Girls' Room Makeover

A long time ago, our daughters' bedroom looked like this.

Two of our three daughters shared the old master bedroom, and it worked well enough. Along came Louisa, and we decided that three sisters in one room would be good company. Lou Lou had her own room when she was itty bitty, but toys and girl stuff overflowed from Greta's and Frankie's room. We decided to move Lou Lou into her big sisters' room and make the nursery into a play room. Three girls in one room provided some new challenges, however, the top two being sleeping arrangements and closet space for all kinds of girl clothes.

The first step was to tackle the closet situation; I took a week or so to complete a major clothing assessment. What do they have? What do they need? Only the cutest, most favorite, and most practicle pieces of clothing got to stay. The rest were either stored away for their appropriate season or donated. The closet went from looking like this:

to looking like this:

 Next, I added some character to the room with painted wallpaper. Trace, paint, repeat.

Hours and days later, the walls were finished.

On the prowl for a large desk for my girlies, I found the perfect one for $10 at Goodwill. It got its own makeover to fit perfectly into the new room.

And at last, my father-in-law finished the bunk bed system we designed for the girls' space. If you can remember, we decided bunk beds would be the best way to sleep three girls in one room. After many hours of thinking and sketching, we came up with the winning plan. We'd have a wall of beds - two on the top and one on the bottom. That would leave one open area to fit a study space perfectly. My father-in-law went to work, and just in time for Christmas, he gave his granddaughters a beautiful gift.

Louisa is only nine months old, so her crib still sits in the room. When she's old enough, we'll purchase a mattress for her bottom bunk and add the same bedding that her sisters have.

There are still accessories to be added and finishing touches to put here and there, but most of the room is finished. It's been a good project, and it's been so rewarding to see three little girls love their room.

A Desk for a Boy

I just shared the Goodwill Hunting desk I finished for the girls' room. We've been making a lot of changes to the kids' rooms lately, mostly centered around new beds that my father-in-law agreed to make the kids for Christmas. Charlie was slated to receive a lofted bed, and I planned on putting a large desk underneath it. As luck would have it, the desk for the girls' room had a twin. The same Goodwill {I'm a regular at four} had a matching huge white desk marked at $20 when I bought the identical one for $10. Seeing how well the desk worked in the girls' room, I sent my wonderful husband back to Goodwill to purchase the $20 twin. Guess what? The lovely people at Goodwill had marked down the massive beast to $10. They must have thought if someone had purchased the other huge white one for $10 then they could get rid of this one for $10, too. I would have paid $20, but the $10 price tag made my day.

So home came desk number two, and I went right to work making it just right for Charlie. I gave it a quick coat of primer.



And while the primer dried, I dug out a couple of the colors we used on Charlie's walls. Red would go on the outer walls of the desk and a light brown on the inner ones. Remember that chalkboard paint I never used in the girls' room? It was going to be perfect for Charlie's desk. I painted the top, edges, and back wall of the desk with the chalkboard paint, giving Charlie the perfect place to express his creativity. When the trasformation was complete, Charlie had his own brand new $10 desk.

And just in time for Christmas, my father-in-law finished the beds. He did an absolutely gorgeous job. I can't describe in words how special of a gift he gave to his grandchildren.

Charlie is in love. And his new desk is pretty cool, too. This is what it's been looking like lately.

The girls' beds are finished, too, and theirs are just as breathtaking. I'll be sharing those soon.

The Desk Was Saved

Remember the $10 desk from Goodwill? Remember how someone didn't tell my husband exactly how big it was and it fell out of the truck on the way home? {That might have been me.} Remember how it was left in pieces?

Well, my friends, the desk was saved. My husband is not only the Green Bay Packers' #1 fan {he doesn't even change out of his shirt and tie if he works on a Sunday before throwing on his jersey}, he's also pretty good at repairing things I manage to break.

With the desk in one piece again, I set out to give it a makeover. You didn't think I'd actually leave it unpainted, did you? My original plan was to paint a wall with chalkboard paint and place the desk in front of it. Since the desk I managed to find was so deep, however, it wouldn't make a lot of sense to have a chalkboard wall behind it. The girls would need to stand or kneel on the desk to reach the wall, and I didn't want the desk fall apart again. With that, I decided to save the chalkboard paint for another project and finish out the painted wallpaper I had done on the other walls of the room.



