The Shelves are Hung

My premise still holds true. If I were to work a regular work week, my daughter's room would be done in one week. Needless to say, family happens and we still have a roommate in the Master Bedroom. One good thing that's happened is that she no longer needs a nightlight, but then again she may never go back to her room as cool as it may be.

MAKING IT LEVEL

Since my last post, we've managed to hang shelves and dye rugs. For the room, I wanted to stack the shelves vertically and add some extras to the package. I try to be as methodical as possible when hanging shelves. Have you heard of the saying "measure twice, cut once"? I tend to measure over and over again. I've had too many misaligned/unleveled  shelves to not want to do this. Here's how I did it. First, I positioned my desk to where I wanted it in the room. Next, I took blue painters tape and pasted it vertically on the wall on the left and right sides of the desk making sure that they are level. I also made sure not to tape it too hard to the wall so it would not pull of the fresh paint. Then I started from the bottom up. To hang the shelves, I used wall anchors. When drilling holes for wall anchors, I like to check and double check that everything lines up. To do this, I use small nails and hammer just the tip into the wall. By doing this, I'm able to use the pilot holes made to guide my drill more easily. I also like to put the level against the nail heads to once again check for level. It's easier to know for sure if it's level this way than with pencil dots. My last bit of advice on hanging shelves is to make sure you use the right anchors. When my husband asked me whether they were heavy duty or light duty, I just looked at him and said they were blue. I had no clue there was a weight associated with them. I just thought the blue went with a particular size screw. Hah! So, now my wobbly shelves had to be redone with different anchors. Good thing the new anchors were bigger than the last and I didn't screw everything up (literally).

YOU CAN DYE RUGS

Now, on to rugs. I thought I would try to dye some rugs. I really wanted to get a round rug for the room. I found the perfect rugs at IKEA (I got three). The only problem was that they were beige and I wanted them gray. Since the price was right ($9.99 per rug) the color was light and the size was small, I thought I would try to dye them myself. They were mostly wool and I figured that would take the dye okay. So, I picked up a three packages of dye and a small inflatable pool and went for it. I wasn't sure if the pool would melt with the hot water for the dye, but it turned out fine. I mixed the dye, poured in the water and placed my rugs into the pool. I made sure to move the rugs around. I did this for 30 minutes and "Voila! "The rugs were dyed. Now came the problem of how to rinse the dye out of the rugs. This turned out a little harder than I thought. I did the best I could and then hung the rugs outside to dry. I had them out for a day, but then the rain came. I brought them inside, but they were still damp after another day. What I didn't expect was the smell that came from them. It was worse than a wet dog!  Try a wet sheep! I went ahead and put them in my dryer on low for a small amount of time with a dryer sheet. I was hoping it would help with the smell. Not really. After they were dried, I used some Febreeze on them and that made all the difference. So now I have the gray rugs I wanted. Yeah!

Here's a picture I had to send out. This is most (not all) of the dollhouses, clothes, barbies, etc. that are going to be going to Goodwill. Can you believe this all fit in one small bedroom? And can you believe my daughter is letting go of all of this? I was so impressed I did take her out for yogurt. Yum!

Painting ...Are we done, yet?

The lag between posts would be due to the tedious job of painting. This must be the hardest and longest part of the project. Next time I should stick with one paint color, but that would not be as nearly as interesting as two or three. As I grumble over the length of time it takes to paint a room, I still love painting. There's a sense of accomplishment and when it's all said and done, you get a room that is uniquely yours. Here is how the painting all "rolled" out...

THE PREP WORK

I like to get painting right away, but if you want a job that is well done, you'll need to do the prep work beforehand to save you time and frustration. That means taping off edges and using a tarp, etc. When taping off edges, I like to use a putty knife to press down the tape. This keeps the leaks to a minimum. Sometimes you'll get seepage underneath the tape if it's not adhered well. Also, when using tape, it's a good idea to take the tape off before the paint is completely dry. This will keep the paint from peeling off if there is an overlap onto the tape. I also keep a big stock of disposable gloves and paper towels handy. You can never be too clean.

NEW AT THE PAINT STORE

While picking up my paint at the hardware store, I came across some new items I thought were pretty slick. Paint brushes are getting more clever. There are some bristle brushes now that are shaped for the corners. They are not only in the shape of triangles, but angled as well. How easy can they make it? As for paint, Behr has a new paint that's a primer and paint all-in-one. I really liked this paint. I am a fan of thicker paint and usually hit up Sherwin-Williams for my paint. The normal Behr paint is somewhat thin for my taste. It makes for a lot of drips and splatters. The new Behr paint adheres nicely and when used over black magnetic paint, it covers pretty well. I still needed two coats for complete coverage. Unfortunately, the magnetic paint didn't work well for slightly heavy magnets, so paying $20 for a quart of magnetic paint probably wasn't the best idea. It sure sounded fun though...

