The Squeaky Wheel
I definitely have moments when I can’t help but ask (okay, nag) Pavlo about completion dates for aspects of our on going renovations. Given that this is the third house we’ve renovated, I’ve learned to just go with it the majority of the time. No, not all the time, but the majority of the time. That being said, not all members of our family have realized that nagging doesn’t necessarily speed up the process. Without pointing fingers and naming names, we’ll just say that one of our children (ahem, the youngest) has definitely voiced her opinion numerous times about finishing her room, the playroom, the playground, ect. You name it and she has most likely hassled Pavlo about it at some point. I have to hand it to her though, her persistence has paid off and that little squeaky wheel of ours got her room finished first! I also think her older sister owes her big time considering they share a room and, therefore, she’s sitting pretty in a finished room as well!
Here’s a glimpse at their room when we first bought the house:
Prior to even moving into this house I sat with our girls and let them pick colors that they wanted for their room. In the past I always picked what I wanted for them, but now they’re older and both have much stronger opinions. Plus I wanted them to be truly excited about their new room. Thankfully they both chose colors that are easy to coordinate, aqua and pink! I may or may not have had their comforter sets months prior to moving into the house. Admittedly I was excited about their room too!
The large addition being built on the house meant a new, bigger master bedroom was coming…someday. Therefore, the girls ended up getting what was originally the master bedroom of the house. Yes, our son is the eldest child in the family but since we have two daughters who share a room, they get the larger room. Funny thing is that he would do anything to have a roommate! Don’t most kids want their own room? Well, even though it is the largest bedroom of the original house, it still isn’t a massive space. This made my first goal to find the best furniture arrangement of two twin beds, two nightstands and a dresser that didn’t make the room feel crowded. Another way to help achieve this was to go very light in the colors used in the room. All of their furniture is white and Pavlo installed paneling approximately 3/4ths up the wall that is also white. Sounds a bit like a hospital? Just stick with me.
First, here’s the paneling after install but prior to priming:
The girls not only get the larger of the original rooms, but hey also get the room that has the chimney running up through it. You bet I chipped away that plaster to expose the brick. Unfortunately, back in the 1920s, they didn’t install these bricks with the intent of them being exposed. Basically they were purely structural and not meant to look pretty. That being said, if I didn’t seal them with a good primer and then paint them, they would just keep shedding dust and grit. I didn’t want, nor did I need, that mess! So, yes, the exposed brick was painted white as well. In my opinion white isn’t always bad, especially when the room is getting the wonderful textures brought in by wood (paneling) and brick. If anything adding bold or bright colors to the room may distract from these qualities. Plus, if it makes you feel any better about painting the brick white, we also stenciled a “Platform 9 3/4” sign on it for our little Harry Potter fans. That was definitely a parenting win. We were the coolest for about two days.
The upper portion of the walls were painted Ellie Grey by Sherwin Williams, night stands and reading lights were mounted and the pink and aqua bedding requested by our little clients was delivered. We added a couple of pieces of DIY wall art, and of course the train platform that leads straight to Hogwarts, and one simple and perfect girls room was revealed!
You’ll notice the nightstands are not set on the ground but rather mounted on the walls. I chose to do this for a couple of reasons. Having it off the floor, and therefore seeing more floor, tricks the eye into thinking the space looks even bigger. Second of all, I wanted trundles in the room for extra sleeping options in case of quests. I actually only have a mattress in one and use the other as storage. You can never have enough storage! Either way both beds have pullout trundles and if the nightstands were on the floor, the trundle drawers wouldn’t be able to pull out!
I can’t wrap up this post without saying little something about the DIY art over each girls bed. We made them by simply ordering decals of selected quotes from an etsy.com shop and then Pavlo assembled the wooden canvas from scrap wood. Seriously, the canvas is nothing fancy and these decals are generally very easy to work with, however, applying them to imperfect wood proved a challenge. It took far longer than it should have and was extremely tedious, practically peeling and applying each letter one at a time. Even then they didn’t stick as well as they would to drywall so we put a coat of urethane over them. Completely worth all the effort to have the natural wood tones and help break up the white even more!
No, it’s definitely not an elaborate bedroom but that wasn’t our goal. Our children have a large playroom in the works (also part of the addition) so they merely needed a space to sleep (and of course store clothing) that is clean, soothing and spacious. Given we were squeezing two children into a moderately sized bedroom, I really felt I had to stay minimal with the furnishings and decor. That being said, even as I sit here and post about this space, I feel like I need to try to fill some of the blank space with other decoration or art, possibly baby pictures blown up and framed? Maybe some sort of shelving that I can stage with more colorful items like books? I guess you’ll just have to stay tuned!
Brilliant, as always. It looks perfect! It looks very spacious. If the girls ever complain about the space, tell them that your friend Cindy grew up in a room, not much bigger, that held 2 twin beds. My sister and I shared one bed, and my 3 brothers shared the other twin (2 had their heads at the head of the bed, and one had his head at the foot!). We had lots of laughs in our room. I hope they have fun in theirs.
Lovely room! Very sweet for two delightful little girls, and the DIY art passages are so perfect for each. 😉