renovations

One thing I love about my husband is that he strives to be productive, yet he knows how to relax, too. A common refrain on the weekend -- once he's out of bed -- is, "What can we get done around here this weekend?"

One of the tasks we've talked about lately is decorating Lizzy's room. We selected a few decorating pamphlets from Lowe's and took them home and studied them. Lizzy, whose favorite color is now blue for whatever reason, took to the blue Cinderella/castle-style room. With lots and lots of molding, etc. Matt resigned himself to doing a lot of work, and on Saturday, we headed to the store.

When we got there, Lizzy was captivated by a booklet for a Tinkerbell-themed room. My theory is that it's based on a preferred shade of blue (it was more of a teal, as opposed to the sky-blue of Cinderella). Matt, who doesn't really care what the room looks like but just wants his efforts to remain on the wall for at least a couple of years, seemed rather defeated by this development. After a lot of standing around and pondering, we checked out the decorative items.

Where we found ... butterflies and flowers! And pretty sparkly sheer purple curtains. We decided we'd select our own paint color, slap on a few appliques and call it good.

Which is pretty much what we ended up doing. Matt, bless him, had to be convinced that the bright shade of blue Lizzy had her eye on -- we actually talked her down from something MORE intense, believe it or not -- would work. Lizzy and I stood firm, and Matt, and his brother, Nick, knocked the room together in an afternoon/evening. Matt also added some grassy hills along the bottom of the walls.


Here's what we ended up with. Unfortunately, my camera doesn't like to pull back much, so it's impossible to capture in all its glory. Especially with a flash. You'll just have to come visit to get the full impression!

In my opinion, it's the shade of blue that's quite pleasant and cheery by day, and soothing by lamplight.


Here's a shot of Lizzy's shelf of Disney dolls -- purchased at Disneyland, eBay or Wal-Mart. Go figure.
We're not anti-Pocahontas, by the way. As far as I know, she's the only one they haven't sold in this form. But I do check eBay from time to time, just in case.









Here's Lizzy in her princess bed, where with any luck she'll actually sleep (by herself!) from now on.










Poor Matt. I'm still angling for crown molding around the top of the room. Perhaps Lizzy isn't the only princess in this house!

And one last photo, er, to grow on.



(edited to add one more, because it adds some sense of depth to the room):