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Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Violet's Room, Before and After













Violet will turn nine in May and needed an update to her room (which hadn't been repainted since it was Jude's room years ago). This girl loves to be alone in her room, cuddled up under the covers and reading. She specifies that she doesn't want "stuff" in her room, that a bookshelf and a bed are enough, thank you. I call it her nun's cell and admit to envying her her quiet, private sanctuary!

A few coats of bright yellow paint on the walls, a custom colour on her desk (mixed from Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint in Provence and Fat Paint's Warm White), a little chair covered with a bed sheet to create a reading nook, and a rearrangement of the furniture were all it took. 

On a budget? For me that speaks of budgeting money as well as time. I was off for a week for our Spring Break, and knew I could dedicate a few days to this project. For under $100, I think the redo was a success! I had purchased fabric for curtains, but after seeing it all put together (and fighting the usual power struggle with my mom's sewing machine ~ it hates me), I decided that white eyelet curtains will be better suited than a zany animal pattern. 

As you can see, she's all settled in. Yes, we need to add crown molding and some baseboard. Yes, the artwork is all made by her or her siblings. Every piece of the furniture in the room is second-hand and/or free. She loves it.  I love it. I love the newly-finished feeling of a room that has been emptied and repainted. Everything that is brought back into the new-feeling space is intentional and much gets handed down to little sisters or thrown away. The new space feels cleaner, more sparse, lighter.

At any given moment she will be found in her little book nook, oblivious to all noise and distraction ~ even a pouting little sister!