Bella's Room Makeover

I've been wanting to do something a little more permanent and "little girl" in Bella's room. I didn't do a lot of decorating as far as pictures and paint goes when the room first became a nursery, so as she got a little older, I wanted to make some changes. This weekend, we got it all done! Mel watched Bella, Steve offered moral support, and I was able to finish the whole room in just one day - it was a huge relief knowing that it wasn't going to drag out over many days. I'm not going to post "before" pictures, because I have quite a few "after" pictures and don't want to put up too many.

The main "before" issue was the windows. For months, I have had blankets tacked up to block the light. It's effective, but so ugly. I wanted something that could block the light and look cute at the same time. Without further ado...here's Bella's room!

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My original color choice had been purple, but I decided to change it green so that it would match the curtains I found. I didn't want the color green to be too overwhelming, so we added some bright accents. Mel found the blue elephant at WalMart and one of my friends gave me the yellow, antique lunchbox at a baby shower.

I found some cute, brightly colored frames to put pictures in. Each one was about $3.00, which made Steve even happier with the deal! They were one of my final touches and I really like them!

Just a little touch, but I found her a yellow clock at Target for $5.00. It was a cute addition to the bright colors!

This is the main view of the room.

The crib is between the two windows, but eventually, this will be where her "big girl bed" will be. We have no interest in rushing her to a new bed, so the crib will be fine for now. The big girl bed will be white to match the dresser.

I painted all around the owl and the top of the tree. The pictures on the right are two drawings from Kenya.

I haven't had a chance to paint in between the individual flowers yet. It's going to require a smaller brush and some attention to detail. I absolutely LOVE this mural that our friend, Ben, created for Bella's first birthday, so I want to be very careful to make sure I don't ruin any of his design.

A close-up of the new valances. There are little owls and porcupines; we really wanted something that was girly, but also a little funky.

This is the first section of wall that I'm not sure what to do with. I really like the idea of painting a square of chalkboard paint with a border and letting that be a drawing area for Bella.

This is the second large expanse of wall where I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet. I'm not sure if I'm going to put some shelves or pictures up there, so for now, it's blank.