Girls’ bedroom makeover reveal – a pink, mint and gold haven

How many photos is too many in a blog post? This post might be the record…

It’s been a couple of months in the making but the girls’ bedroom makeover is finally finished. We chose a pink, mint and gold colour palette to reflect some of their favourite things: ice-cream, iced donuts, macaroons and candy floss. All the really healthy stuff, then (!).

We decided to put them in a shared room after the success of them sharing on holiday last summer. Freya’s room had never been decorated, we’d just put up some decals and shelves, and focused on the rest of the house. In fact, she’s never had a properly decorated bedroom because when she was a baby we lived in a rented cottage.

I’ve shared some before and after photos here, and if you scroll on down you can see the finer details of the room. To get an even better view of it watch the video tour at the end of this post.

Right, here we go…

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Before, the space was cluttered. It was filled with hand-me-down furniture or pieces I’d upcycled (I literally found her wardrobe in the street!). Although the space was loved, it was so full of stuff she couldn’t easily get to anything. Her toys were crammed into boxes on shelves, her clothes squished into storage that she’d long grown out of.

Turning the room into a shared one for Freya AND Effie meant moving all the toys into Effie’s old room, which now doubles up as a playroom and spare room, and investing in a new wardrobe that would accommodate both of their clothes.

The art work:

The artwork in the room all comes from Desenio (to get 25% off Desenio orders go to the bottom of this post for a discount code). We created a feature wall along the fireplace side, by splitting it into three and painting it pink, gold and mint (all colours linked to in the index at the end of this post – the darker mint was leftover from Effie’s yellow, grey and mint nursery). 

I chose the donut print as an oversized one, to be the main picture in the little gallery collection. The other prints are an abstract one, a couple of fun typography prints (the gold one at the bottom says “GRL PWR”), an ice-cream cartoon print and a photograph of the girls from our summer day trip to Lyme Regis.

We also chose a trio of prints in a gold frame for a slither of wall next to the window and wardrobe. The top one says “Be Kind”, the middle one is a “candyfloss cloud” print and the third says “Be Brave”. You can’t get a great view of them from these photos so check out the video to see them more clearly.

The windows:

This is what the windows looked like before:

The curtains were left behind by the people who used to live here. They were fine, but they didn’t do a great job of keeping the light out. Plus, they were bulky. We knew they had to go.

This is what we replaced them with:

The blinds are made to measure Venetian blinds from Style Studio, in matt white. They were fitted by a lovely guy called Jan from a local company called Carolina Blinds and Curtains in Devon. He came out to measure up first, then returned a week or so later to fit them. It was a completely hassle-free experience and Simon was thrilled he didn’t have to take on yet another DIY job!

Not only do they keep the light out WAY better than the old curtains, but they’re so much neater than the curtains and give us extra space either side of the window. We didn’t realise what a huge difference the blinds would make to the room but, once they were fitted, they completely transformed the space.

Bedding:

With the gallery wall, the trio of colours on the feature wall and all the little accessories and details in the room, I wanted to avoid bedding with a print that was too “busy”. This delicate Dotty Pink design from the Fine Cotton Company is perfect. It’s a nod to the pink without being completely pink-tastic, while the organic cotton is so soft Freya says it’s like “sleeping in a cloud” (jealous!).

The new duvets and pillows might also (OK, definitely) play a big part in the “sleeping on a cloud” thing. In fact, since we’ve changed the girls’ bedding to the washable single duvets from The Fine Bedding Company we’ve noticed a marked improvement in bedtime.

Flooring / rugs:

The carpet was ruined. It had nail varnish stains on it, numerous suspicious dark patches (I’m going to blame Effie’s potty training mistakes for these) and was lumpy and bumpy from various pieces of furniture. We ripped it up and painted the floorboards in B&Q’s white floor paint. Four coats later I was bent double but the room was transformed.

Floorboards on their own might look all Scandi minimalist but they’re not the cosiest, so we bought this rug from Wayfair along with a couple of £10 faux fur sheepskin pieces from Ikea. Sorted. I love the deep pile and dusky pink of the Berber style rug, and the kids like to roll around on it in their pre-bedtime hyper states.

Accessories:

Arranging accessories, or “faffing”, as I like to call it, is possibly one of my most favourite things ever. It’s definitely the most enjoyable part of a room makeover project anyway. The cute luggy basket, piki basket, Dream Happy cushion, pink shelf, ice-cream lamp and ice-cream garland all came from Deco Baby.

There’s a full index below so you can see where all the other bits and pieces came from, including the cute lolly hooks. The book shelves are the £3 spice racks from IKEA, painted in matt white. Bargain.

LIGHTING:

We have more lighting in the room now than before and, although it’s already brighter with the brilliant white paint and the blinds, the lighting makes it feel cosy too. The tripod light is in mint with a beautiful copper detail (I couldn’t resist it in the WayFair sale) and the table light was a fiver from Dunelm. We also switched over the ceiling light to a feather lampshade from Dunelm.

FURNITURE:

Investing in the Pax wardrobe was the biggest single spend we made in the room. It cost just over £400 because we opted for the more expensive sliding doors to save space, plus we added extras like the sliding mesh basket drawers and sliding shoe storage. It’s amazing and we love it. The girls can now actually find their clothes and we have plenty of storage for things like Brownies uniforms, swim towels etc etc.

And that’s it! Do you like it?!

Watch the video tour here:

Pin for later…

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PRODUCT INDEX:

Art and frames – selection, Desenio  

( The code “mollyforbes” gives 25% off posters,(except “handpicked” posters and frames), between 24th – 26th October 2017 )

Paint – Pink Pink, B&Q | Metallic gold, B&Q | Mint Macaroon, Dulux | Secret Mint, B&Q | Brilliant White, B&Q | White floor paint, B&Q

Blinds – Venetian blinds in Matt White (aluminium) c/o Style Studio & Carolina Blinds

Bedding – Dotty Pink organic cotton duvet and pillow cases c/o Fine Cotton Company | Duvet and pillows c/o Fine Bedding Company

Textiles – Dream Happy cushion by Rose in April c/o Deco Baby | Hello Gorgeous cushion, Dunelm | Faux fur pink cushion, Matalan | Pink rug, WayFair | Tejn rug x2, IKEA

Lighting – Ice-cream light by Little Lovely Company c/o Deco Baby | Feather ceiling light, Dunelm | Lindesberg light (discontinued), WayFair | Bird and heart fairy lights, previously owned | Pink table lamp, Dunelm

Accessories – Luggy basket by Olli Ella c/o Deco Baby | Piki basket by Olli Ella c/o Deco Baby | Ice-cream garland by Mimi’Lou c/o Deco Baby | Tassel garland, Mon Pote at Roost | Lolly hooks, Mon Pote at Roost

Furniture – rocking chair, previously owned, painted in Annie Sloan | bunk beds, previously owned, painted in Annie Sloan | Pax wardrobe system, IKEA | Bekvam spice racks as bookshelves, IKEA

 

 

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Thanks to Desenio, Deco Baby, The Fine Cotton Company, The Fine Bedding Company and Style Studio for working with me on this project. For more information about how I work with brands check out my Work With Me page.