Moving On

My bathroom is 85% done and on hold. We got that fabulous deal on the vanity counter top but we haven't started the build on the vanity cabinet. The problem is the cold weather (crazy cold for Houston!!) that The Builder hasn't had a decent day to be in the garage working. In addition...the garage was a disaster!!. We've done so many projects in the past few months that clean up after them has been minimal at best. We The Builder took some time last weekend to clean it out and organize and we're ready for a project (the weather is beautiful right now)...but not the vanity. We either want to build from scratch, or find the right sized dresser and do a project. But we haven't made a final decision so it's on the back burner, as is the room reveal.

So I'm moving on to the next project! And not a small project. No, that would be too easy.  Here's the idea board:
This is going to be The Teen's room.  We have never painted her room since we moved into the house three years ago this summer and the paint really shows it.  I have no idea why people use flat paint in bedrooms because it's not scrub able - but they do. This will be the last room re-do for her. She'll be going to college in a couple of years and then out on her own, so I wanted to make sure this room feminine but grown up at the same time. Here is the inspiration room:
Contemporary Bedroom by Elkton Interior Designers & Decorators Reflections Design Studio
It's lovely, and there are a lot of things she loves about it.  Including the pink color (still her favorite color since she was able to walk) but we ultimately decided to go with a more updated color palette.  Ironically, it seems we're leaning towards a color palette that includes Pantone's Color of the Year:
As you can see from the design board, we won't be going quite this...pastel looking.  Her room will be more of a grey lavender vs. the red lavender that the orchid appears to me. All the throw pillows will be DIY. I think I'm horrified at the cost of throw pillows. How do stores justify charging $50 and up for a decorative pillow that will be on her bed (or tossed on the floor, sigh)? So I've been using my Silhouette to design stencils to use on the pillows I'll sew up. The Teen is very artistic and I have no doubt she'll jump at the chance to get in and help me with them.

We also want to incorporate her love of her violin in her room. You can see on the design board the violin print on the book page. I bought it from this Etsy Shop. The knobs are from this Etsy Shop. I love how they coordinate the color with the theme. We have some major things to do in her room though. To start, there is no built in lighting. My boys have ceiling fans with light fixtures in their rooms, and while not as decorative as I might like, they keep the rooms cool in the summer.  But The Teen does not. She was using a torch lamp that got knocked over last year and broke and now has a wimpy little table lamp on her desk. In addition the floor fans she was using have slowly been dying as well.  So the plan is to install the wall lamps on each side of her bed, hooked up to a light switch in the room, as well as a ceiling fan for air movement.  Her dresser (the one my dad made me when I was 12 and graduating into my big girl room!) is going to get an update as well with new hardware (goodbye 80's blue flower enamel pulls and knobs). The inspiration room is bigger.  I won't be able to fit a desk that size.  The one she has now will have to work.  I may paint out the chrome trim to black to have the wrought iron look we're going for it the room.  But I may leave it as is.

We're actually have quite a few of the items bought and ready for the update.  I was hoping to have a good swatch for the paint color, but when I pulled it up on Behr's web site, it's not even close to the color on the color card, which we picked after we had the duvet cover. We've even purchased the mattress (yeah for President Day sales!) since she's moving from a twin to a double.  But we haven't built the bed frame yet.  I found this bed on QuirckyCool's web site:

I love the Eiffel tower on the footboard and it's definitely something I want to incorporate on her bed. I'm going to cut out a vinyl 'sticker' with my Silhouette so if she ever gets tired of it, it's easy to change out. We had contemplated staining the bed but her dresser is painted as is her bookcase. I don't want a mishmash of finishes. For the Farmhouse Bed from Ana White, the headboard is taller and more conducive to the Eiffel tower design, so that's the direction well be taking. Also I'm using a color called Bleached Linen from Behr for the paint color.  The bed, dresser, and nightstand will all be painted in the same white color for cohesiveness.

We also have plans to recess her bookcase for more floor space. The Teen has two narrow closets that are not connected but are next to each other.  The space between them? Wasted. Just an empty cavity. Clearly the home builder didn't design the room for a teenage girl! We could knock out the wall and carry the space through, but The Teen is a typical teen and clutter is a problem.  Recessing the bookcase in this cavity will gain a little more floor space with the bigger bed and The Builder can give it a custom, built in look.

Cost wise, I'm about $200 total into the project already.  That's the duvet, duvet cover, wall lamps, curtains (including lacy sheers and the wrought iron hardware) artwork and a couple of accessories.  We need to purchase the wood for the bed, which we've estimated to be $350. We're buying the wood a little at a time and The Builder needs to adjust the size from a Queen bed to a Double.

The Teen is on Spring Break in two weeks and the goal is to get her room packed and cleared out. We estimate that with the building projects (the mirror and nightstand are DIY projects as well - check them out on my Pinterest Board) may take up to three months to complete.  The smaller DIY projects will get done last so that she can move back into her room as quickly as possible.  Storage is a major issue for her.  She has a lot of art supplies and I need to maximize the space she's gaining with room re-do, so there will be some organizations projects as well.   As I said, not a quick re-do.  But I'm really looking forward to this one!