Sarah's Birthday Room Re-do!

For Sarah's 11th birthday, she decided she wanted to update her room. "It looks like a little girl's room not an 11-year-old's room." 

So, even though we had just redone her room for her 9th birthday, I told her we could.  Because honestly, I hated the colors she chose for that room re-do.  (Three bright Pepto pink walls and one bright purple wall!  Those colors could definitely keep you up at night!)

I told her that I would get the paint and help her paint the walls but she would have to take care of all the new accessories. 

Peter and Dan headed to Boy Scout Camp and she and I got to work. 

First, let's do a few BEFORE shots.  

We had already removed a white book case from the center of this wall before I remembered that I have a blog and needed to take before shots!

These letters used to hang over her crib so I would say we definitely got our money's worth.  But she decided they were too babyish for her new room so she took the "S" and we covered it in scrapbook paper and it is hanging on her door now.  (See first photo in post.)

Inside the stripped mesh is a cool purple butterfly chair.  This also did not make the cut for the new updated tween room.  Her room is pretty small and she wanted it to feel more open which is why the bookshelf is out and so is the chair.

Sarah wanted a soft neutral color so we headed to Lowes and picked out a ton of samples.  We ended up with Ballet Slipper.  It's almost white but it has a definite pink tone but, thankfully, not Pepto pink!

It already looks so much better!

She and I made several trips to Hobby Lobby looking for just the right accessories and trips to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Target, and Kohls to find the right neutral bedspread.  She chose a white bedspread because she wanted all of her accessories to "pop"

She wanted a gallery wall over her desk and spent a lot of time and money on it.  It took two trips to Hobby Lobby to get just the right frames for the wall and then we spent a lot of time arranging the frames, and then a lot of time getting them on the wall.  (I used the old trick of copying the frames on paper and hanging the paper up so we would  know where to put the nail holes.)

We waited for Daddy's return from Boy Scout camp before we hung everything.  

And here is the final product! 

She made the pillow cases using a no-sew tutorial she found on You Tube.  (Way cheaper than buying new pillows!)

Doesn't the gallery wall look great?

Cute clock from Aunt Cathy!

Taaa daaaaah!

She is thrilled with her new room.  It's very calming and she spends a lot of time in here.  The color looks a little washed out in these pictures but there's some definite pink tones so it's still girly but without being "little girl".  I think she acheived the look she was going for and I'm very proud of her.  She had a vision and she made sure we stuck with it until the project was completed!

And without so much stuff in it, the room looks and feels bigger and it's definitely easier for her to keep clean.  I think it needs some curtains but she didn't want any.  I might get her some anyway because the window looks so naked.

So this was Sarah's big room redo and I can't believe it's been done for over a month and I'm just now posting it.