Over the last week or so I've been slowly redecorating my daughters' bedroom. They are 8 and 3 years old. They don't see eye to eye on a lot of things, but lucky for me my 8 year old LOVES all of my suggestions and the 3 year old doesn't have the attention span to look at or talk about any of my suggestions....

Last weekend I painted their room. Before it was kind of an ugly almond color -- that of course I loved when we painted our entire house that color almost 5 years ago. Here is how it started out... gotta love the original color, right????



I wanted to do a fairly neutral blue/green. It turned out a little more blue than green, but I LOVED it!!! Here is how it turned out...



So much better than the almond, right? I think it looks absolutely beautiful. It's a calm, cool, and relaxing color, and the white really POPS up against it! ♥

Now that the painting is done, it was time to start actually decorating the room. I've had an idea pinned on Pinterest for a really long time and today I made it happen! Here is the pinned image:

Supplies:
• art canvas - mine was 20"x24" 
• white and black craft paint
• 2" sponge brush
• q-tips and a paper plate
*optional:
• light brown paint for distressing
• rough dry paint brush

Estimated Time: 2-3 hours

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Step 1: I had my 8 year old paint the whole canvas white. Not only did it mean she got to work on this project a little bit herself, but it also meant that the paint job wouldn't be perfect... which is PERFECT! I wanted an old, rustic texture to it. (that white paint in the sun is blinding so she borrowed my hat, sun glasses, and my apron)







Step 3: Let it dry. Then distress if you want. I used a very light brown/gray craft paint from Martha Stewart, and a really tough bristled dry brush. I got a tiny bit of paint on my brush and dabbed most of it off. Then I carefully brushed very lightly on the edges all the way around and in the middle of my canvas.

Once you are done you can admire your work! It is a really easy project, and one that even older kids could do themselves!!!







**I realized after posting that I goofed on the sign. I should have made all the lines (after the first one) say "love you, I love you, I". Whoops!! My OCD may kick in and I will redo it at some point... 

I, like most of you reading this, have a need to make my home beautiful. For me that means a lot of things. It means trying to keep it clean and organized {which in a house with 3 little kids seems like a near impossible thing to do}. It means decorating for holidays. It means making my home a place where everyone want so come and CAN come and feel welcome. It means taking on home improvement projects. It means changing things up from time to time.

Next up on my hit list of home improvement projects is redoing my girls' room. My daughters are 6 and just about 1 year old. That means creating a space that is both cute and girly, but also functional for the two of them. It's kind of a daunting thing and I've been putting it off, but I'm getting kind of tired of looking at their blah beige room. It doesn't match their personalities at all!

I've been collecting different things that I like on Pinterest, but it's time to really sit down and narrow it down so that I can have a plan of attack! So here's what I have come up with:

1. I am going to beg and plead my hubby -- and if that doesn't work offer to bake him some of his favorite cookies -- to make my big girl this cute bed by Anna-White. Her plans are super simple and it's so much more fun to build your own furniture. Once built it will be painted white.

2. This is our existing crib. We bought it at Babies R Us about a year ago. {Technically my parents gave it to us as a baby gift for our newest addition}

3. We currently have a dresser similar to this in the girls room, but it is stained oak instead of white. I have a changing pad on the top and use it as a changing station. The drawers hold most of the clothes for my two girls. My big girl hangs her shirts and dresses in the closet and the baby's dresses and jackets are hung in the closet also. I plan to update our dresser and paint it white and add some new knobs to the drawers... just not sure yet which ones. ♥

4. For the first time EVER I am going to add a double curtain rod to the huge window that takes up more than half of one wall. Ya... it's nice to have the light, but figuring out where to place a bed, a crib, and a dresser was hard. These sheer drapes (from Ikea) will be in the back. (see #7 for the front panel) We don't have blinds on our window because they would be so wide they would need to be custom ordered. So, the sheer curtains will add privacy but allow some filtered light in the room during the day.

5. I saw this cute idea on Pinterest and I totally want to copy it to make one of these ballerina bow holders for my girls. Right now their hair pretties are in some boxes on a shelf in the bathroom. They are so cute though... why not make them part of the decor!?

6. Another Pinterest idea... I Heart Organizing used this Expedit shelf in her kids room closet. It divides the closet in half allowing each child their own space, plus using fabric bins or baskets you have extra storage space in the middle for socks, underwear, and other small things. More storage space is definitely needed in this room!

7. This cute print, I'm sorry to say, is no longer available from fabric.com but I bought enough yardage for drapes a while ago and I've been holding on to it. It is by Premier Prints -- part of their Bella collection. So, the super light pink dandelions on the white background are going to become the new front panel drapes for the huge window. Making your own curtains is super easy... watch for a tutorial on it!

8. I bought this lamp when my baby was just a newborn. She was having trouble spitting up at night and I wanted to be able to roll over and take a peek at her in the pack 'n play in the middle of the night to make sure she was okay. I bought this little lamp at Target with the intentions to move it to the girls room once she moved to her crib. It is in there now and my older daughter loves to use it to read at night before going to sleep.

9. This is my overall color scheme idea. Lots of really light pale pink with accents in a light ash blue, raspberry, and sage. I plan to create a custom quilt for my 6 year old with matching pillows and throw pillows. I have been collecting images on my phone as I go to Target and Home Goods of idea for pillows and quilts.

So, that's how it stands for now. I have been working these last 2 weeks to clear out the unnecessary "stuff" that seems to accumulate so that we are back to just the basics. Once the summer is over and we do some school shopping there will be a lot of clothes getting the boot. I think my 6 year old went through a growth spurt in about a week! All of the sudden her clothes are a little snug.

Stay tuned for an update! I am trying to figure out what to do with the walls. Right now they are an almond color. I'm thinking of cream stripes, or maybe painting them a very light ash brown color so that I can really add pops of color in the bedding and on the walls.

Does anyone out there have a big girl and a little girl sharing a room!? What do you find works well for you? I'd love some advice!!