A little girl's room should look like a little girl's room

Welcome back! If you are visiting for the first time, my 3 year house renovation is finally complete so my house is open for touring, and today is day 2. Click here to see day 1. Now you should be warned, this is no fancy shmancy house tour. Unfortunately, no designers or decorators were used in making this place come together...and as you will see, that reality is often evident. This is a real home, with a real dog, very real children, that do real things in it. Like throw up on the carpet, jump on furniture and track red clay all over the place. We decorate a lot with artwork that we create and I do a lot of drawing on my walls. This is a happy, fun place to live, and I am honored that you are here visiting.

Here was what we tackled first after buying this aging beauty of a home...our girl's room. It was a hard move for our oldest, as we had literally just finished the cutest little attic renovation for her in our old house. We had converted much of the attic into a playroom for our little ones, and it was precious. The ceilings were low and kind of awkward for adults, but it was perfect for a 3 year old and she loved it. The next month we were packing boxes and we felt guilty. Thus moving her bedroom remodel high on our priority list.

Here was the room before....

Though the wallpaper was clearly dated, I actually kind of liked it. It had charm. It wasn't charming enough for me not to rip down, but it did have some personality. This room has 2 closets, and that was great because I have two girls.

I had never taken down wallpaper before. It started fun and then quickly became tedious. I bore easily with such projects, and after one wall, I couldn't believe I had 3 to go. I first painted all the way around the room with tone on tone harlequin diamonds. The shade wasn't right, it drove me nuts, so I painted back over all of them with a different shade. It stayed that way for about 2 years. Then I started doing faux finsihes and I started all over again with this room. Here we are at the present...

The cute carpenter built me cornice boards for over their bed and thus birthed this small bit of little girl heaven. Emily over at Chatting at the Sky created the same look without using cornice boards. I think the white lights make it dreamy...

The cute carpenter made a few more cornice boards for me, I glazed them with gold paint, and hung my green silk panels inside. I like this picture because you see none of the imperfections that these window treatments are made of.

I still remember the night the cute carpenter tore out this ceiling. He stood knee deep in pink insulation and wondered why he had just done what he had just done, and also decided to take out the carpet all at the same time. He reframed the ceiling joists to allow for a trey ceiling. There is rope lighting resting in the crown molding that surrounds the trey and softly illuminates the room while the girls are falling asleep. This darlin' little chandelier finishes it off by hanging from the center.

Don't you want to sit here and read a book...

The last few months have started a new phase of life for Ella. She is trying to grow up on me, and I am trying to keep her small. The little girl ways of life, like pink and tulle and white lights are growing "babyish" for her. She has even done the unthinkable and started asking for her own room. I can't let go of this yet, though I know I am starting to loose my grip. For now, I am holding on.

See you next time when we move on to the kitchen. Life got interesting and I washed a lot of dishes in the bath tub.