The Big Girl Room Reveal: DIY Disasters, Prime Day Deals & One Very Happy Toddler
The Big Girl Room Reveal: DIY Disasters, Prime Day Deals & One Very Happy Toddler
If you ever need to humble yourself, decide to move your toddler into a big girl room seven weeks before having another baby.
Highly recommend.
When we found out Baby Sister was on the way, one thing I felt weirdly emotional about was the nursery. It was Addy's room. The room we brought her home to. The room where we rocked her through sleepless nights.
I knew the nursery would eventually become the baby's room, but I was determined that Addy would never feel like she was being evicted.
So we started planting the seed back in March.
"Wouldn't it be fun to have a BIG GIRL ROOM?"
Friends... she bought in immediately. From that point forward, she kept asking about her “big girl room”.
We just delayed the construction project because ... Auburn baseball season. George was basically living at the ballpark, so the room makeover sat patiently on my Pinterest board until baseball wrapped up and we could finally tackle it. And by "we," I mostly mean George while I pointed at things and said, "I saw this on Pinterest..."
I Had Exactly Two Goals
Make it feel really special.
Spend as little money as humanly possible.
These two goals are often at war with each other.
Addy is a “girlie girl”. If it's pink, sparkly, or covered in bows, she's interested. So pink was never really a question. But I also didn't want a room she'd outgrow in 18 months. I wanted something that still felt sweet but could grow up alongside her. Less "princess explosion," more classic little girl's room.
Now, we were ballin’ on a budget. We sold some old furniture, kept the queen mattress we already owned (because mattresses are approximately the price of a small sedan these days), and pieced everything together from Walmart, Amazon and Ashley Furniture. I did manage to time the furniture ordering up with some Memorial Day Sales and Prime Day Deals but wow was my credit card TIRED at the end of the month.
Would I have loved Serena & Lily?
Absolutely.
Did Serena & Lily love my budget?
She did not.
George Deserves Financial Compensation for This Project
Originally, I had this grand vision of a beadboard wall. We dove into the project and it turned out to be one of those DIY disasters (I was woefully misled by DIY TikTokers).
After what we'll lovingly refer to as "The Beadboard Incident," we scrapped the entire thing and pivoted to a board and batten wall, which turned out SO much better.
Then came the furniture assembly. Why do dressers now arrive in approximately 9,000 individual pieces?
George built every single piece while I offered moral support and periodically asked, "How's it going?" Very helpful, I know. But better to let one spouse lead than get into a fight over which piece of a drawer attaches to where. Slowly but SURELY we were finishing out Addy’s room!
We were fairly trepidatious about transitioning Addy out of her crib and into her bed. We did try napping in there first, which went smoothly. And then decided to try it out for the night. She was SO excited & did shockingly well. So well, she now seems to think a queen bed means we've entered our "sleepover era." Bedtime has become a negotiation worthy of an international peace treaty. One more hug. One more book. One more sip of water. One more song. One more... literally anything to keep me in that room.
If you've cracked the code on the crib-to-big-girl-bed transition, I'd love your wisdom. Until then, I'll be accepting my nightly invitation to the world's longest slumber party.
In just a few weeks, we'll be bringing home Baby Girl #2 (which still feels wild to type). There are still bottles to sanitize, baby clothes to wash, and approximately 437 things left on my to-do list, but getting Addy settled into her new room feels like a huge milestone. It's one less thing to worry about and one more reminder that we're actually getting ready to become a family of four.
SHOP TODDLER BEDROOM:
Pink Gingham (Reversible) Bedspread
Scalloped Book Shelves (Set of 2!!)
Roman Blackout Shades (we swear by these - FAB price point)
Gold Bamboo Mirror (I found mine at HomeGoods but similar HERE & HERE)
Vintage Globe (THRIFTED!!)
Snagged the original green floral artwork above her bed from a local Auburn spot: Everything Sweet! We also found the Peter Pan quote when antiquing in Blue Ridge (check out our Blue Ridge stay experience HERE!).
