Bye Bye Bambi – Turning the Nursery into a Toddler’s Room*

One of the reasons I have been a lot quieter than usual on the blog, and I’ve been sharing guest posts is because I have the decorating bug. It’s not the only reason, there is a reason that’s a lot more “sinister” but I’m not ready to share it on here yet.

I currently have two projects on the go, my staircase and Little Miss’ bedroom. Although I’m not doing much “decorating” I am giving it a bit of an overhaul, turning it from a nursery into a bedroom fit for a two year old. It’s only half complete but I thought I’d give you all a sneak peak before I start on the painting (the window frame is going from mahogany to chalk painted pink).

Firstly, this is how it used to look;

Her room was Disney’s Bambi, shabby chic. And I loved it. It’ll always be incredibly special to me because it was the first room of her own. I collected over 18 months the bits and pieces for it to make it exactly how I envisioned it. I have kept all the Bambi bits and pieces for it, but the rocking chair and rocking horse are going.. As my house has minimal space I’m going to have to look into some other kind of storage, a bit like Fort Knox Storage. My house is pretty small and I’m struggling to store things such as her pram, her pushchair, her high chair, that I want to keep a hold of.. you know, just in case. My parent’s have a small house too so I can’t even send some down their way! This has been my main stumbling block as part of her Christmas is new furniture. My sister is buying her a dolls house, my mum is buying her a bean bag & I have bought her a dressing up stand from Just For Tiny People. I need her more baby furniture out the way.

But I just wanted to share with you what I have done so far, I have to admit, I’m pleased with how grown up it looks already!

(Sorry, just laughing at the difference in the quality of camera from last year!) ANYWAY, yes there is still a lot of shabby chic, I wasn’t ready to ditch that yet. But Little Miss requested a “Princess” room, and although I’m sure she meant like Bee’s girls room with Disney Princesses, this is what I’ve come up with so far.

I chalk painted two old frames pink for her quotes as the silver ones never looked quite right. I’m so impressed with how they came out, I’m now chalk painting everything from my kitchen table & chairs, to as I mentioned above, her window frame. I also swapped the Bambi images on the door to some left over bunting from the string I stitched around the top of her canopy. Her canopy was about £5 from eBay, but with some bunting stitched around it, it looks lovely. Finally, her new bedding was £9 from Asda. I bought two sets of the same for the price of one set from Next!

Her room is finally somewhere she wants to stay and play in, especially since her kitchen has now taken the place of her playhouse (which we use in the garden instead).

I look forward to showing you the finished thing which I’m hoping to have completed by next month.. after i’ve finished painting my staircase.. who knew that it was such hard work?!