The Teen Room
Phoebes bedroom makeover was a complete and total labor of love. I have one daughter and thus will have one teenage daughter for whom to do a teenage girl bedroom and so I have poured all my heart and soul and decorating savvy into her haven.
She will grow up so much in this room,
she will leave her little girl self behind and I feel like this room
is symbolic of that passage.
Phoebes bedroom makeover was a complete and total labor of love. I have one daughter and thus will have one teenage daughter for whom to do a teenage girl bedroom and so I have poured all my heart and soul and decorating savvy into her haven.
She will grow up so much in this room,
she will leave her little girl self behind and I feel like this room
is symbolic of that passage.
Step 1. Choosing the colors.
We agonized over the colors. Phoebe wanted the room more grown up and while she was not sure exactly what she wanted, she knew she did NOT want anything too sweet or pastel. She also wanted three walls white and one dark accent wall and stick on trees. Okay.
CHOOSING WHITE: The white was a chore to choose, they all look very different room to room, but finally, we settled on Benjamin Moore Cotton Balls. A soft, light white with a breath of ivoryish yellow, like I said, nit picking here.
ACCENT WALL: Had I painted the room 4 weeks ago, it would have had white walls and a Benjamin Moore Grizzly Bear brown accent wall. (I have the paint if you want it!)
Three weeks ago it would have had a Jamacian Aqua accent wall,
and two weeks ago, a Razzle Dazzle hot pink wall behind her bed.
I am usually not this indecisive, EXCEPT when it just does not feel right.
Then I drive myself and probably my family and anyone else in listening distance…crazy…because after all, few people care about these things like I do…and I am okay with that.
Finally, one week ago, we stumbled on Navy, and that felt right.
When we chose Navy and hot pink and white I knew we were onto something.
fast forward to last week…
…so, Phoebe left town ON THEIR FIELD TRIP, AND I got the room painted. The painting took about 3 days. I started with the trim which I did in Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace.
It is a lovely nice crisp bright white, which I knew would frame the Cotton balls. TEEHEE
…lastly, I applied the peel and stick trees and owls which was not much fun and
I don’t want to talk about it! She LOVES them and that is all that matters.
Step 2. – Pulling the furniture all together -next it was time for the furniture to be repurposed and repainted.
(mind you, I did all of these steps in my own everything at the same time, way. I am breaking it down for YOU so you don’t try to do it all simultaneously like me! It was crazy. )
Phoebe had outgrown her dresser, a yard sale find which was better suited to toddler sized clothing, and so after much scouting, I bought this dresser at the Greenwood Country Store, where I have furnished half of my living room. It needed painting. I sanded and painted the body, with Benjamin Moore Glacier White (yet another kitchen cabinet reject!) but it is the perfect off white for furniture…
I bought the shabby resin appliques (on the bottom two drawers) on ebay and glued them on the bottom two drawers. (side note) It helps to warm them up first, so they are more pliable, especially if your dresser front is curved, like ours. To do that, I soaked them in hot water. whoops, all the paint on them came off, (paint them last) Then I glued them on with wood glue, I tried Gorilla Glue, but A. it was stuck to my fingers all week and two, it then dries and it oozes out in the hard foamy yuck I did not need. USE ELMERS
The glass knobs I got at Lowes. The chandelier over her dresser I got on sale at PBTEEN a few years ago, probably 2 Phoebe rooms ago, but had never used it.
NEXT -I bought Phoebes little secretary desk from a friend a few years ago. It was fine, but since I WAS doing a makeover and it had gotten dirty and dingy, I put an applique (one I had ordered but did not use on the dresser) on the door and then I painted it BM Bunny Gray and sprayed it inside with bright yellow gloss (a spontaneous decision). love those.
Phoebe’s bed
was already painted Benjamin Moore’s Elephant Pink,
but I took it up a notch and painted it BM Semi Gloss Pink Peony, still pastel,
but a tad brighter. Her bedside table,
I forgot about until I was frantically putting her room to gather for the reveal!
I ran outside with it, I spray painted hot pink and took aqua glass knobs which were from an old project, and stuck them on and loved it and that whole process took about 15 minutes!
(this I did right before I went to go pick her up when she was on her way home).
done.
Step 3. Lighting- this ceiling light fixture above the bed is original to the house, I painted and rewired it and replaced the globes, about a year ago. It is fine for now, though I am picturing something different for later.
…little things I picked up along the way…like the cute recycled Vietnamese newspaper wastebasket I got from Bed Bath Beyond. I love the colors.
…I wanted to get her a big cozy arm chair for her to cuddle up and read in, but I could only afford this plastic adirondak chair from the grocery store.
All good. She loves it. It’s cute, and it will buy us some time. You can’t do it all at once, and honestly, it is kind of fun to have something left to scout out.
one year later we painted the dresser with this rugby stripe….
Over in the corner is tucked this pink metal Tower which is from PBTEEN, and was in another part of the house. Repurpose. It is indispensable in her room for all of her shoes and sports stuff. It is made of metal and so she can stick things on that are magnetic. The white basket liners, from Ebay -were 4 for $9.99 , and are monogrammed with random things…I love it! One even says “Hailey” which is my nieces name!
…over the non-working fireplace is the mantle which I also painted Bunny Gray is a pink mirror which was a hand me down that I spray painted hot pink. the blue globes on the sconces used to be on my son’s light fixture, and were in the attic: they are from Lowes from years ago.
Her room and her brothers room are attached by a door, which for the most part, they don’t mind, the door is usually open and they go between the two rooms.
…here are her Birthday Thank You’s and her first place ribbons from track and field day.
What I love about this room is that she has not missed a beat… it suits her to a tee and she loves it!tomorrow pillows and window treatments!
