My daughter’s room was one of the first in The Mad House to get a full overhaul. Everything in the house needed to be done on a budget, so I found a way to incorporate the decorative items that were left in her room by the previous owners along with what we already had to create her very own Fairy Garden!
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The first step was steaming down the wallpaper border (along with all the other wallpaper in the house). Then we primed and painted the walls in Ace Royal’s Season’s Promise, which turned out to be a neon yellow-green! Click over for the paint information for the whole Mad House.
I don’t know if I would have deliberately chosen such a bright wall color, but I love the way it turned out. The neon color tones down the foofy-girliness of the rest of the room and makes it more modern than twee.
The previous owners left behind a Tinkerbell ceiling fan, light switch, and door hook in the room, so it made sense to try to work those touches into the room instead of fighting against them.
When you add together magical fairies with the garden themed nursery décor we had in her old room, you get a Fairy Garden themed room. Fairies + Garden = Fairy Garden. And you say I’m not good at math.
When we moved into The Mad House, we transitioned my daughter’s crib into a toddler bed. That meant adjusting the crib skirt my mom had sewed for her just a bit. The flower afghan my mother-in-law crocheted for her is still hanging on the back of the bed, and the tissue flowers survived the move to be hung above the bed.
Some of are you are thinking, “Wait, Jess! ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’ is a song from Pinocchio. It doesn’t have anything to do with fairies.” Ah, let me drop a little Disney knowledge on you. “Wish Upon a Star” is from Pinocchio, but is it the Blue Fairy who comes to grant Gepetto’s wish. Now I just need to work Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather into the room somewhere!
The wall decal is made from two set of removable wall stickers from Dollar Tree. Both sets had silver foil decals on a clear background, so I did a little trimming and rearranging to combine them into one vignette.
The room has a sizeable closet with tracks for bi-fold doors. But I hate bi-fold closet doors, especially for a child’s room (pinched fingers everywhere!) so I created a pretty solution. Come back next week to see how I created the watercolor curtains!
My daughter’s changing table fit nicely into the little alcove alongside the closet. A few of her handmade tutus and a healthy stock of diapers are stored on the table itself.
Above the table, I hung up the framed tulip photographs that my cousin gave to us as a wedding present. I also hung the Bow-Holding Monogram I made within an arm’s reach of the table. If I can get my daughter to sit still to be changed, there might be a chance for me to quickly stick a bow in her hair too!
I love to rock my girl to sleep, so the glider and ottoman made their way back into her room. The wicker pendant light hung in my nursery as a baby and is a sentimental touch in the room. It already had a flower-like shape, so spray painting it pink just seemed like the natural choice!
The bold Barbara Bordnick print is what inspired the garden nursery in the first place. A side table with pull-out drawers sits below and adds some storage to the room. My mom gave me that paisley bin a few years back, and that is my bridal bouquet resting inside of it. I got the adorable “Love is All You Need” sign at Wal*Mart for 97 cents!
I won a gift credit to A to Zebra Celebrations from Celebrations at Home last summer and used it to buy that adorable pennant bunting over the window. I bought two sets of the pink and green dot stickers from Dollar Tree and stuck them at the top edge of the wall. I think I might buy a few more sets and continue the dots onto the adjacent wall. What do you think?
A chevron afghan, also made by my mother-in-law, sits on the rocker along with a soon-to-be sewn throw pillow. I created the design on a t-shirt using a technique I learned from Pattiwack at the I Love to Create booth at the Michigan International Women’s Show. I just need to turn the shirt into a throw pillow cover, because I think it is such a cute touch to the room.
So, what are your impressions of the first completed room in The Mad House? Does the neon paint throw you off or are you a believer in bright colors?
To see tutorials for some of the projects seen in the room, click the thumbnails below!
