A Surprise Makeover: From Toddler to Tween

Not too long ago I posted about how I made some birthday invitations for my friends daughter, who happens to also be my son's "special girl". She just turned nine, and her mom contacted me about a "spiffing" up her daughter's room. Since she just turned nine, it was time to take her room from toddler to tween. But here's the best part. Her mom decided to make it a surprise!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

While she was away at camp for the next four-weeks, it was crunch time to get the room done and to make sure no little brothers revealed the big secret. I was told she wanted to keep the crown corona, her dollhouse, and other than that, all was fair game.

To keep spending to a minimum, I shopped for fabrics at fabric factories and warehouses that sold off the bolt only. I din't spend over $25/yard for any fabric, with most of it being within the $7-15/yard range. Also, I decided to purchase a lot of catalogue items from Pottery Barn Teen. This makes it a little easier on the time constraint as well as the budget.

Once everything was unpacked, it was time to plan out the details.

I spread out all the swatches on my table and spend several hours planning every detail of every ruffle down to the inch.

Lisa and I pre-cut all the fabric, and but them in bundles along with drawings and instructions for each workroom so there was no confusion.

When it was all figured out, I placed the bundles in bags to pass-off accordingly. 

We re-upholstered the bed-frame, and made new Euro Shams, Queen Shams and a neck-roll for the bed. The button on the neck-roll is made with a tiny part of the paisley fabric on the headboard. I used the fabric for some accents around the room as well.

I purchased the duvet cover in a pink cotton chambray from Pottery Barn, and also purchased 2 sheet sets in the same colour to use as fabric for the custom shams and the canopy. Her mom had the idea of using tulle on the canopy, and I loved it so we just incorporated it as a layer on-top of the cotton sheeting. We kept her existing white coverlet.

 My favourite part though is the fabric I used for the bedskirt. Not only is it a blinding-neon pink, but it is crinkle material and we did a triple-fullnes, so it hangs like a really cool punk-like ballroom skirt! I used this crinkle material as small flange on the window seat and some of the decorative pillows.

While at one of the Fabric Retailers, I found this hot-pink mongolian fur pillow. It is SO soft and kinda crazy. While there, I also picked up a mini-sheepskin rug. I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but just knew that she had to have it.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

You can see how she has her American Girl Dolls in her bookcase. Her mom had a great idea of buying little bunk-beds for them on Ebay, and we used extra fabric from the sheets and pillows to make matching comforters and pillows for the dolls.

And it turned out that this was the perfect place to put the miniature white rug that I didn't know what to do with earlier!

So when her mom said the word "tween", I KNEW we had to put a poster of her favourite singer/actor. I asked who it was, and it's Justin Beiber. So I found the "cleanest" poster aesthetically speaking, on Ebay, and top mounted it on white paper matte board and did a simple white wood frame.

The window seat was fun, as this is where I just simply recovered the cushion and made new pillows.

The best part was being able to use this fun velvet and linen leopard print fabric. I tried to tone it down a bit by making the box around the pillow in a solid pink linen, and I used the crinkle dust-ruffle fabric for a ¼" flange. The middle green pillow with the pom-pom corners came from Pottery Barn Teen, and I had her mom color copy a picture of her daughter with all her friends and placed it in the pocket window. I think this is the kind of pillow I would of wanted when I was her age!

And instead of buying the pre-made "Peace" sign pillows from Pottery Barn, I made her custom ones. We used small amounts of fabric used in other places in the room, and with the white linen used on the Euro Shams, I had the Peace signs cut out and appliqued with a green top-stitch thread. With some left over white linen, we did a small cord to separate the paisley box-pleat ruffle from the body of the pillow.

I kept the chest of drawers, but took the mirror down and edited down the frames on the chest and on the walls. 

I purchased some zebra patterned knobs and the lampshade to go with the Zebra carpet, all from Pottery Barn Teen, and it just gave the chest an easy update that ties in to the whole design.

And anytime I purchase "off the rack" items, whether it's clothes or bulletin boards from Pottery Barn Teen like this one, I try to customize it the best way I can. For instance, with this awesome modular system, I kept the magnetic, wipe-off, peg and chalk boards as is. But on the cork boards, with the exception of one, I used some fabric remnants from the room and covered the squares with them. Now this piece is customized and part of the whole design.

I also applied the same idea to a full length mirror that is trimmed in cork board. I was going to use some leftover pink linen from the pillows, and cut and glue it to the cork and trim out in ribbon. Then as we got closer to the budget-cap, I nixed the special trim. My seamstress said that without the trim to cover the edges it wouldn't look very good and she found the perfect width of the perfect-pink grosgrain ribbon. And voilà! It looks perfect! 

Around the corner is her bathroom, with the house's awesome original 1940's floors. Her mom had already made this into a gorgeous bathroom with all the hand-painted ceramic accents such as the sink and the mirror, I  just edited and deleted a little of the un-necessary to make it more spacious. But what we did want to do is pay special attention to her "make-up" table.

Playing off the colours in the bathroom and in the bedroom, I found this really cute (and really inexpensive) cotton polka-dot fabric, and had a heart-shaped stool custom made (a little bit taller than normal) to fit under the counter, but tall enough for her to be able to sit and see in the mirror.

Her mom found this light-up vanity mirror and I found the little Peace-sign i-pod speaker on-line while getting her bedding items.

Along with the i-pod speaker, took out two of the pillowcases from the sheets we bought for the canopy and had them monogrammed. I had her initials put on the front (and in a fun font) and on the back of each, I had the words "DANCING QUEEN" and "I AM LOVED" embroidered.

Her mom found this flower while she was clearing out her room, so I asked her to fetch me a stem-vase and we placed it in here by her bed. I mean, you couldn't ask for a more perfect flower for in here!

Now my work is done. To get the room perfect though, I enlisted help from her siblings and friends to get that doll-house in order.

Everyone helped in this project! And then on a Sunday, she came home, and because her brothers were sooo good and didn't say a word, she was totally surprised. I am so glad her dad captured the surprise on video. I'd be a liar if I said I didn't tear up a bit. Or maybe more than a bit.

If you want to see her reaction, turn on the volume and watch the video below.