Nothing like a nine month hiatus in between renovation posts, huh?! Jeepers. Apologies, but let’s not dwell, let’s dive right back in (here is a reminder of how we started to renovate Eleanor’s new bedroom – seems so long ago now, before she became a big sister, before she slept in a bed, before so much!)
So, with the wardrobe frame built and plastered in, thoughts turned to painting…and painting…and painting. Have I mentioned how much my husband loves painting?! Eeeep! We got the new cornice we’d ordered (and I love it) but putting that up was a two man job, thanks Opa, and quite the fiddly business – first time Matt had attempted new cornice but he did a great job! Painting got underway, going with our trusty Antique White USA by Dulux…
Although tempted to go with a pretty pink or full on floral wallpaper (oh goodness Matt would’ve killed me!) this room will most likely become our guest bedroom again if/when the girls share a room, as Harriet’s room is bigger. So neutral and classic and white it was. Seeing the room transform from the icky yellowy creamy beigey blergh to crisp clear soft white with fresh cornice was pretty satisfying – the light in this room now is the best in the house thanks to the west facing window! Oh and sometime in here I had a baby…I think we were painting on the night I went into labour with Harriet. Minor detail.
Once the painting was done, we could hang the new/old wardrobe doors – four panel wooden vintage doors just like we used in our bedroom, the perfect solution as we didn’t want something overly modern but still wanted sliders for ease of access and to save space into the room. We sourced our doors from Hughes Renovators Paradise in Huntingdale, I remember sitting in the car feeding and feeding and feeding a screaming newborn Harriet as Matt went back and forth taking photos of potential doors and bringing his phone out to the car in the rain to show me!
While we were in the big smoke we checked out some carpet at nearby Fowles Auctions as well. After much debate, we had decided that all three bedrooms would be carpeted. Initially I was very much Team Floorboards…but the voice of reason (also known as my husband) prevailed: our house leaks heat like a sieve, and we need to conserve all the warmth we can! Also with young kids playing on the floor I could definitely see the benefits of carpet in their bedrooms. But, if I was having carpet I wanted it to be a certain type of carpet. Husband dearest was not nearly as picky, but I perused dozens and dozens of rolls of carpet with that screaming newborn in my arms before finding something that was both what I liked (oatmeal colour, slightly textured but not too scratchy) and in our price bracket. The auction for the carpet wasn’t until Wednesday though, Matt was going to take a morning off work to come down and buy it…but then, disaster! Gastro descended on our household. Eleanor and Matt vomiting, Harriet screaming and somehow me in amongst it all not vomiting, but not sleeping at all either. And our house was a building site. I don’t even know how we managed that week, it seems hilarious to look back on now, but I can assure you it wasn’t! So, I put a hopeful phone bid in on the carpet holding the screaming newborn and comforting the vomiting toddler and husband. Glamorous does not even begin to describe…
I digress. We got the carpet! We had a local carpet layer come and put it in all three bedrooms…and instantly I loved it! So lush! So comfy! Loved it. Loved it. Putting carpets in the bedrooms was a great decision, especially seeing as though while Eleanor adjusted to sleeping in a bed she often fell asleep on the floor instead – ha!
With freshly painted (and re-plastered) walls, a big new wardrobe (storage!) and the added luxury of soft carpet underfoot, Eleanor’s big girl room was almost ready for it’s new inhabitant. I added the curtains before the furniture was all moved in, they were actually a shower curtain which I bought about five years ago from Urban Outfitters (fabric, but came with a waterproof inner curtain, if you know what I mean?) I hacked the shower curtains to become window curtains, cutting in half width ways and adding curtain heading tape up the top and attaching to a curtain track from Spotlight. I am generally very against curtains that don’t go to the ground, it’s like a cardinal sin of interior design – oops! But these curtains I had on hand so no need to source others, and I really liked the neutral colour and ruffle detailed bottom edge. I also planned Eleanor’s bookshelf to go under the window so the curtains wouldn’t look too abrupt either (I hoped)…
A blank slate! Ready to be filled to the brim with all the pretties for a little girls bedroom of dreams. Stay tuned for the final reveal of Eleanor’s big girl bedroom, it’s a special space for our special little blossom…
Anne@GritandGiggles says
I really do love your sense of style … and the idea for using old doors as sliding doors. Nothing much will probably change in our new place to start with but I am sure we will slowly make it ours.
Emma says
That’s the best way to do it. Live in it for awhile, let it evolve and don’t rush. We’ve just renovated the three bedrooms here as in my ‘grand’ plan/one day/maybe/maybe not/might be dreaming/definitely dreaming plans they would stay the same anyway. I don’t want to do anything to the rest of the house as that might one day all be different anyway…hmmm.