Girly Day Post #4: The Girls Room

For a final Girly Day post, here's a tour of my daughters' room. This room has kind of its own vibe going on — different than the rest of the house. It's a very sentimental room. Lots of its furnishings and decor have a story; in fact, a lot of what is charming to me about this room is that we were able to draw from from some pretty random pieces to pull the space together. The room was also tricky because it needed to be the baby's room and still feel appropriate for Maude and Olive who are 8 and 6.

The fabric "girls" sign on the door was a gift from my Mom. She picked it up from Anthropologie. The paint on the door is peeling and the original shade of vintage turquoise is revealed in spots — the crumbly-ness and color work well with the rest of the room.

The five original birth announcements, done by illustrator Apryl Stott are on the far wall and continue around the baby corner. The crib is a hotel crib we picked up on the street — Oscar is still using our original crib. This one is such a great size, it has a very small footprint but fits a baby comfortably. I wish I'd had it for each of my kiddos. You can adjust it higher or lower — we moved it down as soon as Betty could reach up and touch the artwork.

The dresser is from an antique store — we brought it with us when we moved to NY. I love the narrow shape and tall legs. The blanket hanging over the side of the crib was made by my mother for baby Betty.

The porcelain little boy on the dresser was made by my Grandma Daisy. She poured the porcelain, painted the face and sewed/knitted the clothes. I think his faded turquoise sweater works nicely with the other aged turquoise colors in the room.

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The dress is the same gown I was "blessed" in (blessing is the version of christening in my church). My oldest daughter was blessed in the same dress and I'll give the dress to her when she's older.

The desk is from a tag sale. We picked it up for $40, sanded it down and changed the knobs. It's not technically a child's desk, but it has good kid-size proportions. The bulletin board is fabric-covered homasote in an old frame we picked up on the street. The chair is a vintage café chair my friend Kathryn C gave me.

Kathryn C is a tag sale superstar — she also found the vintage turquoise toy chest and knew I would love it. It houses the stuffed animals and dolls. Most of the family toys are stored in the family room, but we keep the girliest stuff — the My Little Pony's and Barbies/Disney Princesses in the bins on these shelves.

The darling print of the girl reading is from Sarah Jane. My own mother kept images of children reading around the house. And I do love to read. I wonder how much the images influenced me.

Can't have enough good books. One third of our children's library is in the girls' room. One third is in the boys' room. One third is in a little reading nook on the landing.

The hanging ceramic vase was a gift from a friend and former client who opened a wonderful flower shop. Isn't it lovely?

The full-size bed is another Kathryn C find. She picked it up on the street, knowing she could find a good home for it. I gave it a quick paint job and it has made its way through many bedrooms. It was our guest bed first, then my son Ralph's bed. Now Maude and Olive share it. The floral bedding is from PB Teen. I've had the eyelet sheets forever — I have no memory of where I picked them up. The cute bunny is French.

The paperdoll watercolor/mixed media above the bed is an original by Brooke Morrison. This was in my home as a child. My father was a public school teacher and had a framing business on the side. He framed this artwork.

The bedside table is yet another Kathryn C gift. It was dark, dark wood and I painted it pearl pink by Benjamin Moore. The lampshade we picked up when we lived in Greece. It's perfect in a little girl's room. The clock Santa picked up from our local drugstore and gave to Olive from Christmas.

The chandelier is maybe the best thing about our rental. It had no shades when we moved in. I picked these up at Target.


These pics have been on flickr for a few weeks, but I haven't shared them here yet. How's that for the girliest day of posts ever?