a room for my bean

The first room I tackled in our house (while it was still a rental) was Ella's room.  She was still sleeping in our room when we moved in, so I hadn't thought much about putting her room together besides getting her clothing and changing area organized.  When we did move her into her room (when my husband started school) I was shuffling furniture around on an almost daily basis trying to find an arrangement that would work and transition well as she outgrew her crib.  The room had been painted a few shades of pale green (neither of which I liked), and to top it all off, I think both had a semi-gloss finish.  If you live in an old house with original plaster walls, painting a wall with a semi-gloss paint is a bad idea!  It only made more apparent every surface imperfection.  In addition, as in all of the other rooms in the house (except the bathroom and kitchen) the trim was unpainted and in pretty bad shape.

I decided to paint just the walls at first, and leave the trim as it was.  I used Mythic Paint for the room, a non-toxic, low odor paint with no VOC's (Ella was still a baby after all and I was concerned about the fumes of regular paint).  I chose White Sail Lake for the walls.  However, after the walls were freshly painted, the trim looked even worse.  So, I got to work stripping the old, crackled varnish off the wood, then I gave it a light sand and started painting it white, White Fur by Behr.  This was a huge job and took me several weeks of working at night after I put her to sleep.  But I think it was well worth the effort.  I really love white trim.

I moved everything back into the room and then realized that the ceiling was looking a little drab against the new white trim.  So I headed back to the store and picked a very pale pink for the ceiling,   Gentle Butterfly by Valspar (they make a Low Odor, Low VOC).  I still have a few areas to touch up along the ceiling (paint peeled away while I was removing the painters tape), but other than that, the room feels complete.

My mother made the most beautiful curtains for Ella for Christmas - Dandelion in White/True Turquoise by Premier Prints.  The curtains are floor to ceiling, have a grommet top, and are fully lined (and my mom has been gracious enough to write up a tutorial, to be posted soon).  The rocking chair is a classic Eames Rocker in Lime Green by Herman Miller (best Christmas present ever), and the rug is from Almsted in Lilac from IKEA (no longer available).  I made the collaged numbers hanging on the wall for Ella's monthly photos, and the canvas toy bins are from 3 Sprouts.  I really had no fear of color in this room and wanted it to be fun and eclectic.  

My sister made the alphabet prints for Ella before she was born (so fantastic), and the vintage kindergarten table is from my Great Aunt's home (she inherited it from the school she taught at).  We used two IKEA Expedit units that we already had, tuned on their sides and stacked, for Ella's dresser.  I picked up the white baskets at no less than 4 Target stores, calling all of the stores in my area to see how many they had in stock.  I was never able to get more than three at each store!

I am very fond of the growth chart by Milk Moon kids, given to us by a good friend, and I just recently added the stitched star garland that I made with the left over stars from my holiday Starry Garland.

We have so much fun in Ella's room, reading and playing with the entire family (including the dog), and I am excited to continue watching the room as it evolves and grows with her.