Sophie's Bedroom Makeover

I'm in LOVE with Sophie's new room! It just makes me smile to walk in there.

The way it looks now is as complete as it's going to be until she's (or we're) ready to make that transition to the big bed. Then I have a few more changes to make from what you'll see in this post. I have A LOT of pictures to share because I'm going to show you the room from all angles and also a lot of the same spaces with minor changes as I was playing around with the decor. Thankfully, the whole makeover wasn't all that expensive - just some paint and a few decor items. The bedding was definitely the splurge (but that's not out yet) and a few of the changes were gifts.

I'll start with some "before" pictures.

This was taken in January.

And these are from last summer. The walls were painted with two yellow, sponge-painted, caddy corner walls and two white, caddy corner walls. It was also painted so that the color changed on the most dominant corners (i.e. no doors or windows to break it up) - just floor to ceiling of divided color. For the record, I have ALWAYS hated how the dresser and wall hanging look in this picture. The dresser is WAY too cluttered with a mish-mosh of frames and other trinkets. And you've probably heard me complain about that eye-sore of a picture that's been hanging there since we returned from our honeymoon in October '04. Our friends put it there as a joke while we were on vacation (it belonged to Craig's grandparents) and Craig insisted that he loved it and it had to stay. Grr...

I've also never really cared for the letters above her crib. They're boring and block style and just kind of... there. Anyway, this is the other side of her room.

In March, I rearranged the furniture. I moved the rocking horse to the basement. I cleared out the bottom shelf in her closet and had Craig snap that shelf out of the brackets (so that the next owners could replace it if they want). Yes, her shelves were/are sloppy.

Then we moved the night stand in there and attempted to reorganize some of the toys. Once we bring the full bed into her room, there just isn't space for a night stand and Craig is very possessive of his furniture. Not kidding - he hates splitting up sets - so he doesn't want this "stored" anywhere but with the rest of the set. You can imagine how anxious he is to get the bed that goes with this set back from my parents' house where it's being stored in their spare bedroom. (We had no choice on that one.)

So this will remain in the closet as a bookshelf and/or toy storage.

The crib was moved to the south wall where her full bed will go and the tall dresser was moved to the opposite wall where the crib was. The mirrored dresser stayed where it was. Craig also hung the new window panel from PBK.

Then I started playing around with decor on the tall dresser. This is still too cluttered looking. I like the empty frame surrounding the "S", but Craig hadn't hung the "S" yet.

As I mentioned, the glider is awkwardly along the wall right now. I'm just putting off taking that out of the room because, of all the "baby gear" we own, that will be the hardest for me to part with. I probably won't move it out until the bed moves in. We'll have to store it somewhere, because there's no other place in our house for it.

The "S" is mounted. Still need to paint the frame and patch the holes in the wall where the other letters hung.

This was Sophie's 1st birthday card from my parents. My intention is to frame it, but I haven't found the right frame yet (don't really know what I'm looking for either) and I don't know exactly where it's going.

The low dresser is no longer set up as a changing table. Her new lamp, frame and pink dish have taken the place of the changing pad and diapering supplies.

Playing around some more - it's not going to stay like this.

We're temporarily putting the changing pad on the floor while we're potty training. I remember when Will was her age, we were dressing him on his bed and using the floor or Sophie's changing table for diapering. Sophie likes to pretend it's her bed or her doll bed. She'll lay on it and say "night night, Soapy" or she'll put her babies to bed there. :)

After Craig patched the most noticeable holes/flaws in the walls (the walls in this house are so imperfect - very old plaster), I moved all the furniture to the center of the room and got ready to begin painting on a Saturday while the kids were at my parents' house for lunch and nap time.

The trim work is always the longest process, but I got it all done plus one wall painted in just a few hours. Gotta' love that paint + primer in one! Sophie slept upstairs in our bathroom in the pack 'n play that night and the next day for nap and I finished painting over nap time on Sunday.

I actually enjoy painting now that I'm pretty good at trim work. :) I'm not at all artistic, but I could see how artists find it soothing and fulfilling to just listen to music and paint. Here's a look at the two colors. The green is much more "minty" than I had hoped. I was going for more of a light grass green... but I do still like it. Also, I chose to make the color changes in the opposite corners so that where the green and blue came together was only noticeable above the bedroom and closet doors.

But I have to pat myself on the back for how clean my corners look! What a nice straight line, eh?

Here's the opposite corner above the closet door and window.

On another day, I spray painted the frame (which is the same frame as the one in the dining room, only 8x10) a chocolate brown color. It's pretty glossy looking, so I may have to do something to that "S" too. Not sure yet...

I love the lamp! But I am still keeping my eyes open for a cuter, pink shade.

The 5x7 print that I ordered from Etsy arrived the day I started painting. I LOVE IT!! The trees on her bedding and the vinyl tree we put on the wall all have this same look about them: a big, round ball of tree top sitting on a straight, thin, stick of trunk. So this tree in the print fits in perfectly. The little pink dish is also the perfect spot to keep her pink bracelet. :)

A few more room views before we added the big tree:

Sophie loves this little area with her books and chair. She likes to just sit here and "read" or do puzzles.

