Deep Purple: Creating a Grown Up Room

In a previous post, I mentioned how we made a customized cork board from a thrift store frame for my daughter's room. You see, my daughter went on vacation with her grandparents for a few weeks, so I took the opportunity to re-vamp her space to reflect her growing maturity. When we moved into this house, the paint in her room looked like this:

Which was fine (and actually pretty awesome) for a 7 year old. But as she grew older, I think she was craving a more sophisticated vibe. So, since her room was unoccupied for a full three weeks, I decided to take it over. I chose a saturated dark berry colour - 'Valhalla' by CIL. It is still feminine and cute, but definitely more mature than the bubblegum pink that was happening at the time. Little did I know, I was in it for the long haul ...

Oh my gosh. What have I done?

Wha?!

Ohhh, that's what a third coat looks like!

Ok. So I always fall victim to the first coat willies. No matter what colour you're painting, your walls almost always look like garbage after the first coat. How disappointing. But persistence pays off. A few days later, I got this yummy colour:

Finished product .. missing a dresser still.

I have to say, the coated paint tray from Home Depot was a lifesaver.

Teflon-coated paint tray from Home Depot.

Laying down some foil or plastic wrap on a regular plastic tray will be helpful, too. But, hey ... this Teflon business is pretty neat! Anyway, after a few (too many) coats of paint, I got started on the details. One of the best finds for this room was the ceiling-mounted curtain hardware from Debbie Travis' Canadian Tire collection. I sort of want to replace all my hardware with this. You see, it hangs panels from the ceiling so that you're not making a mess of your newly painted walls. It is so much easier to patch a drill hole in the white ceiling than having to patch and paint a wall.

Replacing the black ceiling fan with For Living Nadia Chrome Chandelier

Hanging smoothly.

I also ordered some chalkboard contact paper to make a sort of headboard above my girl's new daybed. I used this idea as an inspiration. With a little white acrylic paint and a monogram I found at Winner's, I came up with this:

Chalkboard contact paper sticks to the wall and is easily removeable.

Pardon the unfinished daybed build. The kit was missing some pieces, so I had to wait a week or two for the hardware to come in. But I did cut out some labels from the aforementioned chalkboard contact paper for her clothing drawers underneath the bed. The ALVINE KVIST duvet cover is from IKEA.

Glass of wine is optional, but highly recommended.

Here's a snapshot from the bedside. A thrift store frame houses an intro page from an old copy of 'Black Beauty', which was a great gift from an old friend. My daughter has since read the book and loved the motion picture. (Really, who wouldn't? *Sniff, sniff*)

The other photos are all personal favourites, framed by dollar store gems. Two of the "photos" are actually framed pieces of fabric that were left over from mending the living room curtain panels (also from IKEA, but I can't find them online anymore).

I picked up the acrylic lamp from Walmart and the chartreuse trellis-printed storage box from Winner's.


I really wish my daughter's room was still this tidy, months after I finished refurbishing it. Oh well, at least I have the photos to remember it by.