Blue Bedroom Makeover for My Daughters
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I turned this cluttered, disorganized (kinda shabby) room into a fresh and polished space for my two daughters!
Story time: This bedroom has the best view in the house overlooking out woody backyard and the pond beyond. My oldest daughter claimed this room when we moved in, but this past fall she began attending a boarding school so… the room was kinda vacant. She agreed to let my middle daughter move into this room provided she clears out whenever big sis is home from school! It seems to be working out fine for now, but it meant I had to get both girls to sign off on the overall design plan! Miracles CAN happen.
The Before
The layout was the hardest thing to figure out for this space. I suggested a few other places for the largest piece of furniture, the bed, but both girls firmly agreed that they liked it in the corner where it was to start.
Other dilemmas: they wanted a sofa and a desk so those things had to work their way into the final layout. The first desk was nice and small but also shabby and kind of falling apart. Also? Neither girl every really *used* the desk, but both girls wanted some sort of a desk. The previous loveseat was ginormous… too big for the space. And… the only storage, other than the desk, was a flimsy Ikea bookshelf and some floating shelves.
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The Plan
Whenever I’m designing a space for my kids, I ask them to weigh in. I’m still going to make the final decision, but obviously I want to know what they like and don’t like. My middle daughter liked mint green and pale pink so I made the first design board below.
When I showed this image to my older daughter she was very sweet about it but said it wouldn’t be her first choice. Ha. Older daughter said she’d love the color blue in there and… middle daughter agreed so version 2 was born:
Step 1: PAINTING
There is a lot of architecture in this room with all the doors and windows. To create a more cohesive space, I decided to paint all the trim the same color as the wall: Benjamin Moore’s Slate Blue (color matched at Home Depot).
Step 2: SHELVES
My original plan was to make a wall of built ins for the room, but… the only wall that could accommodate them was the corner opposite the bed. And because the girls wanted a desk, the built-ins had to include some sort of a work surface. A while ago, I built some shelves in my office but they weren’t perfect and the idea of built ins was intimidating-amundo. You know what wasn’t as scary? Hacking a desk I found on FB marketplace.
When building the shelves, my biggest concern was obviously sagging in the middle because of their width. Normally this would mean a simple center support but the desk meant that was impossible without blocking the middle of the work surface. I made sure that each shelf was strong enough individually (i.e. chunky) but it turned out matching the lines of the desk below pretty well actually! I finished off the shelves with 3/4″ plywood trim.
Both the desk and the bookshelves got sanded, a coat of primer and then a coat of paint in the same color as the rest of the bedroom. I anchored the bookshelf into the studs on the wall for extra support and so that there’s no chance of tipping over.
Step 3. Window Treatments– Cornice Boards
When my older daughter saw pictures of the space, the first thing she said was, ‘the windows seem empty now’ and she’s not wrong. I didn’t want to hang curtains because of the furniture in front of and on either side of both windows but I had another idea: a cornice board. A cornice board (or pelmet) is a rigid, often upholstered, box that sits on the top edge of a window to conceal blinds or curtain hardware. It comes in a wide variety of shapes and can be a simple, yet effective, way to jazz up a window! I started by cutting the shape out of 1/2″ plywood… I’m not the best at upholstery so opted for a simple one-step design with a decorate pink ribbon trim and I think they came out great! (See how I built these cornice boards here.)
Step 4: Wall Art
I hung a gallery wall of those 8×10 pink frames next to the window so I didn’t want to hang another gallery wall on the larger space over the bed. I picked up these budget canvas posters in bright and colorful floral prints and stuck them right to the wall with these removable adhesive stickers. To finish it off a bit, I added a painted pink frame around the perimeter.
Step 5: Decorative Details
Other details for this space? I was able to reupholster the old headboard (DIY tutorial here) with a sweet rose colored velvet. I also added a new duvet, matching bedding and a new dust ruffel so the bed coordinates to the rest of the space. In order to free up space on their small little nightstand and not block the window, I mounted a cute swing arm sconce to the wall over their bed.
I styled the bookshelves with some blue books I picked up at the thrift store (the girls will move their objects back in now that I’ve photographed the space!) and swapped out the desk chair and my oldest daughter’s request.
You can see the new loveseat and the new rug… both of which made a HUGE difference in creating a cohesive updated space. The gallery wall is filled with family photos and a cute pink standing lamp brings a little more light to that corner. My oldest requested a plant so I gave her that hanging plant in a disco planter that I knew would make her roll her 15-year-old eyes.
The closet still needs some attention, but for now… we’re enjoying this new and improved girls’ bedroom… the blue paint is perfect and the added new details are fun and playful and hopefully something that will grow with my girls!
Reminder that this is how the room looked BEFORE… and AFTER.
Source List
To shop this space, check out the links below!
It turned out so cute and playful,
Thank you! We love it! xx