I read somewhere awhile back...maybe in House Beautiful magazine?.... that most people never finish the last 10% of a room. The last 10% is the final details, the little ribbons and bows, the perfect colored vase, the right picture frame.
I must admit I am truly guilty of this. Guilty of "finishing" before I'm really finished. It's somehow easier to select paint for a room, arrange furniture, decide on colors, etc. than sticking to the discipline of all those final details.
But what I'm learning is that the final details are so much FUN, which is why I persisted through sweat and tears, canceled travel plans, power outages, and online digital glitches to complete our Little Miss's space this week.
And we're pretty tickled about it, she and I.
Her walls were already turquoise (BM Gulf Stream), but with our recent love of orange and yellow, we wanted to incorporate those colors into her space.
I think we managed pretty well :-)
The fabric in her curtains had all the colors we needed, which made it a great launching point. Then it was just a matter of coordinating fabrics for her pillows (I ended up sewing her shams and pillow cases since it's much easier to find coordinating fabrics that way), finding or making accessories for the walls and shelves, and adding some vintage and texture.
Amaya does much better organizing when she has specific places for everything. She is tickled with this simple solution of spraying wooden signs from Michael's with Chalkboard Paint, drilling a small hole in the top, and securing to baskets with jute twine.
As far as vintage goes, we discovered last week after refinishing her matching desk and nightstand that both pieces belonged to Amaya's Great Grandma GG on her daddy's side ~ making these pieces almost 100 years old!
What a treasure to have such history in my little girls' room.
The collage wall turned out to be such a kick. I made the yellow striped frame from an ebook I downloaded from The Handmade Home. The rest of the frames I painted and distressed, then added a few embellishments.
Our October visit south to Idaho inspired our embellishment craze. We were in Hobby Lobby and I was taking inspiration pictures like crazy. I LOVE that store! This "A" is a simple cardboard letter from JoAnne's, painted and distressed. The turquoise wooden design is one of those you buy at Lowe's or Home Depot to glue on furniture. We painted it, added a couple stick-on gems, and voila :-)
And of course, Amaya needed a space for her dolls and doll clothes. The alcove at the foot of her bed is the perfect spot. We taped off and chalkboard-painted a rectangle on the lid of the chest so she can write on it for fun.
I ordered a few prints from Katie Daisy because her work just makes us both happy. And the yellow antlers? Well, those belonged to Amaya's beloved Sunday School kindergarten teacher Jan, who has since moved and is one of the sweetest ladies you'll ever know. I painted them yellow on a whim and Amaya's not sure she likes them yellow. She's still deciding ~
What a perfectly fun space to decorate with my little girl. We both keep finding excuses to walk in here just because everything feels so fresh and happy.
Never underestimate the pleasure of finishing that last 10%.
Jaimee
Labels: Amaya