Louisa's crib in front of the final "wallpapered" wall.

The desk received a coat of primer and two coats of a pretty grayish-green paint. Ready for the finished product? Here's our brand new $10 Goodwill Hunting desk:

I stole the chair from our computer desk. I'll be on the hunt for a couple of just right seats to work for the girls' desk.

Have you saved any furniture disasters lately?

Three Girls' Closet: Overcoming a Tragedy and Finding Inspiration in the Ruins

The title of this post is a little dramatic, but so is a room with three girls. I've told you all about how my hubby and I recently decided that all three of our daughters could share a room. Yes, we may be crazy. The oldest two {six and three} have been sharing for awhile now, and they get along very well. They also adore their baby sister {for the time being} and dote on her like little mommas. So right now life is good, and everyone gets along and loves each other and we might as well be singing Kum Ba Yah.

The room the girls share is the old master bedroom; it's a large room with plenty of space, and the girls even have their own bathroom. Even though there's quite a bit of livable space, it's going to get filled up mighty quick with three girls and all of their girl stuff. We need to think carefully about how we're using each inch.  Um, yay!! That means I get another room to organize! With four kids six and under, this momma is all about organization, from laundry to lunch. When your home has order and everyone knows the system, life is a little easier.

I've already told you about how we're planning to maximize the space with two sets of bunk beds. Doing so will free up an enormous amount of room. I also have plans for a great study area in addition to pretty cool places to play.

While it's been fun to think about painting and decorating and adding accessories, this project hasn't escaped some tricky predicaments. Probably the biggest obstacle I've faced so far is how to organize clothes for three girls in one closet. I'm a momma who loves to shop {as in, I categorize it as a sport}, so these dolls have dresses, skirts, jeans, pants, tanks, tees, and sweaters galore. Oh - and don't get me started on their shoe collection. They use one dresser - a chest of drawers - and one large closet. While that may be ample space, it needs to be used very carefully in order to make choosing three outfits everyday, not to mention putting away mountains of laundry, a snap.

I've been thinking and planning and drawing different designs for the girls' closet. My handy husband took my ideas and added his own, and together we came up with a plan to make the closet as user-friendly as possible. He's been spending quite a bit of his free time sawing and drilling and putting together the perfect space for his little ladies. It's not finished yet. I can't wait to reveal it to you when it's done, but for now, I'm going to leave you with this. This is the hurricane that came to be when Louisa first moved into Greta and Frankie's room. If you can't stand clutter and lack of organization, avert your eyes!

I know - scary! I promise to return shortly with a closet space that's much easier on the eyes. It will be pretty and organized - brains and beauty - the perfect combination. 

My Father-in-Law is a Ninja

I am so excited. My oldest three children have always begged for bunk beds - begged. Our answer was always the same, "You have very nice beds. You don't need bunk beds." Well, it turns out the kids keep growing {who would have thought?}, and their needs continue to change. While Charlie used to be perfectly happy spread out on the floor playing with Matchbox cars for hours at a time, he's now more interested in drawing and constructing projects that require a smooth, flat surface.

And Greta and Frankie, though their room is big, have a hard time keeping a space clean with toys and clothes and beds and everything else girls need.

So we started thinking, and we thought, "Maybe??? Maybe bunk beds would be handy?" It turns out that bunk beds would be very handy, especially ones that are customized to our exact needs! Charlie doesn't need a second bed, but he could use a bed that's lofted over a large desk. And Greta and Frankie could certainly benefit from having all the extra space that bunk beds would provide. And another idea - what if all three girls shared one large room, and we made Lou's nursery into a play room? We could do a wall of bunks, with one side having a desk/vanity table space on the bottom.

Wouldn't these girls look sweet sharing a room?
How about in their teen years? {We're not thinking that far ahead!}

One problem: bunk beds are pricey, especially ones so specific. The solution: my father-in-law.

Have you met my father-in-law? Dave's dad is a wood working ninja. He has an awesome talent for building furniture. And he's been very generous with building beautiful furniture for us for birthdays and Christmas and even just because. He made a gorgeous baby cradle that each of our tiny babies has slumbered in.

