Julia's new room :)

I decided to try something a bit different with adding pictures when I have a lot of them to put up and don't feel like taking the time to downsize them all before uploading.  So I'm attempting collages!  If this works properly, hopefully you can click on the pictures to make them bigger and actually see everything. :)  If not . . . well, I'll go back to the old method!  Here are some pictures of Julia's new room, start to finish.

Up to this point, the kids have all shared a room.  We didn't have great foresight when we built our house (having only one kid at the time) and we only built 2 bedrooms--1 master suite and 1 kids' room.  We knew we wanted to have several children, but I kind of figured we would end up with all boys.  After all, Jim is one of three boys . . . and his brother and sister-in-law had 3 boys right in a row (they now have 2 girls as well :)), and our first was a boy, so therefore . . . probably we would have a few boys and they could all share a room forever.

Well, one problem was that we didn't actually make the one bedroom big enough to fit in 3 twin size beds, even if one of them was a bunk bed (although we could probably build a triple bunk, as Jim's brother is currently doing for his boys!).  But then, our 2nd child was a GIRL!  Surprise, surprise!  So we knew eventually she would want and need her own room.  Lately, the time seemed to be drawing closer.  Sam and Julia have shared the bunk bed for the past 4ish years, and Josiah has been in a toddler bed since he moved out of the crib.  But he's getting so tall!  We knew the toddler bed was not going to work for much longer.

A few months ago, Jim came home with a surprise: 2 matching white twin size beds with 2 drawers each.  He got them used, for free, from work.  What a blessing!  We started making plans for Julia's new room.  All along we have figured we'd use a little spare room we have, by the laundry room.  We always called this "the office," because we originally planned to use it for that.  But it's housed many things over the years we've lived here: our piano for a while, exercise equipment most recently, spare chairs, odds and ends, and junk that we had no other place for!  It's a really tiny room, but a good size for a little girl. :)

Julia knew she wanted to paint her room purple.  We looked at all kinds of paint chips and steered her toward lavender.  I was actually thinking almost white with just the palest touch of lavender, but (as usual) Jim knew better.  With his help, she picked out a nice, pretty color that just brightens up that little room!    In the first picture of the collage, Jim is working on painting lavender over the cream that was in there.  It was amazing how much better and different it looked in a fresh new color!

In the 2nd and third pictures, the kids and Jim are working on painting the bed.  Julia decided she wanted it painted the same color as the walls.  I was dubious, but I wanted her to have as much say in the decorating as possible, since she's the one who has to live in the room. :)  Plus, she was nervous anyway about being in a room by herself, so I figured that being a big part of the planning would help allay those fears.  (And I think it did!)  Jim reworked one of the beds to hold 4 drawers instead of two.  He took the drawers from the 2nd bed and the rest of that bed has become firewood. :)  There is no space for a dresser in her new room, so the drawers hold all of her clothes with some room to spare!

In the fourth picture, we have moved the bed in.

Picture five shows the door (closed) and wall that Jim built between the laundry area and her room.  My laundry cabinet that he made for me a while back still faces into her room, but that was unavoidable.  Eventually I will cover it with a cute curtain so it will look "pretty." :)

The sixth picture shows Jim and Sam sanding the wood walls in preparation for urethane.  Jim also enclosed the stovepipe with a wood, and made an access panel door, which we put up a hook on to hold some of her extra stuff--bathrobe, straw hat, PJs, etc.

The next 3 pictures show the (nearly) finished room and the happy girl who lives there! :)  I found her super cute bedding on sale while we were in Ohio.  In the last picture, you can see Julia and her cousin Emily fast asleep in Julia's bed.  They both slept there for 3 nights while my sis and family stayed with us.  I just love this picture . . . so sweet. :)  This is before we rudely woke them up to leave bright and early for Story Land!!

Since these pictures were taken, we have also added a strip of crown moulding beside her bed which is a little bookshelf (for small, thin books facing out).  And she has moved in a few more of her toys and things.  She doesn't have a lot of space to put stuff, so a lot of her toys are still stored in the boys' room or the living room, but she has enough of her little treasures to keep her happy!  And don't laugh at the turkey picture above her bed. ;)  What can I say?  We were wanting something to decorate that space, and I pulled out a more "girly" (I thought) picture that I had stashed away, while Jim pulled out the turkeys--something my Grammie gave us ages ago.   I thought she'd go for the more feminine art, but not my little tomboy. :)  So at least for now, turkeys it is . . . maybe when she's older she'll want something more girly, but as I said before, it's her room and she's happy with it!

Hope you've enjoyed this peek at the cozy little room for our sweet girl!