M's Room Revisited

I may have mentioned that Maren and I took a little trip to Michigan this summer. While we were away, Brett went to work on installing wainscoting in Maren's room. We had put it up in her nursery in our old house, and it was the thing I was saddest to leave behind...so much work, and I didn't know when/if we'd ever put it in her room in this house. My sweet husband knew how much I loved her old room, and he surprised me by re-doing her new room while we were away. Pretty great surprise, right?

I love red and turquoise together, and wanted to do something a little out-of-the-ordinary for M's room. We painted the walls a soothing watery blue, appropriately called 'quiet moments' by Benjamin Moore. I found it to be fitting for a toddler's room! {Wishful thinking, at least.}

About a month ago, we decided that Maren was ready for a twin bed. All of the big pieces of furniture were hand-me-downs or junk finds, which you'd never know now. Let's take a tour!

Here's the view from the door. Someday we'll move the bed away from the wall and add a nightstand, but for now we don't want her to fall out of the bed. *wink* As our budget allows, we'd also love to hang curtains, and in my dream world, we'd install plantation shutters. {Swoon.}

Her wardrobe...this was my furniture when I was a little girl. I love that Maren is able to use it now. We also re-finished a smaller chest of drawers that we're using in her closet right now.

The original finish...

I had a picture in my head of navy blue stain, which would allow for the knots of the wood to show through a bit. In order to re-stain the furniture, it had to be sanded down thoroughly.

We used a conditioning pre-stain treatment before we applied the actual stain. We used a colored stain from Lowe's {I think}. The color was Agean. Dreamy name, huh?

I thought about replacing all the hardware, but decided it was going to be too pricey to get what I really wanted. SO, I resorted to spray-painting all the metal parts of the knobs and the hinges the same color as we did the headboard. I LOVE the way it turned out! It makes the furniture look like it belongs together without appearing to match-y. I sprayed a quick coat of primer, and then used Valspar Mediterranean in gloss. I love this color...it is the perfect turquoise.

Believe it or not, I found that little table and chairs on Craigslist for $25. It looked just like that when I bought it. Doesn't it look like it was made to go in this room? I was thrilled!

There's a nice little spot for a narrow bookshelf just inside the door. Maren loves to read, so we have books all over the house. We hung a peg rack behind the door for coats and her dress-up hat. It was my grandma's!

We painted the little kitchen hutch red a while back when we made the kitchen. My grandpa built this for me when I was a girl. Again, I love that Maren's able to use it now. I found the chandelier at a local antique store. The electrical was a mess, so I stripped it and just added candles. We don't ever light them, of course, but it sure looks sweet!

A cradle made by my grandpa {I was a lucky girl, huh?} and a sweet little quilt hand-quilted by my grandma. That little quilt is so special, as she's no longer able to sew because of Parkinson's Disease. She made some gorgeous quilts back in the day. I'm thankful to have a couple. Someday I'll show you.

There's the little girl at work! She loves tea-parties. I'm thrilled to say that she's quite the little hostess. Ha!



The bed 'before'...



So much better! I was able to find bedding I love at the Pottery Barn outlet store. I sort of mixed and matched from different sets that were on clearance, and I love the finished look!

Brett's mom made this fabulous quilt for M when she was born. This was the fabric in her crib bedding...all replica 30's flour-sack prints. I asked for a twin-sized quilt instead of a crib quilt, and I'm so glad! Can you believe all those gathers? A lot of work went into this, and I can't wait for Maren to be old enough to appreciate it. For now, we use it mostly as a decoration. I figure once the random throwing-up and potty-training stage of childhood is over, it can be spread across the bed!

Some more treasures on the shelf over the little table...sweet vintage books, old baby bottles and a little Swedish tomte from my mom.

I was given this lamp when I was expecting Maren, and I glued some vintage buttons around the bottom of the lampshade.

That's all for now! I have a few more things I hope to add in the near future. Maren loves to spend time in her room, which I love. She is old enough to enjoy having her own little space, and I loved making it a fun and special place for my little lady.

The theme over at the CSI project this week is 'turquoise'...go check it out!