Grace’s Bedroom: Nursery To ‘Big Girl’s Room’ Makeover

I am so excited to finally be able to share Grace’s bedroom makeover with you all today.  It’s been a long time coming, pretty much since she went from her cot to a bed (remember the ‘big girl bed disaster’?) but I wanted to wait until most things were complete rather than show you bits and pieces along the way… although, I think this will be a room I’ll find myself always adding to.  For those who are new to my blog, you can see Grace’s old nursery here so you can picture how it’s changed.  The bedrooms in our house are all pretty small so my focus was on keeping things as spacious as possible.  Nothing I’ve used is overly expensive as I’ve made a lot of things myself or used items we already owned.  So… here’s Gracie girl’s special space…



The first thing you see when you enter the room is Grace’s bed.  She is happy in her low ensemble set up and I’m happy at how easy it is to make each day being on castors.  For her bedding, I’ve used a simple Indira bedspread from Ikea and the patchwork quilt I made her sits on top of that.  I also made the coordinating pillowcase which is at the top of the bed and she has a few others that she alternates between.  The small pillow is actually an embroidered vintage tea towel I bought off Etsy seller Granny Hanna’s Cottage and repurposed.  The wrought iron bedhead is a recent find on Gumtree.

    

A few weeks back, Paul returned home from his brother’s house with a cute little wooden cupboard that he was getting rid of.  It once belonged to my father-in-law so Paul rescued it with the intention of using it in his shed.  When I spotted it in his car however, I knew it would be perfect for Grace’s room.  I had been hunting for a cute little ‘something’ to use as a bedside table for Grace for some time and this find was perfect. I just freshened it up with some primer and a few coats of pale blue paint.  The lamp on top is from Kmart - I just glued some ribbon from my stash along the bottom. 

The artwork displayed above Grace’s bed includes an owl cross stitch I made (I bought the pattern off Etsy from Sewing Seed), a vintage children’s book illustration from My Sunshine Vintage which I framed and a gorgeous alphabet print from One Little Dicky Bird which is such a lovely piece of art for a nursery (it's also available with a pink background).  The ‘Grace’ letters were a gift when she was born.  Hanging from the ceiling above Grace’s bed is the paper doily mobile I made her a few weeks back. 

The previous Ikea Hemnes drawers in Grace’s room have been moved into Sophie’s nursery for use as a change table and have been replaced by the chest of drawers above.  They’re slightly less deep and give more floor space.   I kept the bird decals from Grace’s nursery as I didn’t want to completely alter her room.  They’re from Elephannie on Etsy.  I’ve also displayed a few bits and pieces underneath like a cute blue and white gingham suitcase which stores hair elastics and clips, a framed photo, a wooden box which I painted and covered with some cute scrapbooking paper, Grace's Toy Story figurines and a tissue-box which I covered using the a few tutorials I found via Janette.  

The window nook is Grace’s play corner.  The wooden kitchen in the corner was a combined birthday and Christmas present and has been one of the best things we’ve bought for Grace.  “Mummy, can you sit and play ovens please?” is a common phrase heard around here and she is often found having tea parties with her stuffed toys when she wakes in the morning.  Her play food is kept in a little wicker basket next to it.  Also in the corner is the curio display box I transformed for her (see the before shot here).  Grace displays all her trinkets here.  I love seeing what she classifies as ‘treasure’ (there is currently a purple sequin in the top right compartment).  Shells, feathers, buttons and small toys all have a place to be on show now.  The white Moroccan leather pouffe with pink embroidery I already posted about a while back when I ordered it online from Kuati.  Grace uses it as a little seat.  Next to her chest of drawers, a cane laundry basket stores all of Grace’s dress-up clothes for easy access.

Under the window sill we strung a line of baker’s twine and I made some little butterfly pegs (using mini-pegs from Kikki K I already had lying around and some butterflies which were off some old hair elastics).  This is where Grace displays her artwork.  The floating shelf above the play kitchen displays the vintage style ’classics’ novels I bought for her, some baby toys, a little framed quote (I spray painted a cute frame from The Reject Shop), a brass swan she has taken a liking to (bought from an antique store in Latrobe on our travels around Tasmania) and a pot of wooden tulips which were in my own bedroom as a little girl. You’ll notice the new roller blind in Grace’s room too.  I’m still debating whether some soft sheer curtains on either side of the blind would soften things up a bit and block out that little bit of light that creeps through on either side.   

Hanging beside her wardrobe is a cute little mushroom mobile I bought off Made It seller The Quirky Bird.  My sister brought back the cute bee hook from a trip to Venice.  On the door handle is the wooden bird previously from Grace’s nursery which is now a pretty shade of blue.

And that’s pretty much all there is to Grace’s room. It’s simply decorated, uncluttered, light, bright and pretty. Best of all, Grace enjoys spending time in there which in my book means ‘a successful decorating job’.

Pop back this time next week for a several giveaways I have planned related to Grace’s bedroom makeover…