Gwen's Big Girl Room

Welcome to Gwen's new room!

I used to play with that antique desk too :)

Bert built some cool toy storage bins with chalkboard fronts. Someday we will put toys in them. :)

(Thanks again for sending these our way Jill!)

This is where we do reading time before nap time or bed time.
(I got this chair from World Market for my own bedroom last year but it's just too big,
so I'm really pleased to have an even better use for it in Gwen's room.
It seems to match the whimsical kid mood too.)

She is SO big these days!

Still to come: carpet on these treacherous stairs!
Bert got all the squeaks out of them by tightening with tons of extra screws
and using a thin saw inside certain edges.
What a HUGE difference to not have squeaky stairs anymore!

This was the same day I took the bedroom pics last week, she had arranged her animals into a "parade." 

Here's what we/Bert did upstairs to transform Gwen's room:

• relocated home office to downstairs guest room
• removed yucky carpeting and staples, discovered neat wood floors and applied simple wax coating
• painted trim, walls, stair railings, closet doors etc
• hung darkening roller blinds (IKEA) and homemade fabric curtains
• built a bed, loosely based on these plans, but we wanted a rounded headboard
• two new ceiling light fixtures
• dresser from craigslist, sanded and painted
• bench seat made from wood, bench cushion (using this plan)
• ordered area rug from target.com
• basket for stuffed animals from IKEA, dresser lamp re-purposed from my college days
• de-squeaked stairs
• added railing in the closet for hanging dresses
• And if you're interested in what brainstorming looked like, here was my pinterest board

Gwen seems to be fully adjusted to her new room and likes to show it to people who come to visit.  Sleeping in the big girl bed went really well.  She fell out a few times the first week, but since it's so low to the ground she was able to get back in.  We haven't filled the room with toys and books yet because she still prefers playing downstairs in our main living room areas, and she has a history of book damage when she's feeling naughty.  Overall, we're loving the new space for Gwen!