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Little Girl's Room... Desperate for Help
Hello... I used to post on the Nest as championbride, then champiomama and I lost my login info.
I've recently divorced and ex-H and I sold our home and I bought a smaller 3 bedroom house. I plan to add on in a few years, but for now my daughter has a pretty small room. I bought a bunk bed with steps and 4 drawers, but I hate it. I thought about painting but, the task is just too daunting. The thing takes up so much space in a small room. The closet is huge and holds a dresser (which I plan to paint), 2 rows for hanging clothes, shoe cubes, and toy shelves. Plus, the Barbie house and Baby doll stuff fit on the floor of the closet.
I'm working on painting the trim work white and haven't made it to her room yet. So, it'll be white. I've decided to sell the bunk and go for a trundle. (I need the extra bed for sleepovers with friends and my niece).
I painted the room Valspar Passion Pink and it's TOO MUCH PINK! I hate it. Plus, the previous paint - turquoise and purple - is still showing through after two coats.
I'll take any suggestions you have. I was thinking of a neutral color, except for that window wall.... I'd put the trundle against it (it's a daybed style trundle) and an accent color, maybe with some stencil.
I want a soft, dreamy space. Right now, it's a nightmare.
Thanks for reading! And for any help!!! And sorry if my pics are too big.
Re: Little Girl's Room... Desperate for Help
Trading the bed for something smaller is a good idea.
I also think changing the color is good. I feel you on the poor color choice. I did that in my son's room, painted it blue and it was waaaaaay too much blue for his small room. It's 5 years later and I still need to repaint (I hate painting, lol). From your pics, it looks like your daughter's room is as small as my son's room Except he doesn't have a huge closet. I'd definitely go for a lighter, softer color to help make the room more airy. If you want to stick with pink, maybe a blush rose color would be soft enough. Since the previous colors are still showing through, be sure to prime.
Since the dresser is in the closet and the room is so small, I would say don't add too much more furniture. Add a nice rug if the room doesn't have carpet and maybe a low bookshelf and some art work and you are done. I think the best things you can do are the bed and color though, and I'm sure once you do those two things, the room will be much easier to work with.
Moxie and Mischief - The Offbeat Mama's Guide to
Burlington County and Surrounding Areas
I'm glad you're getting rid of the bed! It is huge! A daybed trundle's a wonderful idea for a girl's room.
When you're working with color-color, you pretty much always want to go lighter and duller than what you think you want. If the chip looks like it would fit in in a Crayola box, it's not going to be something you want in your home
When looking at paint chips, pick up the grayed out, washed out, dull versions. They won't seem fun in store, but your home isn't a warehouse with fluorescent lighting! 
I don't have any specific pink suggestions, but I'd suggest priming the room for now (esp since you mentioned you have purple and green bleed-thru) and giving yourself a clean slate to do samples. Yep, you need to spend $3 on those sample pots!
You shop at Lowe's? Check out the Laura Ashley and Eddie Bauer paint lines. They seem to do a good job staying away from the crazy lol. Laura Ashley paint is numbered 1-4 for depth (like "Cornflower 1"); I'm thinking you're going to want level 1 or 2.
When you choose color, after you've primed, tape the samples up to the wall with painter's tape. Take down whatever doesn't appeal to you as soon as it doesn't appeal to you. Wait a couple days and look at the samples in night light, day light, etc. Soon, you'll only be left with a few chips and those are the ones to get sample pots of. Once you get the samples painted, you can say, "oh, looks like I need something with more gray to it," and you start the process over again.
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The Googlesites Paint Bio
Thinking of doing cosmetic updates to a dated home? These were our costs.
I agree a daybed would be a good option. if you choose to go with a colored wall a white wood finish or possibly natural wood finish for a girl's daybed would be a good choice. Lea Furniture or Young America should have some good choices for you on a new bed.
Thank You everyone Sweet Sadie... the Serena and Lily "Eve" bedding is what I was wanting for that room, but was discontinued and I couldn't find it anywhere...
One day at BB&B this summer, I was walking through the clearance section and saw this. I bought it right up, because it immediately reminded me of the "eve". I don't have the bedskirt and can't find it anywhere, but I'll manage.
I loved the Annabel, but wasn't crazy about the birds. But, that link to the blog.... those girls' room looks amazing!
