Jane's "Big Girl" Room

My goodness friends, today is a big day because I am sharing a project that has been on-going for quite some time around here... Jane's new little room!!! 

On the drive to my parents' house last Thanksgiving, Pierce and I started talking about some changes that might need to happen upstairs when we add this second little one to our midst... Upstairs, we had our room, the nursery, our "guest room" (read, an extra room with lots of storage for the past two years), and five closets that have not been used in the best way (read, lots of things piled in each and every one)... 

We knew it was time to sort, sift through, purge, donate, and create a few systems that worked better for our growing family. So after Christmas, I started what I thought would be maybe "a few weeks" project that turned into the better part of a three-month project... We realized with a full calendar, an almost two-year old, weddings, traveling, and lots of tutoring, discipleship group nights, and small group hosting, a project like this just takes longer than we would have liked... But standing on the other side, we are SO thankful we took the time to make this one happen...

Before we dive into Jane's sweet new room, let me take you back just a bit and show you just how much this room has changed in the five years we've lived here... 

When we first moved in, this little room became a room of "dreams" and "hobbies" of sorts... 

It went through a few different variations... 

But for the most part, it was Pierce's studio and where I would work on a sewing project or two. Pierce recorded several good friends' albums here though and those memories will ALWAYS be so special to us. We made all of the sound panels and even sold them here in Nashville for a short time. 

I loved seeing his set-up and thinking back on the many hours that were spent in this room brainstorming, recording and mixing... 

But when we found out we were expecting Jane, most of that music gear was put into the closet, and the room became our upstairs guest room, which was perfect for that beginning season when Jane was little!! We left a few sound panels up for old times' sake and to remind us of what that sweet room used to be... 

But....just an honest and very embarrassing picture I snapped right after Christmas break, I'm sad to say that this room basically became a small storage unit for us upstairs... It would get cleaned and "tidied" for guests whenever they came, but it held office chairs, our sweet bassinet that we never took apart after Jane grew out of it, old blinds and curtains under the bed, all of my sewing items in the nine cube storage, a desk full of papers and memories, an entire bookshelf full of all of our books and about a million more things that were hiding in various places....not to mention....

The dreaded closet... 

You guys, I don't even know how this came to be honestly...but it held an entire drum set, all of Pierce's music gear, fall decorations, a broken printer, stashed books, consignment sale hangers...you name it, it was probably in this closet. Hence where the project went from a week or two to a month or two.... 

But several porch donation pick-ups, marketplace sells, and hours spent purging, sorting, donating and rearranging...we got it down to this...with an Elfa update hopefully coming soon!!!

And in the meantime, we transformed a lot of what was in that room/closet to this sweet little functional workspace for Pierce in a closet off of our room. The baskets hold all of our books, the shelves a few drum pieces and my sewing machine, and we moved the desk and his office chair where he can now work from home when he needs to. You can read more about that project here. But needless-to-say, this has been an "event" at our house 😂 And as we got closer to Jane's birthday, we realized that we might just be able to make her birthday the deadline we needed to finish up this "little" project... 

Which brings me to this now little slice of heaven... 

I brainstormed for so long about this room and got stuck about a million times, started over, and back to the beginning time and time again. I knew I wanted it to be sweet and girly, and originally, I really wanted to try my hand at an accent wall of wallpaper. My mom is an amazing wallpaper-er, and I thought it would be perfect. But not knowing if this second baby is a boy or a girl or if they'll maybe share this room one day, we landed on one last board and batten in our home that would match the nursery wall right next door... 

You can find a few more pictures of the nursery here... 

So in-between life and travel and weddings and hosting, we managed to complete our wall, paint the room and started putting it back together these past few weeks... You can read a little bit more of the board and batten process here and here if you're interested in putting one in! They are relatively simple and always make such a huge impact! 

Two of my favorite resources have always been this blogpost from Grace in my Space, and this "Grid Wall" story series from The Adler House. And a few of the best things we used for all three have been this caulk, wet wipes for smearing the caulk (the best tip!!!), this wood filler for the nail holes, this paint brush, Pierce and I also borrowed this stud finder and this nail gun. I painted downstairs Sherwin Williams Alabaster and both upstairs board and batten walls Sherwin Williams Pure White. It's definitely a fun little project if you've been thinking about it!! 

After the wall was up and painted, the fun for me really began!! This is my bedroom set from when I was growing up, and we went back and forth on a toddler bed for Jane, but we ended up taking the boxspring out and going with the bed we already had... She's not sleeping in here just yet, but she is already calling this her "cozy bed," which always makes me smile. 

I knew I wanted to give her a little reading corner, but at the last minute, I found this adorable little house on sale and knew it would be the perfect addition. It is BY FAR her favorite part of this room. She is in "her house" all the time these days, and I couldn't love it more. It was so easy to put up, it's lightweight and movable and is just the perfect little hideaway. I had a little "house" attached to my toddler bed when I was around Jane's age, and this just takes me back to those special days. 

I had snagged this little Sherpa reading chair as one of the first things for her new room, and it's perfect for this little house... She sits, lays, reads...just loves her little "chair."

I added some flowers, a little ribbon that came with her quilt and a tiny lamp and basket for books... 

It's just a sweet little part of this room and to me, makes it feel very "Jane." I also love that this is what we see when we walk up the stairs...It always just makes me smile!! 

We hung some new curtains, and this little bookshelf came with the set when I was growing up, so it was fun to put some toys on it and have it in a little girl's room again. 

I added some daisies in a little vase holder I had in the guest room and added a little picture for the top. 

And to the left of the closet, I had Pierce help me hang a few of these little bookshelves. I love this part of kids' rooms and playrooms so much, and as a teacher, I LOVE being able to display the cover of books. I placed a few of her favorite "springtime" books right before her birthday, but I can't wait to change out the collection and add a few seasonal decor items as the seasons change as well... 

On Jane's birthday when we surprised her with her room, we put a little bag and with her tea set in the middle of the room... 

And seeing her jump right into playing in that used-to-be cluttered space just made me smile. 

It just feels exactly like what a little girl's room should be. I've LOVED walking by the past few weeks and seeing little books and toys and teacups out and about - it really does just feel right and always makes me smile. 

I pray this room is always just such a special little place for her to grow and play and learn... 

We printed out a little prayer of ours for her right when you walk in, and I love that it's such a sweet reminder to cover her little life in prayer, in and out of this room. You can find the prayer we based it off of here and one for a little boy here. They are just precious and great reminders of prayer! 

There's a few more things like switching out the light overhead, putting up a few pieces of artwork and pictures to make it feel a little more homey and setting up her closet, but this project really has been a sweet one to work on... 

And I can't believe we have a little toddler girl in our home now... It feels like she has a place and our upstairs feels a little more like home now that so many of our spaces are what we need for this season... 

Thanks for following along in this journey!!! This project has definitely felt like a journey!! One that has been very-much worth it though. I'm sure you'll be seeing lots more from this little room and this little girl, but hope it was sweet seeing a few snapshots this Tuesday morning!!!

I'll plan on being back here tomorrow!!! 
Sending lots of love your way! And here's to turning our homes into places we love, use and enjoy!!! 

XO
Tab