A fresh coat of paint + a headboard facelift

With a baby on the way at the end of September, we've had to do some switcher-roos around the house.  The guest room will be transforming into the baby's room and my daughter Haven's room now has the "old" guest bed.  

Just a few years ago my husband made that bed for our room.  We lived in a small bungalow at the time and our bedroom was literally not much bigger than the size of a bed.  

We had no room for a dresser so he made this bed for storage.  We used this plan from Ana-White.com and it served us well for a few years.  Originally, we made it with drawers but they were cumbersome and never really worked that well.  So this time around, I decided to pitch the never-completely-finished drawers and have some open storage for baskets and toys for my daughter's room.  I also thought they would be a fun opportunity for a pop of color.  

I decided to paint the cubbies Kelly green and just love how this touch adds some fun in a Kate Spade type of way.  It's happy without being too in-your-face.  Plus, I love green.  All the shades.  All the time.

We made the original headboard and covered it in a gray and yellow damask but wanted to liven it up a little bit for a child.  I like to balance sophisticated with kid-friendly when doing a child's room and was inspired by the Floral Fest fabric from HGTV.  

(Before)

(After redo)

To make the headboard, we simply cut a template out of cardboard and laid it over a sheet of plywood.  My husband used a jigsaw to cut the curves around the template and onto the plywood.  And to be honest, the curves were not even on both sides the first time we did it.  I can't remember if we completely started over or just trimmed them a little.  I think if we would have taken our time a little more, it would have come out perfect the first time.  Oh well.  

But I love how it looks now.

Also, this headboard has a funny story with it from when I was covering it in the gray and yellow damask oringally.  That fabric had a repeat that could only go in one direction.  Meaning the 54" width of the fabric was just slightly too narrow to cover the 60" wide piece of plywood.  I couldn't use the length of the bolt because the birds on the fabric ran in a certain direction and they would be sideways if I did.  So I had to use an old white curtain to cover the edges and create a border so the fabric could go the way I needed it to.  It turned out fine but this time around I made sure to grab a fabric that could look right in any direction!    

After my fabric fiasco back in the day, I got the brilliant idea to use nail head trim around the edges of the headboard. It turned out to be a nightmare because I could not, for the life of me, get the silly nail heads hammered in. It was maddening and they were getting all bent and ruined.  

So I did what normal people do, I sat on the floor and cried.  

And then I thought to myself, "Rachel, you never cry over decorating dilemmas, maybe you are pregnant".  Two minutes later, I popped into the bathroom, took a test, and much to my surprise, I WAS!  

So it's only fitting Haven would get to sleep near this headboard after all the trauma it caused me three years ago.  :)

This time around, covering the headboard literally took me 20 minutes.  I had learned from my mistakes, bought a fabric that was easy to manage and didn't try to do any fancy trim.  I simply used a staple-gun to staple the fabric over the existing fabric and batting.  It's just like recovering the cushion on a chair.  Simple.  

I'm pleased with how it all turned out, but honestly, I'm still not totally settled on the headboard fabric.  It's a little crazier than I wanted for her room, but it had the colors I hoped for (kelly green and coral) and it fit my other fabric requirements.  Plus, with two kids and one on the way, I don't have the time or energy to go all over town or scour the internet for "the perfect thing", which I usually find out doesn't exist anyway.

There's no such thing as perfection, right?    

I want to paint the walls a light coral and add a chair, accessories, and wall art to her room.  We bought a used dresser a few weeks ago that needs new knobs... I'm excited to share that with you too.  

It's probably going to take me awhile to get this room finished.  I'm trying to get creative budget-wise and I also have a baby room to work on at the same time.  But as I work, I will show you what I do.  Fingers crossed it's done by September!  

Until next time,

Rachel