Love her little stool from my grandma and grandpa.

Penny & Joy are affectionately propped on the back of the crib and Sophie always makes sure they are in place.

And Prudence still gets the honor of being IN the bed.

This corner will eventually be less full once we get rid of the diaper pail. We'll scoot the laundry hamper into the corner and open up a little more space beside the dresser. Every inch counts in this small-ish room!

Camera 1:

Camera 2:

I prefer "camera 2" with the little pink star frame that was a gift from a friend when Sophie was born. I have to find a tiny picture to fill it, but I wanted to add a touch of pink to this dresser. That heart plaque in front of the vase is not staying there. I was just playing around with it to see if I wanted to put it in Sophie's room. It was actually a gift from my mom - for ME - before I went away to college. It's Jan Pugh pottery and mom wrote me a message about sending me off with her "heart". So sweet - I love that heart and I'd love to give it to my daughter. Maybe in the future.

Ooh! Ooh! I love this part! Craig helped me put up the wall decal this past Saturday. He is super anal with details and perfection so I knew he'd do a good job. He even had a tool (a "J roller") that was designed for doing this sort of thing.

We got our decal from an Uppercase Living home party. My mom hosted and let us use her half off discount. Then she ended up buying it for us after the discount - yipee!

I LOOOOVE IT!!!

Final glimpses of the "after":

Sophie got to check it out when she woke up from her nap. (She slept upstairs again while we put this up.)

Then she checked to make sure Penny and Joy were in just the right position. She wants them sitting side by side so she moved the little owl from the opposite side where I'd placed her (above).

I hope you love your room as much as I do, sweet girl! I've put a lot of thought into making it just right for you!

Okay! That's it for now.

I have a few more details and one more big project that will be completed after the bed moves in. So I'll do another update when that time comes.

Sophie's Current Favorite Books

These are the books in Sophie's basket beside the rocker right now:

an orange tiger "chunky" board book from Casey (I don't think it even has a title)

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

Baby's Colors by Karen Katz Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton

My First Number Book by DK Publishing

Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton

Owl Babies by Martin Waddell

Pajama Time by Sandra Boynton

Doggies by Sandra Boynton

Twinkle, Twinkle, Time For Bed by Caroline Williams

I Love You Through and Through by Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak

Time For Bed by Mem Fox

Counting Kisses by Karen Katz

Rock & Roll: Colors by Salina Yoon

My Goodnight Book by Eloise Wilkin (mine from when I was a child - both my kids have loved it too)

She goes in spurts of which ones she grabs most often, but she loves them all and we read them daily. This particular day (as well as multiple days before and after it) was all about the Doggies Boynton book. I love listening to her "read" it to herself. She especially loves the tall dog that says "Ah-roof! Ah-roof! Ah-roof!" So now that's what she says when you ask her what a doggy says. This book also includes a counting element, which she loves.

The Rock & Roll: Colors book is also a frequent favorite. You have to tilt the book back and forth to get a little colored disc to slide on each page. This was a birthday present last year and it's been a big hit.

Sophie still appreciates repetition with our reading and she and I both love to "co-read", where I'll start a sentence and she'll fill in the last word or two (usually the rhyming words). It's very cute and I loved this with Will too.

Sophie also usually has one or two library books beside the rocker as well, depending on the week. I love that she's beginning to branch out a little more.

A Couple Dining Room Touch Ups

I've decided to advertise my blog name on my dining room wall. :)

Haha. Just kidding. :)

My mother in law bought this cute plaque for me for Christmas a couple years ago and I didn't really have a good place for it at the time. But I just rediscovered it and it looks perfect with the colors of our dining room now! After taking a vote among our friends of where to hang it (I originally said right above the light switch next to the door leading to the kitchen), Craig hung it in the small area to the left of the window. I think it looks very nice there!

Gives the room a little something extra.

So that was easy.

And here was the 2nd little touch up:

I would still like to get a simple black chandelier in here one day, but that would require painting the ceiling and coming up with a chunk of dough that we don't have right now.

So, in the mean time, I gave our current light a facelift.

I used the same metallic finish that gave our big mirror a new look last fall, to paint all the brass parts of the light with a sponge paint brush.

Here's a look at the rough finish of the mirror frame. It's imperfect and sort of rustic looking. Very grainy.

And here's the painted light. It's still wet so the look is not really set yet. Craig later removed that fiberglass and foil (after determining that it was safe to do so) and it's actually a little brighter in there now.

Here's a picture at night of the finished product. It looks cooler in the daylight though.

And here's a shot of the light and the mirror to show the match.

Next up in the dining room: moving Sophie's high chair to the big table (we've already done that) and getting ready to be done with the high chair, hopefully this summer? It already feels roomier with the high chair at the end of the table instead of in the corner. It'll be so nice to have her in a booster seat at the table instead of in that big, bulky thing. And yet it's weird at the same time to be wrapping up the baby days... :(

Still hoping to hang a plate rack in that corner once her high chair is officially gone.

