The Big Pink

I'm linking up on Thurdays with Jules of Pancakes and French Fries, as part of her 2012 William Morris home series. 

 I've been putting off doing a reveal of Lily's new "tween" bedroom. (I don't like the word tween, but I don't stop using it, either.) My feelings about the room are mixed, as you'll read below.   We completed the re-do in late November/early December, so it's definitely high time for the reveal of this big-girl room.  Lily's going to be turning ten in just a few weeks.  A decade of daughter! Hard to fathom. Here are a couple of "Before" shots:

Note the pink paint chips taped to the wall, next to her pinboard.

You can see the strange, angled little wall here.

Even since before she was born, she's had a pale blue room.  First in our old house in Orange, and then in this house, where we moved when she was two.  I liked the combo of pale blue walls, white furniture, and vintage accessories.  But alas, she's getting older and getting her own ideas about decor.  First, her best friend had her room painted HOT PINK and BRIGHT YELLOW last summer, and Lily was all over that. I said okay to the HOT PINK, but ixnay on combining it with bright yellow.  Then, she visited another good friend, who has a loft bed. And ever since that visit, it was all about: "my new room is going to be HOT PINK and have a LOFT BED."  And so it has come to pass:  Hot pink walls, and a black loft bed.  (It's wood, by Ikea, quite sturdy, and we bought it on Craigslist.)

I want to tell you that I love it, but I don't.  I really do like this shade of hot pink, it's called Springtime Bloom, by Behr.   What I don't like so much is the loft bed, and how it eats up the air and the space of her small bedroom, and most of all, the LIGHT. Oh, the light.  The black loft bed is a black hole for light, sucking up all the sunshine and good natural lighting of our home. 

The white desk is new (by Pottery Barn Teen, and a steal on Craigslist)  and the small bookshelf is new (she had a much taller one that doesn't work in the new room).  The Malm dresser was already hers, but it was hiding in the closet before. Now it's out, along with a mirror, to give her a little vanity area.  Because young girls need to gaze and preen and sing into the mirrors in their bedrooms. 

I truly wish I'd been able to preview the bed in the room before I painted the walls. Because the bed is so massive, it's a game changer, in terms of the color, and the lighting. This room faces north/northeast, so it only gets good morning light (when I took these photos). By afternoon and later, it gets even darker in here.  It's the pink cave, and I guess she'll enjoy it, since teens tend to like their rooms dark (the better to sleep until noon).  But personally, it's already starting to bug the hell out of me.  And so is the zebra-print comforter, which was also Lily's choice.  I strongly have the itch already to re-do some of this room: paint it white, and only have hot pink accents?  Paint it a more pale pink?   Either way, the question is kind of moot, because Lily loves her room.  And it was a lot of effort to paint the room, build the bed in the room (can't bring that thing upstairs!) and get the heavy full-sized mattress up there. I've got lots of other plans for my house this year.  This is going to have to stay for awhile.

So let's look at a couple of projects we did to the room a couple of weeks ago.  First, we finally got around to painting the Ikea spice rack, and putting it up on the wall next to her bed.  Lily is a big reader, and wears glasses, so it's a pain for her to have to get up when she's awake in the middle of the night, and climb down the ladder to fetch her book or Nook and her glasses.  (I take no credit for using the spice rack as a book shelf; this particular hack is all over the 'net.)

The next fix is something my husband came up with. I'm not thrilled with it, in fact I kinda hate it. But I agree that it's totally necessary: a safety board for the bed.  When we bought her new pillowtop mattress, we didn't take into account the fact that it's so thick, it sits right at the top of the highest bed rail. Meaning, zero safety for Lily. She hadn't fallen out of her old bed in a long time, but the fact that it could happen, and that she's so many feet above the floor, made both me and my husband pretty nervous.  Enter the painted board:

Basically, my husband got a large piece of plywood at Home Depot, cut and sanded the edges into a softer curve, and painted it the same pink as the walls.  The he just slid it in, between the bed frame and the mattress.  We both agree it's a little taller than necessary; it can be shortened a few inches.  It isn't pretty, but we all sleep better knowing that Lily can't just tumble out and require a visit to Urgent Care in the middle of the night.   (On the other hand, it's another element that is blocking even more light in the room.) 

Bottom line: Lily loves her new room. I'm happy that she's happy, but I get a little twitchy when I stare at it too long, and think of all the fixes I'd like to do.  For now, she still needs more art, and a shelf installed on that big empty white wall, to hold her birthday-doll collection, and some hooks, to hang her hats and necklaces.  And color! More color! I envision some pops of bright orange and/or lime green to break up all the pink, black and white.  Ideas?