Trading Spaces

A few years ago a show called "Trading Spaces" used to be on TLC. I loved that show and always wanted to do a big reveal like they did. A few months ago Madie started complaining that her room was too "babyish". She wanted something more grown up. I painted that room before we had even moved in back in 2002. Madie was one month past her 1st birthday and I wanted her room to be the very first we painted in our new home. So, Pete's mom and I got to work on painting it. Sue painted most it by the time I got there with Madie, so I didn't help a lot, but over the years we've tried to make it grown with her and with Livie after she was born. But, she was right. It was very pastel and very "little girl", so I decided back in October we would make a change to it for her birthday.

These are a couple "BEFORE" pictures:



That's Madie's bed on the left and Livie's on the right.

That is a shot facing the door with their dollhouse bookshelf that my dad made with a bunch of their toys on it. Now, Livie wasn't thrilled that her room was changing. In fact, she was quite happy with the way it was and was in tears all week as she thought about the changes that were coming.

First thing we did, was take everything off the walls on Sunday. We took the bookshelf down to the basement and started gathering the toys to take downstairs. Only a few were going to end up staying.

On Tuesday night we took everything out but the beds and centered them in the room, so I could begin painting the next day on my day off. The girls really loved having a night with their beds like this. They thought it was great! Even Tater got in on the action. :-)

Starting Wednesday, after the kids got off to school, Madie was officially shut out of her room. She wasn't allowed to know anything that was going on in that room. In fact, if you asked her, she thought the room was going to be chocolate brown with blue bedding and a big picture of Jack Sparrow on her wall. ;-) The first thing up was the paint. It wasn't chocolate brown, but a nice sandy color called "Plateau". I was going for a beach theme here. After finishing the paint on Wed and getting all the furniture and new accessories in place, we were ready for the reveal.

Here are the "AFTER" pictures:

In place of the old bookshelf, we bought Madie a new desk. She has had the hardest time doing her homework without distraction and now she has a quiet space to work. Her bed with the pink comforter is gone and in its place is this new persimmon-colored quilt made by my mom-in-law. Isn't it beautiful?! I hope to put something on her wall behind her bed, but haven't figured out what yet. She doesn't seem to mind that it's empty. We'll look for something together. :-)

I think the new desk is one of her favorite things. Each of the girls get a basket to hold their stuff in on the new wall board. She can hang pictures there and have a quiet place to study now. :-)

This is Madie's bed. You can't see it, but on her nightstand is a picture of Jack Sparrow. A little homage to her desire for something of him in her room. She LOVES the surfboard too! Very tween, if you ask me. :-)

This is Livie's side. I'm happy to report that she's not crying anymore. She loves the changes as much as Madie! I think her favorite is her fluffy "Yeti" pillow. Again, another quilt to match Madie's made by her Nana. Since her Nana had a part in making Madie's room a special place 10 yrs ago, I'm so glad she got the chance to be a part of making her new room something special too. :-)

When we finally showed the room to Madie, she was so surprised and SOOOOO super-excited! She told me, "You should be proud. You did a good job!". Made me feel great! The last present we got her was a scrapbook to scrapbook all about her new room and her 11th birthday. She loved it too and can't wait to get started. I think we made her birthday a pretty special one and one she won't soon forget!