Oh, and I have this cute frame (1/2 off from Hobby Lobby) that's been sitting here - EMPTY - for weeks. I do have a plan for it... I've just got to make the time to do it. And I'll give you a hint: it's not going to be a picture! Oh, the anticipation and curiosity must be killing you. LOL ;)

Spring/Summer Wardrobes

Blogger's been doing some weird things to my posts lately. The excessive spacing and line placement is not posted as I see it on the page when I'm writing, i.e. that "Spring to-do list" was listed line by line and not as one giant paragraph... Whereas other posts have huge gaps between lines. Weird.

Also, I started this post and the dinner post last Thursday and just got around to finishing them (hence the old dates) because we had a virus on our computer over the weekend and Craig had to completely reformat it. I had 194 pictures to upload last night - all taken since Friday night - so I was getting antsy. I hate having more than two days worth of pictures on my camera.

Anyhoo, I got nearly everything checked off my to-do list last week, except for the pictures (which is huge) because of our computer problem. And also, Sophie wasn't in a pull up until Sunday because I was just too tired on Saturday. But she did still use the potty three times on Saturday and seven times on Sunday! Yay!

As promised, here are some snapshots of the stuff I washed up to prep the kids closets/drawers for spring.

A couple months ago, Sophie's feet seemed to have a growth spurt and I panicked that we didn't have any size 6 shoes ready for her. At the same time, SKR had an incredible 40% off sale - wahoo! So I bought three new pairs of size 6 shoes (front row, below)... and then her foot growth seemed to stall. She is wearing the little sneakers (on the left) regularly right now, but for some reason the little bird shoes seem a tad big yet (both are size 6). The navy pair has been a big favorite of ours so she has a pair in size 5 AND size 6, and she's mostly wearing the 6's now. The sandals in the back are all we have so far. The Cameron's on the left are a size 5 from last year and I think they'll at least fit through the spring. The pink, sporty sandals are L.L. Bean and are also a size 5, but they run pretty big.

We got Will a pair of these Cool Wave sandals last summer and LOVED THEM. They are super functional, comfortable and quick drying for the summer time so we just bought another pair for him in the same gray color and I'm hoping we like them as much for Sophie.

Aren't the bird mary janes adorable?

I still need a basic white sandal for Soph as well as a funky (but functional) metallic pair - silver or gold? And Will needs a dressy sandal - usually navy works well with all his dress outfits - like that fisherman (?) style.

And it's no wonder all grown men have no less than 50 t-shirts in their closet... It starts with what mom buys them in childhood! Just like his daddy, Will is a t-shirt and cotten/gym shorts or jeans kind of kid. These aren't super new to his closet - they've been worn a few times already - but they're a few current favorites. And as usual, I still prefer Children's Place and Old Navy for Will's clothes. When I think back on every favorite outfit I've had of Will's, they've always come from Children's Place. (I do NOT feel that way about CP for Sophie, though.)

And here's what I just washed up:

I'm super in love with this board short and t-shirt combo that I picked up with a random gift card from Dillard's. Their selection for girls is too foo-foo and frilly for my taste, but they had some cute boys stuff. I normally never shop there so this was an exciting find and I can definitely see putting him in this for day-to-day even if he's not swimming. Craig wears board shorts as summer weekend attire all the time.

Cute combo from CP.

A couple of polos - Gap on the left, CP on the right.

More swim trunks - the surf board trunks were a gift from my mom (Gap, I think?) and the green ones are L.L.Bean. I have a feeling both pair will be big on him. Thankfully, we have a few pair last year that should fit.

Onto the girl!

Oh my goodness - we have dresses coming out the wazoo again. I LOVE them all though! And more than half are hand-me-down. Let's see... the top two on the left (both striped) are from Walmart for $4 and $2 respectively. And I also bought three others that I'll highlight below. The rest are hand-me-down.

These are my favorites:

This one is from Gap that I got for $15 on a good sale. But then Molly ended up giving me that gold dress above with the same print. :)

LOVE this one!!! It's Old Navy and it just looks so simple and sweet. The print is very whimsical and I could see this dress worn casual or dressed up.

Ahh, Target! LOVE, love, love! I think she's going to wear this for her birthday party.

Tops!

These were all my own purchase - mostly all Old Navy and Target. All the ones with flowers are Target.

The two one-piece jumpers are from Cora - so cute! And that white one with the colored dandelions (?) is actually a cotten dress - should have been pictured above.

A few favorite outfits. The one on the left is from Cora. She wore that top to the twins' 1st birthday party last year and it's adorable (from Gymboree). The other two outfits are from Target.

Here's a look at her current winter-to-spring wardrobe. It's beginning to dwindle as she outgrows several 18-24 month tops and pants.

And I hung all the next size stuff on the top rack. It's difficult to take a picture in this closet because the racks hang perpendicular to the door, but there's A LOT of clothes up there!

Yay, spring!

Now, I just need to sort through and reorganize the shelves in the kids' closets. I'm on a mission to de-clutter!!!