Anabelle's room has gotten a makeover in the last few months. I wish I had taken pictures of what her room looked like before. I can't believe it, but I looked back through old photos and I don't have any- which is unlike me. So you'll just have to make do with the new and improved room photos, and imagine what the old one looked like. Her room used to be a dark sage green, with a crib, changing table, rocking chair, and pink and white accents.
This makeover has taken quite a while because we did it in stages. The first thing to go was the crib, and it happened so quickly that I wasn't quite ready for it emotionally. I know that sounds silly, but it's a big step when your baby no longer sleeps in her crib. In early December we put her new twin bed in her room, just the mattress and box spring on the floor. We'll put some rails and a headboard on eventually, but right now I like the bed low to the ground for her. I shouldn't be surprised anymore because she has always been good with transitions like this, and a new bed was no different. She fell out of bed twice and hasn't since. She stays in bed and doesn't get out till we open the door in the morning. All we had to do was firmly tell her once or twice that she needed to stay in bed. Now when she wakes up in the morning, she yells out "Get out please!" and we get up and open her door and she hops out of bed. We try to be pretty prompt, so that she keeps up this routine. However, there have been a few occasions where I was in the middle of something and she had to wait a little bit and she still stays in bed- even after nap too. I am sure one of these days she will start getting out of bed and that is fine, but for now this is a good system we have going.
Once we were sure she was going to be ok in the new bed, it was time to work on decor. John painted her room one weekend in early January and then I began looking for fabric to make curtains. Since I was also working on baby Charlotte's new room too, it has taken me longer than I would like to complete both rooms. But I am happy with Anabelle's new room, and more importantly- so is she! Wanna take a look?
Here is the view from the door.
Anabelle and I picked out her sheets and blanket from Target. We looked at everything and then I gave her 3 sheet sets to choose from, and 3 blankets to choose from. That way we were both happy with what we got. I like the colorfulness of her room. After having a room of only pink, green, and white, since birth- it is nice to bring in some new bright colors.
These letters were a gift from Darcy when Anabelle was born, they used to be painted white with green and pink gingham ribbon. Anabelle has always had them hanging in her room and loved to look and them and talk about how to spell her name. I wanted to still use them, but they needed a little updating. I covered them with fabric that coordinated with her curtains and pennant banner and then changed the ribbon to white. She loves them!
I had seen these pennant banners all over the internet in nurseries and children's room and at parties. I had even made some out of paper for Anabelle's 1st birthday party. I love how they look and think they are perfect for a little one's room. I made this one out of fabric that I bought to match the curtains that I made. It was very easy to make and adds some bright color to this large wall in Anabelle's room. She calls it her "flag".
At the foot of Anabelle's bed is her toybox, a birthday gift from her Uncle Mike- can you believe he built it himself?! Right now she keeps all of her stuffed animals in there. Her lamp also got an update. It used to have a pink and green gingham shade, but we switched out the old shade for a new brighter, more simple shade with a green trim. On the wall I hung a shelf that holds her piggy banks, snow globes, and bells- basically all the things I don't want her to break :) Then I have her hand and foot prints framed.
I love having Anabelle's hand and foot prints in her room. Every year on her birthday I have her do a new set and then hang them up. I keep all of the past ones in the back on the frame. I used a scrap of the fabric from her curtains to be the back ground for the prints. Then I hung the frame with a cute pink ribbon.
Here we are back to Anabelle's bed, notice her little pillow, heart pillow (a gift from her Aunt Abby) and her "Ba" (the pink bear, which was a gift when she was born from Aunt Steph and Uncle Mike). These are all of the things she can't sleep without. Good thing her bed is bigger now, because it sure is getting full.
To the left of her bed we have her new curtains. I had been having a difficult time finding fabric that I liked when one day we were at Hobby Lobby and I saw this fabric- I know it is bold and looks like something out of the 60s, but I love it! Luckily Anabelle agreed with me. I just sewed a simple flat valance, but I am thinking I might like a fuller more ruffled look, so in my spare time (haha!) I might change them up a bit.
Underneath the window we have her new bookshelf, a Christmas gift from John and I. I had looked for a while online to find a display bookshelf, I like how she can easily see the titles, this is where we keep her current favorites! Next to the bookshelf we have a basket to hold the smaller board books that often get lost on the bookshelves.
Finally on the last wall we have a big shelf that holds more books, and some toys for her to play with in her room. It is a new thing for Anabelle to have toys in her room, but I think it is nice for her to have her own space where she can play independently. I also think that once Charlotte comes along, she will be happy to have her own personal space for toys that are important to her and that she doesn't want her little sister to touch.
Above her shelf, Anabelle has a weird little storage cubby. It comes in handy for storing diapers, blankets, and any other odds and ends that don't fit in her closet. On the door of the cubby, I decided to hang a bulletin board where Anabelle can hang pictures, art work or cards. I took a large picture frame that I found at a thrift store and removed the glass. Then I glued cork tiles to the back of the frame. Finally I covered the frame with fabric scraps from her curtains.
Well that's it, Anabelle's new room, I am so glad that she likes it as much as I do. Of course there is always room for improvement. A friend of mine suggested a space to hang art work, and I love that idea, so I think that we may have one more change in the future. I am thinking of making a display area on the large wall under her pennant banner. It is bittersweet, but I love how her room looks like a little girls room now, and not a baby nursery.