He built our dining table. He built our bar. Ready for this one? We handed him a couple pictures of this entertainment center from the Pottery Barn catalog,

and he made this:

I told you he's a ninja. So my father-in-law has agreed to build customized bunk beds for his favorite grandkids {his only grandkids} for Christmas. They know about it. Oh, believe me, they know all about it, and every single day they inform me that "Grandpa is building us bunk beds for Christmas!" As though I could forget!

So I'm taking this opportunity to make the most of these bedroom transformations and redo their rooms to suit them - their personalities, their wants, and their needs. Of course I'll be painting. And I am so excited. I think I already told you that.

Stay tuned!

Stowing Your Stuff With Style

It happens all the time. People complain, "I don't have a good system for storing _______" and "I'm tired of seeing all of the _______ all over the place." You fill in the blanks. We all have stuff to store, whether it's photos, crafting supplies, dog treats, DVDs, Tommy's toys - you name it. The challenge is not only finding a place to store your stuff but also to do it with style. Like Oprah says, "Your home should rise up to meet you" - I believe that pertains to every aspect of your home, storage systems and all.

One of the most common storage solutions is plastic stacking bins, like this one from Target.

Although the price is great and the drawers do keep items separate and contained, it's not the most attractive solution.

A lot of parents have turned to toy organizers like this option from Target.

The 12-bin organizer does allow for storage, but again, it's not the greatest looking item in your home. Not to mention, I hear moms and dads complain all the time about how it's way more fun for their little tykes to take each bin, one at a time, and dump them onto the floor. Nice try, Target.

Enter Ikea. Ikea's take on storage is a line they've dubbed Trofast, and it's a better version of the 12-bin organizing system from Target. Some people love the Trofast system. Admittedly, Ikea has done a good job with providing several pieces, allowing customers to mix and match for their individual space. However, the bins are still plastic and buying several components can be pricey.

The Trofast system does work for some {and I have seen people make it work in attractive ways}, but it still wasn't up my alley.

So having four kids with toys forced me to be creative with storage. And while it seems there are plenty of {plastic!} systems available, none of them scream "Lovely!" to me. Making your home beautiful often requires thinking outside of the box, but in this case it turns out that a box is exactly what I needed to be thinking of. Are you ready for my grand solution? It's something we all have and something available for not a lot of money {if you shop wisely}. Ta-Da! It's the dresser.

Sure, it holds clothes, but why stop there? Lots of sturdy drawers provide a great way to store your toys, photos, crafts, you fill in the blank. And no plastic! And it's a paintable option! I could go on and on. Maybe the best part is that it's cheap - much cheaper than some of the plastic options. Dressers are readily available at yard sales and secondhand shops. Every time I stop at Goodwill I peruse the furniture section, and there are usually dressers available for $50 or less. In fact, I wouldn't pay more than $50 or $60 for a dresser. The dresser we keep in Charlie's room came from my childhood bedroom. It was originally stained oak {which you all know I'm so fond of}. Since it came to live at our house, the dresser has been painted white, blue, and now red. It doesn't matter what state the finish is in. As long as it's sturdy, it'll work. And it's easy to change the appearance. The outside can be painted and the knobs replaced for less than the cost of buying all those plastic Trofast tubs. But enough rambling; let me show you how I've used a dresser in Charlie's room to keep his toys together.

One drawer holds Charlie's mega collection of Tinker Toys {probably the best toy we've ever bought}.

Trains and tracks sit in another drawer.

Our Quadrilla marble run takes up two drawers, tracks in one
and chutes and marbles stay in another.

Automoblox cars and their pieces are kept in a different drawer.

Everything is tucked away but still easily accessable. Charlie {and unfortunately for him, each one of his sisters} knows where each toy collection goes and can grab whatever he wants to play with and return it to its spot with ease.

A dresser or chest of drawers would look lovely in a living room or that right spot in the kitchen or bathroom, as well. Sturdy drawers that a dresser provides are perfect for DVDs, pictures, crafts, sewing fabric, kids' art supplies, etc.

If you still aren't convinced of the wonders of the dresser, let me leave you with this. When you walk into your kid's room, which of these would you rather be met with:


Plastic Containers in the Primary Colors Selection



or Real Furniture?


Do I even have to ask?