So, Emily's room is done. Well, if you don't count that the curtains aren't up, the window trim isn't on, and her mirrors on her closet haven't been washed down. But, ya know, it's done. Basically. She went from a very sweet looking bedroom that I had decorated when she was 3 to a much more grown-up bedroom that she decorated with just a bit of input from me. ;)
Before:
Her walls were two shades of pink with a white chair rail dividing them. She had a blue floral bedspread, matching valance and tie-backs on her curtains, and a coordinating blue floral rug. This is what you saw when you first walked into her room - double windows with 3 bookcases underneath.
To the right of the bookcases, her desk stood in the corner. (Remember this corner. You'll see it totally differently in just a second.) You can see the matching valances and bedspread from this angle. Cute, huh? A little Laura Ashley never hurt anyone. At least when you're 3 and your mom decorates your room. :)
Directly opposite the desk stood a tall bookcase. You can really see the pink walls and oh, look! There's part of a canopy in this picture. (She swore she would die if she had to sleep under the canopy one more night.)
See the floral rug!!! I was a Pottery Barn Kids junkie! I only shopped the clearance section, but man, I had that store in my kids' rooms! Her room has double mirrored closets and this photo was taken looking into the left closet mirror. (Remember this closet - you'll see it again in a minute.) You can clearly see the bedspread and I even had the matching bedskirt. Sigh. I loved Laura Ashley. Emily? Well, not so much.
And the final before picture ...
You can see her bed in all its glory. Way back in 2001, I thought I would fancy up this cute little canopy thingie by adding coordinating blue and pink ribbons. Pretty snazzy, huh? Well, she swears that it made her throw up.
So, now. The room as it is today.
After:
Doorway beads. No self-respecting teenage (ahem - pre-teenage) room would be complete without doorway beads. I tried to tell her that this was really a 70s style a la Greg Brady, but she turned up her nose at me and told me that it was actually a 60s thing and since she's Miss-1960s expert, she would know. And didn't I know that what was old was really new again, after all. (Doesn't seem to matter to her that I was actually born in the 60s, but oh well.)
This corner is the same corner that her desk used to be in. Finished off with the coveted Beatles poster that she received from Santa this year.
And yes, you Pottery Barn Kids experts will no doubt realize that the new bedspread is also from PBK. Once again, snagged off the clearance section last summer and just sitting around waiting for us to re-do her room. She actually chose the wall colors and she gets huge brownie points from me for coming up with the yellow/brown color combo - accented with lots of bright colors.
This is the opposite corner - the same corner that her tall bookcase used to be in. We found these awesome blackboard adhesive circles at Target and now I'm wishing I had bought them for all the kids' rooms. Talk about cheap entertainment! This is what she calls her book nook - there are big pillows on the floor here and she can lean back against the foot of the bed or on the pillows and just read.
The curtains are not up yet and you can actually see them folded up on her laundry hamper to the left. We're just going to use the same white curtains, but minus the Laura Ashley valance and tie-backs. She wants them "loose so she can close them whenever she wants." And I love that I caught her standing on her bed. :)
She just had to have a shag rug and we lucked into this brown one at Target, too. The nightstand, blue lounge chair and pink pillow were all things that she already had and they went perfectly into this "teenage hangout area" as she's calling it. Can you tell she's been memorizing the Pottery Barn Teen catalog? Oy!
See the filthy mirror door? Ugh. It's covered in dust and even paint splotches. But I love being able to get our reflection and being able to see a lot of the room in these kind of pictures. I know I'm being a little tongue-in-cheek about her attitude, but we really did have a lot of fun together doing her room. And the end result made us both happy. I would have loved to have this room as a pre-teen or teen.
And the coolest find of all! This silver lamp at Target - I think we both gasped when we saw it.
So, that's it. A brand new room for under $300 that really did help a very sad 11-year-old cope with missing her class' sleepover field trip. She may not agree, but I'm glad the whole thing turned out the way it did. She and I never get to spend that kind of time together and I'm more than a little grateful for it. :)
