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One Room Challenge...Girl's Horse Sanctuary Room Reveal!!!!!
I can't believe that we are here...WEEK EIGHT!! I was so expecting to feel relief when the photos were being snapped, but instead, I actually felt a little bittersweet about it this time. Usually I am exhausted by the end (FYI, still exhausted this time) but I have honestly put so much heart and soul into this room that I don't feel ready to let it go.
There are always those last minute tweaks that you wish you had time to finish (this time a bed skirt; a bean bag arm chair)...but for the first time in these challenges, I have completely gotten immersed in the fine tuning of the details in this space and I never let myself get behind in finishing my weekly goals.
This time, the process has created a new level of joy for me in bringing magic to spaces, and the pride in tackling new projects that would have been too daunting for me to go after in the past was so much fun too!
Let's take a walk down memory lane...
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It is so hard to look at these photos and not be floored with the amount of detail work that went into them. We started from scratch in this room - FROM SCRATCH!! From day one of our move in I was most excited about transforming this one out of all of the bedrooms, only I was a bit intimidated by the vastness of the room as well as the many things that needed to be taken care of before we could even start painting! But the large size and the A-frame shape gave it that 'magic-potential' from the start.
To kick off making this into a bedroom for our girl we had to rip up the old, dated carpet and lay down the acacia wood floors.
I then sat down with my middle girl and talked about what kind of room she could see for herself.
Her wish list was as follows:
blue-green walls
window seat
desk
sitting area
horse/farm theme
She was pretty specific about wanting the wall color she had when we lived in our first house in California so I went and grabbed all of the good pale blue-green Sherwin Williams shades and once we tested them out around the room, "Mod Mint" was the clear winner.
The ceilings were popcorn textured (not dangerous popcorn but extremely rough and impossible to paint), so we had those smoothed down and painted as well. Finally, we replaced the two overhead fluorescent lights (this was an artist studio for the previous owner) with two of these fun, flush mount light fixtures by Kineo and found HERE. I thought they were the perfect "cage-like" flush mounts so that tall people could save their heads and they could work for her horse theme, but they weren't SO farmhouse themed that she wouldn't be able to use them down the road when she wants to change her room around.
And then we had the blank slate we had been waiting for!!
All the Pretty Details....
Back in our first house (post-townhome) in California, my two girls shared a room in a development type of neighborhood and we have THE BEST memories with our friends from those earlier years of family-hood. One of the things she loved about her room, other than the color we painted it when we first decided to purchase the home (we were renting) was the long window seat. We didn't end up purchasing that house and from the day we left it, she always missed her window seat.
One night during the beginning of this challenge, I was sitting up in her room just trying to come up with a layout that made sense and it dawned on me that we could knock out SO many of our room goals by building her the seat and her desk in the dormers and still keep a lot of the open area in her room, so I sent a picture and my thoughts to my parents...who sent me a list of supplies I would need and showed up the following weekend to teach me how to make that happen. It was great fun to have them here to lend their expertise and to get the whole family involved in making her room special for her.
The Dormers...
For the desk we added this Edison desk lamp linked HERE. I really wanted a vintage drafting chair to use as the seating...but I ended up finding this rattan one ON SALE at
TJ Maxx and I loved the black & white detail on the top and knew that would tie in a ton of other elements we had planned in the room. She immediately put the picture of her and her bestie & fellow horse-lover on top and it was the perfect fit.
The window seat really steals my heart all tucked into the middle dormer. The seat top lifts so there is storage in there (I'm thinking for the sleepover bedding!!) and we trimmed the front to match the Board & Batten accent wall. I found this big, cozy yellow plaid pillow at HOME GOODS and the moment I plopped it on the window seat, the room's missing element just took shape - PLAID!! This horse pillow is from HERE and once I pressed it off, I have to say I am delighted with the quality and feel of it.
For the TV backdrop, I wanted to do a little something different and fun. I also am obsessed with our new Frame TV in the den. Adding chalkboard paint and then framing it with trim (like we did in my youngest daughter's room with her projector screen wall ... you can find that HERE) just created a way for my artistic girl to decorate for the holidays and different special events coming up. So far it has been a huge hit.
The Seating Area...
I truly think this ended up being my favorite section of the room once all is said & done. First, I had my girl look through a whole bunch of wallpaper samples I had pinned that had anything to do with farms, horses, & the countryside. She chose this beautiful wildflower print from Irina at IP Interiors. And in that moment...we both realized that the accent color we didn't know we were missing was YELLOW!
