Makeover Monday: the kids bathroom

We left off upstairs, with the only room left (that got a makeover, at least) being the kids’ bathroom.  Of course this would be more interesting had I remembered to take before pictures, but I’m just not that kind of girl.  What I do have is a picture of the junk I took out of the room, all piled up and ready to go to Craigslist.  That’s almost as good right?

So yeah, it was a fish theme.  The builder had painted the room sage green.  A lovely color, but oddly formal in a kids bathroom and it didn’t at all match the fish stuff.  And the fish stuff was really on my nerves.  I bought it all years ago and saved it in a Rubbermaid tub forever, because I just knew that I would decorate my children’s bathroom in fish one day.  I know you’re not surprised that when they came along, I was already over the fish.  But of course I couldn’t admit that, so I had to use them for a little while first.  You know, just to be polite and all.

So I knew I wanted their bathroom to be something else, I just didn’t know what that else was exactly.  And how it came to be is rather odd, really.

In doing all of these makeovers I cleaned out a lot of junk, and I just can’t bear to throw anything away.  I know someone could use this stuff, right?!?!  Enter Freecycle, a truly beautiful concept.  I listed tons of the kids clothes, toys, baby gear, furniture, and even our old treadmill, and then people came to my house and took it away!  I know, I know, we could get a tax deduction for donating it to charity, and often I do just that, but sometimes (and especially with the big stuff) it’s nice to just have someone come and take it all away so I don’t have to deal.  That is not without value of its own, my friends.  So one day as I listed Lilly’s baby gear someone else posted that they had tried 3 times to get the perfect shade of aqua/teal/turquoise paint and the shade was never quite right, so they were giving away the ‘imperfect’ gallons.  ‘What the heck?’ I figured – I didn’t have a vision in mind anyway, so I picked up a gallon of surprise! paint and a vision started to take shape.

The end result?

(Waiting for the return of beautiful black-and-white pictures of the girls to go in the frames.)

I think it’s sort of girly-chic.  I like that it’s feminine in a more sophisticated way, and I feel that it will last them for years since it doesn’t have a ‘little girl’ look.  I couldn’t be more pleased with the way this room turned out.  I think it’s actually my favorite makeover so far!  Which is a good thing, since it was also one of the most expensive.  I bought all new towels, carpets, etc. I bought all of the fabric to embellish said towels, and I made the shower curtain and the valance myself.  I painted it all and replaced the light fixtures myself, and I spent hours on the embroidery and embellishments.  I love the way it came together, but it really does not reflect the amount of time spent on it.  I’d sort of like to hang little tags on everything so it’s fully appreciated.  ’30 minute handtowel’ or ’4 and a 1/2 hour shower curtain’  But I digress.

So there you have it, the grand tour of my kids’ living space.  I’m not making any promises about what you’ll see next week, because I’m really not sure just yet.  It will be a surprise for all of us.

Play along?