Extreme Makeover -- Teenager's Bedroom Edition

My fourteen-year-old girl claims that she never has liked her Texas room  -- wall color or decor. For the past year, she has been asking to change things up a bit. I kept telling her, "No, I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait a while longer. It's just not in the budget right now." 

She was not aware that I have been searching for bedding on the sly for the past six months, or so. 

She thinks that I don't listen to her. I do. I just do things more slowly and deliberately than she would like. 

I found a couple of pictures from three years ago when we first moved into the Smith Haus.

See. Millie Girl even had a hand in painting her walls when we first moved in the house. And she appears to be happy about the situation, yet I have been blamed for the bad paint color. I don't mind being the scapegoat. The wall color was chosen because it matched the bedding. She had requested green walls, so I simply found paint that matched her bedding. (To be fair, the lighting in the picture makes the green color look more vivid/neon than it is/was in real life.)

Millie's room was cute, but it was definitely time for an update to a more grown-up motif. Something stylish was in order. It needed to be classy, not too trendy, yet still befitting a teenager. 

Sorry PBteen, this bedding is oh, so yesterday. :-P

Weeks before Millie's departure to California, I asked her a lot of questions -- purely hypothetical questions, mind you -- regarding room color preferences, bedding, etc.  I wanted to get it right this time; however, I did not want her to know that I was poised and ready to take action on the room re-do project. This makeover was a covert operation. Millie figured that she would have to wait another 365 days, or longer, before her mother was ready to do something.

After talking to my youngest, I learned that the desired wall color had to be the right shade of blue; NOT a baby blue that would be better suited for a baby boy's nursery. A light sky blue color was preferred.

Shabby chic was the style that she found most pleasing.

The bird pictures could stay, if the wall color was acceptable.

I learned that a queen-sized bed was on the wish list.

There were a few other details thrown in for good measure, but I felt that I had enough information to go on. 

As soon as Mr. Smith and I returned home from our Calif. jaunt, I was ready to roll -- roll up my sleeves and roll on the paint!

I found the perfect duvet cover and pillow shams on Pier1's website. I had to order it online, since they do not carry bedding in their brick and mortar stores. It arrived two days later, and the color on the computer screen matched what I took out of the box. I also found the perfect white quilt at Anthropologie. And best of all, I was able to use my birthday discount on that purchase. 

Benjamin Moore saw to it that we had the perfect shade of blue for the walls.

 So long, green walls.

There were trips to Ace Hardware, Home Depot, Hobby Lobby, Target, Kirkland's, and Bed, Bath, and Beyond before all of the elements came together to create the perfect shabby and chic teenager retreat.

Are you ready for the big reveal?

Bartholomew approves of the blue hues, because this room now provides a purrfecty calming environment for catnapping. And there are birds in the room. In his opinion, decorating with birds is always in good taste.

I was delighted to find this bird lamp at Kirkland's. And it was under $30! I bought two. One lamp is on the nightstand and one is on the desk. I was planning on making a lampshade like this one, but it was so much more convenient to find it already done. Yay! 

This mirrored cabinet was yet another fabulous find at Kirkland's. It looks great hanging on the wall, but it is what's inside that is a thing of beauty -- finally there is a non-cluttered way to organize all of M's beads, baubles, rings, and fingernail polish. The little shelves were just the perfect size to hold bottles of polish. Score!

The vanity section of my girl's bathroom got made over, too. New drawer pulls/knobs from Anthropologie and a tray from Hobby Lobby are très chic. 
No, wait, it's shabby chic.

Even the closet got a makeover. Organization is the theme here.

The nightlight now has crystals hanging from it that were extras from Grandma Florence's dining room chandelier. Recycling is fashionable.

So, Ace is the place. 

This mirror was found at our local hardware store -- surprise!

I repurposed several of Grandma Florence's old hankies to now be used as a decorating accessory. They are crisply pressed, folded and tucked in between two baskets to add a pop of color. And if my daughter ever has a runny nose, they are handy, I suppose...

Millie's reaction? She was surprised, and she LOVES her new room!

Not too shabby, eh?