Irina was absolutely AMAZING at helping us determine how much wallpaper we would need; and also how to cut it for these irregular shaped, A-frame walls. We then had Nana & Papa head back over and teach us how to make Board & Batten siding IRL (it was pretty simple and I think it is safe to say everyone in our family will have new siding somewhere in their house in 2022.
I struggled choosing between this and beadboard, and I am always hesitant to stay away from booming trends like the B & B. But in this space I just felt like the 'rustic' feeling that the B & B gives off was perfect for the theme of our room. We painted this (and the window seat front with Alabaster White by Sherwin Williams).
We added in the most beautiful Mint sleeper couch from Mr. Kate, a rug from NuLoom, this cute little mid-century shaped coffee table from Maupvit and we had a sweet space to curl up and chat with friends or watch TV. Eventually I would like to add a bean bag, arm chair style seat and switch out these planters with the rattan ones that show up at TJ Maxx all of the time, but just didn't in the last two weeks (we borrowed these from our living room for now).
The Bed...
One of the challenges we had in this space was finding a bold, wood headboard for the space that could actually fit on the A-frame. She kept choosing pictures of these dramatic all wood headboards and I knew none of those would fit unless we kept her bed as a single and left it on the back wall. She really wanted a larger bed, though, and I hesitated to keep her in a twin bed (with a matching twin bed on the other side of the back wall) because once she is older, I thought she would be more comfortable in a queen.
So one day when we were scrolling around looking for the right bed frame to buy, we saw a DIY for a floor to ceiling bed frame and knew this would achieve the look she wanted and also be an exciting addition to really personalize her space. The rest of the goods are linked below:
Fuzzy pillows: HERE
Plaid lumbar pillow: Target
Farmhouse sconces (can be wired or plug in and they are so pretty in person...and they are on dimmers!): TRLIFE Dimmable Goose Neck Wall Sconces
Nightstands: TJ Maxx
A little night view...
Some final details....
Lastly, we spruced up this shelf with a few essentials we thought she would be able to make function through the years:
jewelry holder: HERE
Horse print: Jo Ann Fabrics
Baskets (for hair ties and supplies): TJ Maxx
We did paint the doors of the built-ins to lighten up her space (we don't paint over much original wood in this house, but these were old and dark and needed the upgrade if they were to stay in a girl's space. We used Alabaster White by Sherwin Williams on these as well and replaced the knobs with these pretty ones we found on sale at Hobby Lobby.
Eventually we will get a new dresser for her, we just didn't feel ready to replace this one as we aren't sure if we are going to do some type of walk-in renovation (her room has the smallest closet of all the rooms in the house). Instead I just painted the handles on the dresser an aged-rubbed bronze to tie it in with the black elements everywhere else.
Finally and the LAST thing we brought into the space was a full length mirror (you can find it HERE) and a row of hooks for sweaters and bags...which made the most sense to be near the dresser, the bathroom, and the closet. Our next big plan for this room (besides rethinking the closet space) is to add a dressing/make-up table to this third dormer here. Only we thought we would wait until she is a little older to see if she even wants that kind of thing...after the hormones kick in:)
Did I miss anything?? I don't think so...
Some links I didn't mention up top....
A Final Word...
I just love how this space came together and found its character in the process. I am obsessed with how plaid made itself into the room organically and eventually how a little buffalo check managed to sneak in there too (dormer curtains) - because I was really steering away from having the room scream "farmhouse style" and wanted to make sure we nailed the actual feel of the farm where she attended her horse camp this summer.
And now it is FINALLY that time, to hand this room back over to my girl and to let her make it her own. The blank, A-frame walls are wide open for the taking and I'm sure she will fill them with posters, art work, tapestries, who knows??? over the years. Eventually she will probably paint the bed headboard and have big ideas for the color of her room. But for now, in this sweet slice of life that are the elementary years, this is the haven where we will read together, practice times tables, welcome friends just getting used to their first sleepovers, and make memories with the cousins that will last a lifetime. This is what it is all about....
Thank you for joining me on our FOURTH ORC room makeover. You can visit our previously transformed spaces HERE (girls' Jack & Jill Bathroom) HERE (Guest Room Retreat) and HERE (Girls Cozy Bunny Room) and swing over to THIS LINK: BHG One Room Challenge to see the final reveals of all of the other designers who have been on this journey with me over the past eight weeks. It is truly a remarkable experience to be inspired and encouraged by so many talented people who are also out there trying to create magical spaces in their homes and I am honored and grateful to have been a part of it once more.
