Big Girl Room

Dear Em,
I love your nursery. We painted your walls before we even knew of you, but I had dreams of a little love someday playing in your room. Your daddy & I put together your crib & furniture together. I sat with a huge belly on the floor while one of my good friends painted the mural in your nursery. When I was 6 months pregnant, I painted the stars on your ceiling (stopping every five minutes to answer the phone & have Grandma ask if I need anything & Nonnie ask if I was being careful). We've snuggled up in your nursery & read books together. We've rocked through cranky nights of teething. Your Daddy & I have watched your sweet little face as you slept.

But it's time. It's time for you to sleep in a big-girl bed. With that, I figured why not move you to a big-girl room? We have three bedrooms & an office in our house. Your nursery is right next to our room & has been the perfect size for what you've needed. As you've grown, so have the things that you own. You need a room that can fit more books & dress-up clothes & space for you to move around. So, we're going to move you into the larger guest room, which has basically become a storage space when we don't have guests using it.

That means we get to design a whole new room for you. You get more space, I get to have fun creating your space. It's a win-win.

We won't be officially working on the room until this spring when I paint the walls, but I'm already planning...& dreaming (I may have drawn a diagram or two). I'm thinking grey for the walls so we can accent with a lot of fun colors & art work. Maybe marina grey from Benjamin Moore? RIght now the heaters are painted a deep blue color (thanks so much to the previous owners of our house). Does anyone know of they best way to repaint heaters? Augh.

Once Nonnie & Papi get here this summer, I'm hoping they can help us build these beds featured on Design Mom. I haven't decided on the fabric to cover them with yet. I'm thinking maybe a green or a yellow. Daddy asked why we got a crib that converts to a bed if we weren't going to use it? Because it doesn't really fit with my vision we'll need the crib if we have another baby.

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I'm crushing on this bedding from Pottery Barn. Girly, with some pink, but it doesn't scream pink (nothing worse than a room that makes you think of pepto bismol). We can incorporate accents of so many different colors. Plus, it's been on sale.

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The white bead board bookcase we bought you from Company Kids for Christmas will be perfect in between the two beds. Yup, I said two. Not because we have plans for a little sibling just yet. I just think it would be fun for you to have an extra bed for overnight guests...and maybe someday a sibling. Anyway, the shelve will be great between them so you can always reach for your books when you're in bed (right now we have a bunch of books on your changing table & you pull them in with you at night).

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The yellow gliding rocker & the yellow curtains we already have in your nursery match the bedding perfectly & bring in a little more yellow. Yellow is one of my favorite colors. I bought your curtains from Kohls, & they were a great price.

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I love these organizing cubes from Home Decorators collection, & they're wicked affordable. I'm thinking one on each side of the window at the end of the room would be perfect with a bench in between. You'd have your very own little reading nook with warm sunlight streaming through the window (sigh, I always wanted a window seat reading nook when I was growing up).

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I'm hoping Papi can help us make the bench for your reading nook. If not, this one from company kids is super cute (& has more storage).

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I like to look to Birds of a Feather for inspiration. They put this light fixture from Lowes in an office, but I think it would also be good fit in a girl's garden themed bedroom (plus, we really need a new light fixture in that room anyway).

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You love dress-up & jewelry & mirrors. Once you're in the bigger room, you'll have the space for it. I'm loving this coat rack from Ballard Designs to hang all of your dress-up clothes/boas/hats/etc. It's kind of pricey, but it's such a great storage solution (your dress-up rack is a disaster now, with no spot to place non-hanging items). They did just send me a 10% coupon. Still, maybe I can find something similar on Craigslist?

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Ofcourse, you'll need someplace to dress. Isn't this vanity I found on Amazon great? Plus, it can double as a desk someday.

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Once you're dressed, you'll need a mirror to twirl around in. Love this one, also found on Amazon.

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And when you're done dressing yourself up, you might want to dress up some dolls. This doll house would look super cute sitting in your new room. Add that to the wish list too.

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I'm not sure about art for the walls yet. I think we're going to mix a lot of what we already have & add a few new & bright pieces. I adore this hair bow/tutu/wall art from Etsy. You have at least a hundred hair bows/clips, & it would be a cute way to organize them all.

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Wouldn't this set of prints from Etsy be amazing for bringing in bright colors & flowers? Haley, from Life is Sweet, just did something similar in her baby's nursery. Sigh, when you look at Etsy, the possibilities are literally endless. So many beautiful things.

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There are so many adorable & fun things that we can make & purchase for a lovely girls room. I'm in room designing heaven. Can't wait for the summer (for your 2.5 birthday) when we can unveil your new room.

I love you so,

Mommy

* Readers, what do you think? What would you put in your dream girls room? *