28 July 2010

Girly Bedroom Makeover


The Bedroom makeover is complete. The previously mismatched furniture and inherited wallcolour are gone. Do you need to be reminded about what it all looked like before???
(Styling by Miss Fab herself, I must point out)...














I began by painting the main wall with two coats of magnetic paint. This can be tricky and sometimes doesn't work apparently, but our wall is super magnetic! The trick is to leave lots of time between coats. Like days. I actually left the first coat untouched for about 12 days - the wall looked disgusting, but I was away on holiday, so I didn't mind. When we left, the wall wasn't magnetic. When we returned - it was! I think they call it "curing". So. Two coats of unpretty magnetic paint.
 

Then painting all the mismatched furniture white (using leftover white acrylic enamel)... the bookshelf, the little antique chair I bought for $20, the legs of the nasty 80's coffee table, the old dress mirror and the pretty plaster-of-paris angel mirror.
 
 
And then... the mural.
 

I found a can of green paint in the garage. Who knows what I bought it for, or why... or when?? But I put it to good use. I also bought half a litre each of palest blue and paler green,. My vision was blue sky, fluffy white clouds and rolling green hills. Not much detail... just add magnets! Flowers, butterflies...

Miss Fab wanted to help, so I let her fill in some green... and then bribed her to play with Scrag so I could get on with the job!


I also painted the opposite wall green, and positioned the newly-white bookshelf against it, with the (pink) pin board above to display her artwork and certificates.

The bean bag and cushions nestle next to the shelf, handy for reading.














A new lampbase (in metal, so it's Miss Fab-proof, since she cracked the last one) and gorgeous new duvet cover are birthday presents, the icing on the cake. I re-hung the mosquito net Nan gave her and returned her heart mobile (a gift when she was born) to it's previous home at the window (don't you just love those leadlights??)


If you look closely you will see that the pink wall is actually slightly... lilac. Er yes. Well I wanted to touch up some marks on the wall, so I went out to the garage and grabbed the can of paint I thought was the colour the previous owners had painted this room. It was gluggy and thick, not a lot there, but heigh-ho, it's just a touch-up right?

Oh dear. Now that it's on there, I can see that this is the pale lilac paint from the other girl's room. Not pink. I now have to paint the whole wall. What a nightmare. The lesson??? Never trust old cans of paint! The colour can be deceiving. But it looks lovely anyway and it's nice and clean and fresh. No more scuff marks. And there was just enough.


The dollhouse is at home on the freshly painted (previously hideous) old coffee-table and the mini bentwood chair is the perfect height alongside it. (Confession: I bought it online as a chair for her new desk... only to find out it was mini when I picked it up. But I loved it anyway, so it gets to stay).

 

The wardrobe doors hide organised colourful clutter: dress-ups and hanging shoe rack, clothes and accessories in colourful boxes and canvas drawers... I strung up a wire and attached some gorgeous pegs my friend Sammy gave me - perfect for scarves, beads and tutus (and way too good for hanging washing).


Front and centre sits the lovely (bargain) mahogany desk. I've told her if she looks after it this gorgeous piece will see her all the way through school and beyond. She said, "Yes, and I can show it to my children!"

Hidden in the ample drawers are her art supplies and endless bits of paper that used to clutter up the place. I found some silver knobs hiding in the garage and replaced the old back ones. That ties it on to the folding chair I got (since that cute antique one I bought is mini, remember?) Another bargain - $13, brand new!


I love it all. All day today I had to keep going in and opening the door, just standing there admiring my handiwork. I love the pink and green, the white. So pretty, so fresh. I'm scared of that white duvet cover though! What was I thinking?? Sigh.

Roll on Saturday... a Rather Fancy Sleepover and five little girls dressing up, doing hair and makeup... we are ready for ya (just mind the bedcover!)


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17 comments:

Widge said...

wow it looks fantastic simoney!!!!Our girls sound so alike. :)
I love the bed cover!! Beautiful all of it

Natasha in Oz said...

Wow, that is an amazing and very beautiful transformation! Miss Fab has certainly got a fabulous room!

Best wishes,
Natasha.

count it all joy said...

Gorgeous Simoney! I'm sure Miss Fab is suitably impressed. This reminds me of the story book "Fancy Nancy". I think your Miss Fab might just be a Fancy Nancy - like my girls. Embrace the feather boa! Meredy xo.
p.s. incredibly impressed with your artistic/upcycling abilities:)

Holly Lefevre said...

What a beautiful room....the duvet is gorgeous. You and Miss Fab did a beautiful job on it! Just perfect for a sweet girl.

Nanny Dee said...

You did a wonderful job -- the first pic looks like it could be in a design magazine. I love the fresh, sophisticated colors.

Gail said...

Very lovely. I really love roses on the duvet!

Brigitte said...

Ooooooo I have room envy! I LOVE the green walls against the white trimmings and the duvet cover is beautiful, especially with mosquito net - I always wanted to be able to enclose my bed. Great job Simone! I love the way you keep going back to admire your handiwork - I would too!

Sarah said...

Wowers! You've been mighty busy and the results are fabulous! Love the room and loved reading your blog post about it.

All the best with the party planning Simone x

Sammy said...

Looks gorgeous! Lucky Miss Fab!

Bubby Makes Three said...

what a sweet room, I really like all the little details. Im ust about to start doing my baby-to-little-girl big room v soon and need all the inspiration I can get!!

Sophie said...

Looks fabulous Simoney! I'm intrigued to see all the things you did as I've been slowly trying to make little changes to the girls' room and make it more of 'proper' room than the toy dumping ground it is at the moment!

Never heard of Magnetic paint!!! Sounds like fun!

EYE can make that! said...

What a beautiful girls room... your daughter must love it.

Anonymous said...

SO pretty! And the stained glass windows are beautiful.

Jen said...

what a beautiful bedroom
wtg

Angela said...

So much hard work! It looks lovely! Good job!

Anonymous said...

That is beautiful and I.am.sooooo.jealous. I just showed my hubby and said THAT. I want our daughter's room to be girly frilly like THAT.

But I got a different response from what I was expecting. "We can do that, if you want. Get me some paint." Yay!!

Ka pai! I bet Miss Fab loves it.

Anonymous said...

Wow, your daughter's bedroom came out great! My daughter's room is still all mismatched furniture. lol

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