I know, I know, I know!! In my quest to take time to breathe and take in all that’s in my life and that of my family’s, I’ve managed to streamline my daily routine and made the effort to cut my 12-16 hr workdays to 8...okay, 10. Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to streamline all, and that has meant that something as always has to suffer...and that would be my blog. As much as I love blogging and sharing with readers, it often finds me having to do so at 2am, which not only makes for a long work day the next, but creates a not so great impression with my daughter’s new kindergarten teacher when bolting late for the classroom door :-(. I had no choice but to get my act together. But...in one final brouhaha into the wee morning hours, I finally got to Eliza’s room, and thought to sneak in yet another late night to share. I think it’s safe to say, this will be a multi-part series. Who’d have thought a little girl’s room could involve so many fun little projects? Did I mention "fun"?
'BEFORE' No. 1
'BEFORE' No. 1
Whoever coined the phrase “necessity is the mother of all inventions” had to have been living in a small town!! I live in such a town...approx population: 8000, on a good day. We don’t have the big box stores with the exception of Wal-Mart and Zellers. Specialty and designer shops? Forget it! You get what you get and you either find a way to embellish it, order online, or wait for the occasional trek of 300 km or more to get you to a center that does have more to offer. Sometimes when what you’re envisioning can’t be found, you don your creative cap and dig deep and boy did I dig deep!
Lizzy acquired a room which I never quite got to in terms of repainting...and still haven’t. It was a room which we had originally dubbed ‘the weight room’. A weight training machine, free weights, exercise mat etc sitting amidst a really pretty green paint on the walls, glazed with hand-painted vines and flowers, cream colored trim and without curtains on the windows providing ample natural lighting and warm sunshine even in the deepest of freezes, made this a really feel-good kind of room - one that could provide all of the positive energy and conducive environment to a grueling workout, as I had found that included on my list of excuses the length of my arm that I could dream up justifying skipping the workout, a ‘too busy’ and ‘too dark’ room were among them.
When we found out we were expecting, we knew ‘the weight room’ would soon have to be the nursery, but I was still undecided as to what to do with her room, so decided to leave it alone until I could decide. The wall color could still work, somewhat, which was the objective. I just could not bring myself to paint over all of my hard work! Having not much skill in sewing other than having the ability to use a pair of scissors and sew a straight line, I made her nursery bedding while expecting our bundle of joy, with remnants bought from a local fabric shop for a whopping total of $32. I had dug through bins upon bins until finding 4 patterns I felt could work together, which included a hint of green...proceeded to sew up a storm of straight lines and made her bumper-pad, toy-bag, diaper hanger, comforter, cushions, curtains etc.
'BEFORE' No.2
We really lucked out in finding a crib at a yardsale. It was a Jenny Lynn in a dark maple finish and one that had been salvaged from a fire but with minimal smoke damage. After much cleaning and sanding, we refinished it in an antiqued finish of cream. Joe had built her a French styled pine dressing armoire, which I had antiqued also, as well as a change table we had built for her with open shelving and beadboard backing and sides...we were ready!
But, she’s 4 now! Eliza loved her crib. Any mention of buying her a new "big girl bed" was met with resistance, so we put it off for the longest time. After all, it was a time of great transition and slow but sure gains of independence in her little life had already been made. We really weren’t eager to rush her into something she wasn’t ready for, so we worked with what we had, and all in due time to cause minimal upheaval. We removed her bumper pad and a side panel of the bed which allowed her to get in and out of her crib/bed freely until finally came the point when there was just no more denying, the child is just too long for her bed!! But finding a “big girl bed” for her would prove to be a daunting task!
Little Project No. 1...
What I discovered was #1, beds are expensive and #2, beds are confusing to buy!! What I did find tho, was a 2nd hand brass/metal newer type headboard for $100...super shiny, but I loved the design and could easily envision it as being really suitable for a little girl’s room with a little paint and work. So, I dragged it out onto the front lawn and primed, spray-painted, and sanded on one of the rare sunny days we had this summer. This is how it turned out...
to be continued...
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