UNLEASH THE ARTIST IN YOU

 The colors I chose for the room are teal and lime green with a splash of orange (a complimentary color to blue). I'll also be using chrome as a finish. Some of you may think that if your son or daughter loves a color, it should go on the wall. Not necessarily. The best way to show off these colors is to place them against a neutral background. The brilliant colors will explode. I tried to share this tidbit with by daughter when she asked why she's getting a gray  on her wall. Once I showed her the colors against the gray, she agreed it was the way to go. Knowing that gray was a little bland, I went ahead and spiced it up with some subtle graphics. I used a silver metallic paint to create large circles over the gray on the walls.  In order to make the circles, I  used a string tied to a pencil. I kept one end of the string on the wall and held it with my finger . Then I swung the string around  and used light pressure to create a faint line on the wall. I wanted to create clean lines and thought the best way to accomplish this was to create a template to use against the wall. I cut out a small square in a piece of plastic shelf liner. A transparency or shelf paper are some other materials that would work well as a template. With this template I made my initial circle following the line I made with the pencil. I used two coats of the metallic paint and cleaned up the circles with a small paint brush. Let me tell you...metallic paint is hard to work with. It's very reflective. If you need to make minor corrections, it's hard to see where to paint. It ended up turning out nicely.

Next post: Adding the shelving and trying my hand at dying some small round rugs. Wish me luck!

Simplify, Simplify, Simplify

CLEAR THE CLUTTER, CLEAR YOUR MIND 

And so it starts... the need to clear the clutter. We begin by building a space plan for the room. This is the tedious part where room dimensions are taken, as well as furniture dimensions. Software would make this task easier. Products such as Home and Landscape Design or HGTV Home Design and Remodeling Suite are available to purchase. For our purpose, graph paper will work just fine. Each 1/4" square will reflect 1'-0".  On your graph paper you will need to draw out the room dimensions. For the furniture, use another sheet of paper and cut out each of the major furniture pieces. This way you'll be able to move the furniture around easier to see what works. Ideally, you'd like to keep about 3' of clearance for a dressing area. This is the recommendation for any walkway in the house. The space plan will give you a general idea of what will work where. When you actually place the furniture in the room, there may be need for some minor adjustments. In any case, you'll save a lot of time and aching muscles if you plan the space first.

SIMPLIFY

The hardest part of a child's room will be what to do with all the STUFF they have. It's amazing what a 6 year old has collected over the years. The easiest way to do this would be to clear the room and divide all the belongings to boxes for donations, trash and keep. My daughter has been eager to help with this believe it or not. I usually tell her that she can keep two or three of the five coloring books she never uses. This seems to do the trick. Anything to slim down the clutter is the key. Next, we have to figure out what's left and find a home for it. If you do not already have a closet organizer, this would be the time to install one. This will contain most of the toys, books and clothes. The rest of the room will be divided into different work spaces. You'll need a dressing area, work area and a play area. For our room, we'll be adding some shelves over the desk area and  a custom shelf/valance over the window that will run the length of the wall . This will house Kayla's collectible figurines.  We are also switching out her night stand to a narrow, but somewhat tall set a drawers that will be perfect for all the little things (jewelry, stickers, pens, etc.) in her room. We will also be adding some magnetic paint to portions of her wall. No need for bulletin boards. With these small additions, we'll be adding a ton of clean storage space.

Here is a view of her room before the re-do. This was not a very clean day.

First Step: Get Inspired

GET INSPIRED

You may wonder, where do I start when I want to redesign a room. The first step is to get inspired. Find something that you love and make that your starting point. It could be a painting, food, location, etc. Someplace or something that makes you feel good. For Kayla's (my daughter's) room, we found a wonderful and colorful decorative box. From here we began figuring out what colors we would like to have in her room. That was not the only deciding factor in how the room was to come together. I love starting with color, but we need to know how the rest of the room will flow and by rest of the room, I mean furniture, lighting, textiles, etc.

STAY ON TRACK BY USING A CONCEPT 

Now that I have the inspiration, I worked on what kind of feeling I wanted to invoke in the rest of the room, which would eventually become my concept. The concept will keep you on track when buying your accessories and everything else for your room. A concept can be a feeling, thought, or anything you want your room to be centered around. For Kayla's room, I'm working with the concept of Swirlicious. Needless to say, we are working with circles, swirls and curves.

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

Not everything you want will be available at the store. Maybe there is a nice piece of furniture or side table that catches your eye,but it's not the right color. Why not buy it and paint it or use some other material to cover it. Pieces can be found all over. Think reused. Go to that antique store or garage sale. You never know what you might find. A basket can be turned into a ceiling light. A vintage frame can become a message board or mirror. That planter box can be turned into a nightstand. Use your imagination. Nothing is ever what is seems. When you think outside the box, your room will become amazing and all your own. It will become that much more special.