So for today, there's no card.... not even a scrapbook layout! Or even doll clothes, which I said I liked to sew and show on here! Today is dedicated to a few pictures of the bedroom re-do that we surprised Gemma with last week! And, boy, was she ever surprised! I had to blink back a few tears and swallow hard myself when she opened that door! The smile on her face was all we needed to know that she was IN LOVE with the finished product! She didn't even care that she wasn't getting a DS, which is what she had asked for and believed she was getting!
Let's start with a few pictures, shall we?
First of all... the birthday girl herself! Happy birthday, Sweetie! We love you very much!
Without further ado, here's a shot when you are standing in the doorway of her room, looking in.
Close up of the chair (Pier 1 Imports) The cushions I snagged at Home Sense. Blanket is IKEA.
The wall colour is Refreshing Pool, which we bought at Home Depot. (Behr brand). The framed pin board is from Winners, and came with those pearl headed pins. You can see she is already putting it to good use with two of her MANY birthday cards! You can see that my girls already know that you do NOT buy birthday cards... you make them yourself! And if you're very lucky, your mommy gives you her old, but perfectly good supplies!
This picture is taken with me standing over by the dress form looking toward the wall with the door.
Dresser, night table and book shelf are all from IKEA. Frames and shell jewelry holder are Home Sense. The picture above the dresser is something we've had for years (IKEA) and it matched the room and theme perfectly. It will hang here until we find just the right mirror for above her dresser.
Decorations on the bookshelf we found at IKEA and Michaels.
I was VERY excited when I saw this at HomeSense and immediately phoned my husband to prepare him that I was definitely having a successful shopping trip! The dress form was just what I was looking for! I bought the jewelry at Ardene's and the flower brooch at Michaels! Isn't it so pretty?
The bedding is a great find at HomeSense (where else?) And the throw cushions were one of her top wish list items for a new room. Pretty sure we can cross that off the list!
Now, you may be wondering where in the world did we buy that bed? We didn't! I'm VERY proud to say that MY HUSBAND built it! And then proceeded to take anything we MIGHT HAVE saved on this bedroom, and bought a paint sprayer with it! Granted, it saved me ALOT of painting time and the finish on the bed is FANTASTIC! Seriously! The bed plan we found on the Ana White website. It is the Twin Farmhouse Bed. All free! Thanks Ana! You should definitely go there and check it all out! The paint we used for the bed was leftover paint we had from some cabinets in our family room, and just happened to match the other new furniture exactly! What could be better? The lamp on the bedside table is also an IKEA find. (as well as the curtains!) The curtain rod is from FabricLand. (50% for members all the time!)
Here's a couple more shots of the bed!
This is the sturdiest bed we have in the house. The headboard alone weighs at least 60-70 lbs. We did have to put it together in the bedroom after it was painted. We'd never have gotten it in otherwise! So a few touch ups were necessary, but not a big deal at all!
You may be wondering how in the world we pulled off a surprise like this? Let me tell you, it's sort of stressful! Since our house is sort of being renovated by the two of us, it is not unusual for us to be working on one room or another, at some time or another! We let her pick a paint colour and told her that's all we'd do. So she moved in upstairs with her sister for a week. Then we said we would have to do new trim and doors, so it would take a little longer. She totally didn't want to see the new paint colour until it was all done, so that was perfect! She saw Ron building the bed, but we informed her it was for SarahLynn, her two year old sister when she switched from a crib. Easy! The night before her birthday we blew up an air mattress and told her we were on the home stretch with painting and would set up her old black bed so she could see it first thing on her birthday morning! We were up till midnight the night before setting it all up and putting on the final touches! I was VERY excited!
Imagine her enormous surprise when we let her open the door the next morning and there was an ENTIRE NEW ROOM staring back at her. Yeah, I know, right? She was smiling so hard that I actually choke up a little when I think of the look on her face!
I hope you enjoyed the little (photo heavy!) tour of her new room. We are actually pretty proud of it ourselves. Thankfully my hubby is a handy guy and we do all the work ourselves. I may or may not have run that saw a time or two as well. Fun times!
Leave me a comment letting me know what you think of Gemma's birthday present! If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to answer them! Ask away!
xo Anita
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