A Big Girl Room Remodel!

Today, we redecorated Katie Anne's bedroom!
Goodbye crib, hello twin bed!

The reasons for the redo were twofold... one, Katie Anne's getting too big for a crib. Even though she's never climbed out, she's just getting too big and too old for cribs, changing tables, and all of the things that were in her nursery. Also, she did great on vacation in a "big girl" bed, so we knew she was ready.

Two, we wanted to transition her out of her nursery furniture long before a new baby was on the way. (Relax, that's still a long time away. Like 2011 away.) We didn't want her to feel that she lost her crib, or even her dresser or rocking chair, when we told her she was getting a new sibling. We don't want to start things off with sibling rivalry.

So, here's a few pictures from this morning... the last morning in the nursery.

Katie Anne has a deep and abiding love for Dora the Explorer, and that was her only decorating request - that she have a Dora room. Whew, I fought this. Hard. Not really with her, but in my mind. I had picked out such cute bedding, like this Dottie pattern, from Pottery Barn, and I had great dreams of how I would decorate this room. But, this isn't my room, and Saunders and my mom were right - if having a Dora comforter would inspire her to get in the twin bed and stay all night, it would be worth it. So, all-Dora, all-the-time, here we go! Vamonos!

I've been buying for about two weeks, getting ready. We're using the bedroom furniture that I brought when I moved out of my parents' house... my childhood furniture. So, that came with a dresser, headboard, and nightstand - thanks, Mom and Dad! Then, I got a great deal on a twin mattress, boxspring, and frame - $147 total (next closest price was over $300). I found the papasan, which is so comfy and a great reading chair for KA, for only $99 on sale for the whole thing, cushion and all. Of course, one of the benefits of Dora is that she's not too expensive, so all the bedding was less than $100. This particular pattern that Katie Anne liked didn't come with any decorative elements, including shams or throw pillows - it only had a comforter and a sheet set. So, I bought an extra comforter and made several shams and throw pillows. Then, I bought two shelves at Hobby Lobby, ribbon, and some spray paint to make some hairbow holders - all that was about $15. So, for way less than $500, we got this whole redo done!

Today was work day... we had to break down the office and move the desks, chairs, etc. upstairs. Then, we moved all the nursery furniture into the former office. Finally, we moved the bedroom furniture KA would be using down into her bedroom. Whew! Lots of heavy lifting! My parents came over and were tons of help in the moving process.

Going through the books since we're downsizing bookcases... I'm taking about half of the books to school.

Helping Granddad put together the bedrails.Gigi in the almost-finished new room.

Daddy putting together the crib.

And, after about five or six hours of hard labor, the new room was ready! Here's the view from the door.
Closet view... you can see the two hairbow holder/shelves I made as well as the cute little pocketbook holders I spray painted by the door. Those flower hooks had been yard sale finds.View of the other side of the room... dresser and reading area.New bookcase!Ginger loves the new room and wishes it were hers.She made herself comfortable several times in the papasan!Checking out the new digs.Climbing in for her first nap time!
All tucked in! She's still asleep right now - over two hours - so it seems like she likes it!
And here's a view of the old nursery furniture, chilling in the office.