(Lurker)
I've heard that using lighter shades with a gray tone really help. My daughter's room is very small and we did a very light blue (Mist is the color, I think) and it has some gray in it. It helped brighten the tiny room a lot. We skipped a whole bed and just did a headboard that we painted a bright purple. Then on one wall we painted frames/shelves/mirrors the colors that are in her bedspread (it's white with purple/green/blue/gray/pink) and did a collage on the wall. We did white seersucker curtains and it really helped. Her dresser is white also.
Stay light with everything! If she really likes bright you can use it, just as pops here and there!
Whenever I have been decorating my kid's rooms, I was doing it as a single mother, so money was always the most important thing to me. I "re-did" so many things to change what I already had, simply because I couldn't afford new. My son had a metal bunk set similar to what your daughter has, and no one wanted to buy it, so it went out to the curb, and of course, someone picked it up.
While your daughter's existing bunk beds take up a lot of room, the room they are taking up is vertically, not horizontally.........you aren't going to gain any floorspace, for the most part, with a trundle bed. If money is an issue, I'd paint them white, no matter how much of a bother, but if not, then buy something new.
When my daughter needed her first "big girl bed", I asked my Mom to buy this as her gift for my Xmas & birthday present (yes, I got my kids stuff with MY presents, LOL):
http://www.wickerparadise.com/florday.html?gclid=CMf27v-fgrUCFYqZ4AodLzgA0Q
She used that bed forever, it went into the guest bedroom when she wanted something different when she became a teen, then it moved into our basement "sports room", LOL. It was sturdy, still is.
With a small room, you want to stay to the lightest colors possible. If you are keeping the same bedding, I'd probably paint the room a light yellow, with white woodwork trim, as you said in your initial post. You will have to prime first, as that is pretty dark. You can accent with plain picture frames painted in what appears to be the sky blue/gray in the bedding. You've been given good suggestions on how to figure out what color you like best, swatches first, then small $3 containers.
That window treatment won't match once you change the room. Something I've done in my bedrooms, because blinds can be expensive, is to use regular old shades, cut to fit, and cover them with fabric contact paper. There is a nice selection here:
http://www.interiorplace.com/categories/Contact-Paper-Self-Adhesive-shelf-liners/
If you are painting the doors of the closet or entry door, prime and paint them white to match the moldings. You can paint just one side of the door on the room side, and leave the other side brown if you want. If they are varnished, sand first then prime, then paint.
It seems daunting to start a project, but if your daughter sees her dad for an extended period of time during the summer, then plan the project for then. I totally re-did my daughter's room 10 summers ago (she's 18 now) when she spent the week with her dad. I took a few days of vacation, moved all the furniture to the middle of the room, and went to work. At that time I did her room in a "butterfly garden" motif, hand taped painters tape in a white picket fence pattern all around the bottom half of the walls (which were white), then painted over it. When the tape is removed, it looks like a picket fence. I hand cut walllpaper butterflies and put them up on the walls above the fence. I painted the ceiling to look like the sky. I ordered one of those "bed nets" online and hung it from the ceiling, and it fell over the white wicker bed.............to this day, I consider that my best redecoration, LOL.
Good luck. Involve your daughter if she has an interest in fashion or design, ask her what she likes. Explain that whatever you do, because it's a lot of work, she'll have to live with for 5 years or more (LOL, yea, right)
Is the room pink? It looks orange in the pics. I definitely would go lighter in a small space. There are some pinks they are so light, they almost look like white with a hint of pink or blush. I also think the bunks are too large for the space. Do you even need a trundle? What about an inflatable twin mattress for when she has guests? They're cheap and you can stick them in a small space - that way you can use her under bed space for storage.
In a room that size, be sure to maximize the vertical space. There are organizers that are cloth that you can hang on the back of a door. I got one at Babies R Us that is pink that I love and I fit a lot of stuff into that. Use the vertical space to maybe put some shelves with pretty bins to keep her stuff organized while giving her more storage space. Be sure you are maxing any closet shelf space and stack stuff in there all the way to the ceiling. If there's a door to the bedroom, utilize the space behind the door - another organizer on the wall, maybe some hooks. Let us know what you decide and post some pics!
It is good idea of changing color of room .I think you can choose different colors on all walls. This will give a unique and beautiful look to your room.