, and even leopard print, which Aubrey really liked! I found 2 more pictures that coordinated with this one, and bought all 3!
I spent the next month preparing for the big make-over weekend. While Aubrey was away at school, I shopped and worked on different pieces of décor; curtains, wall hangings, etc. (which I’ll share below). I wanted to get as much done beforehand as possible so that when she was gone for the night, we could focus on the big parts that we couldn’t do while she was home: cleaning everything out of her room, painting the walls, setting up her brand new bed, hanging décor. I also had a nightstand that I wanted to repaint for her and some existing wall hangings that I wanted to paint as well. I had a lot to get done in a little amount of time!
When the big day came, I could hardly contain my excitement as I dropped her off at school. Somehow I was able to contain myself and remain non-chalant as I kissed her good-bye. When I returned home, I found Jeff already moving furniture out of her room (he decided to call in sick that day so he could help me pull off this surprise). We quickly got to work. We ended up spending all day Friday and all day Saturday painting and finishing projects for her new “tween” room. To say I was thrilled is an understatement. I absolutely fell in love with the finished project; it is probably still my favorite room in the house. My vision turned out even better than I anticipated and I couldn’t wait to see her reaction. Thankfully, we got her reaction on video. It was priceless.
Now for the big reveal! This is what her bedroom looked like before: green and purple walls, a bed with a small bookcase (that always just collected junk on it), no closet doors; though we had put the closet organizer in the year before, I just hadn’t gotten around to making curtains like I’d planned. As you can see, it was in desperate need of a face lift.
And here’s the after!
I love all the little details and how everything coordinates together. Like the curtains in the closet, for one example. Notice how well they coordinate with my inspiration piece? I found chevron curtains online and cut off the yoke, sewing on leopard fabric that I found at Hobby Lobby. I found a lot of coordinating fabrics, as a matter of fact, which is what inspired me to make a rag valance for her window out of all the little strips of coordinating fabric. Everything ties into that one inspiration piece that I found, and I love it!
I made a banner to stretch across her wall with the same fabrics I used for the valance. Both pieces were super easy and no sew! I used fabric shears to cut so the fabric wouldn’t fray. For the pennants, I used a fusible web facing. For the valance, I simply cut long strips with my pinking shears and then tied them onto a rod. I’ve linked these materials at the end of this post so you know what to get in case you want to make your own pennants or rag valance! I also loved the detail of the wooden “A” that I found to hang at the head of her bed. I painted it purple and then mod-podged on a piece of leopard print cardstock on top of it. I found the bow in the scrapbooking section of Hobby Lobby and thought it was the perfect touch! Oh, and notice her leopard print blanket. I wasn’t sure what to do for a bedspread that would compliment my inspiration piece, but then I got the idea for leopard print and was able to find it online. I added a white floating shelf for her to house her alarm clock and a few of her favorite stuffed animals.
Can we just talk about her bed for a minute? This was the toughest part for me when I started all of this because I wasn’t sure if I could afford another bed (and I knew that she wanted a bunkbed). I had a vision of a “tween” hang out space, but her room isn’t very big to create a hang out area, so when I came across this awesome bunk with the bed on top and the underneath completely open, I knew this was the solution. It would make the perfect space for her to hang out. This is my favorite element of the room. I found the bed online, believe it or not, and it was super affordable! I was really nervous about buying a bed online, but it was the easiest piece of furniture I’ve ever bought! I’ve linked it at the bottom of this page as well. The cozy chair, the bookshelf with the storage compartment for her toys, her picture frame jewelry box…it all worked out beautifully!! I couldn’t be more thrilled with how this turned out. I even made a cute, drawback curtain that she can close (she had talked about wanting a curtain around her bed). Actually, I bought the curtains for cheap online and then cut and hemmed them to the length I needed. Notice the adorable leopard print tie?
This is another piece that I was really proud of. I picked up this hanging jewelry box at a neighbor’s garage sale for $5. It wasn’t very cute; it was very 80’s looking with cherry wood and red velvet lining the inside, but I knew I could refinish it and it would be amazing. I re-lined the shelves and painted the entire box. The teal in the back makes it really pop! I knew it would be the perfect display for her miniature China tea set. Wouldn’t you agree?
Remember the night stand I mentioned? It was an oak color originally, but I painted it with chalk paint and stenciled on this design to coordinate back to my inspiration picture. It took quite a bit of time because I had to let each coat dry before I could move on the next. I didn’t even get the first layer on until late Friday night! But it all came together in time. I also bought vases at the Dollar Tree and painted them from the inside. To do that, you just drop acrylic paint inside and roll the vase around until it is completely coated in color. Super cheap and super easy!
Isn’t this the cutest vanity area? I found this vinyl sticker phrase at Hobby Lobby and knew it would be perfect for her vanity area. What better message to send when she’s busy beautifying herself? [The top of the desk flips up to a mirror, converting desk to vanity). I found the lights for $5 at Target and I made the sheer curtain panels. I also bought the stencils and painted with acrylic paint on the wall.
I also created this wall for her to hang her purses. The green shelf was a re-purposed shelf that we already had; I just painted it. The middle section features adorable knobs I found at Hobby Lobby. The bottom was a plain, wooden shelf with knobs that I bought at Joann’s. I painted it to coordinate with the other colors of the room.
You can also see the shoe organizer that I used to house all of her Barbie dolls. She has since outgrown Barbie dolls (she’s 13 now!) and I replaced it with a full length mirror that has a cork frame for her to pin all of her photos too.
Just for fun, here is a virtual tour of her room, beginning with the priceless look on her face when she entered her room! I think it’s safe to say that she LOVED her new bedroom. Her brothers were pretty excited about it too. You can see them pointing out all the little details to her as she soaked it all in.
The only downside to her tween retreat is that she likes to be in there all the time! I can’t say I blame her; I wish I had my own quiet retreat like this!
Did you like any of these ideas? Be sure to add them to your Pinterest boards! Here are some quick links to help you find what you may have liked.
This is the exact bed that we bought. 3 years later and it’s still good as new (it’s even been through a few good earthquakes here in So Cal)!
Pinking shears and fusible web facing:
Curtains:
Saucer Chair:
Floating Shelf:
