My Guy & I DIY: Children's Bedroom Make-Over: getting started

Wow, I can't believe I'm starting another blog! As if I don't have enough on my plate right now, lol...but I have these two new found loves - DIYing and blogging - so I figured why not combine them? I had planned to start out by sharing how I got started into DIY, a bit on my husband and I's background, and also on how DIY became a family affair (ie. how I suckered him into it ;-)), but when I stopped and thought about it I decided I'd better just get to blogging with where we're at, which is knee deep in multiple projects...or maybe it's really up to our neck's?...anyway, we're certainly in the thick of it, so why not begin there? Then, as I have time inbetween starting and finishing current and future projects, I will do some background posts and share some of our previous projects as well. Sound good? Feels a bit backwards to me, but hey, sometimes you have to just go with it. So here we go!

Our daughter Ava turns four next week and she has been developing a passion for horses. It all started with just an innocent little pony ride at the Issaquah Salmon Days festival a year and a half ago. While we thought maybe it was just a fad (since she's already had many of those), this one seems to have not only stuck, but continues to grow. Just two nights ago, while driving by some farms to go and look at yet another possible DIY piece - a TV armoire, she begged us to stop to look at, pet, and ride the horses. Of course we had to tell her that though we could look, we couldn't do anything else because they weren't ours. This was not an easy thing to try to explain to a strong headed, logic free 4yr old. After some discussion, which was really going nowhere fast, she simply stated, in her matter of fact tone, "Well, we'll just have to buy one then." This of course led to some more "tried" explanation that went in one ear and out the other. I have no idea where she gets it, ;-) wink wink, but when she sets her mind on something. she believes it's a done deal and stops at nothing to see that it is done. In this case, since we have no intention of buying a real horse, we've decided that perhaps it's time to get rid of her green baby safari bedroom decor (:-( can't believe my baby's not a baby anymore), and replace it with a horse theme, which we have been informed must be red - Ava's favorite color.

What I've discovered in my horse-themed inspiration pursuit, and yes it's been a pursuit because I'm just not into horses in the least, is that horses are actually a quite popular thing for both young boys and girls to be into, so there's certainly an abundance of inspiration out there to be found. Where the problem has arose is in the color. I don't know why this is, and I'd really love to have a discussion with childrens designers out there because this isn't the first time we've ran into this problem, but somehow they must believe that every little girl wants to be this frilly little princess who lives amongst the fluffy white clouds, dancing on rainbows because everything that's made for girls, and I do mean EVERYTHING, seems to only come in these puky pastel and bright pinks, purples etc. Turns out, it's no different even when it comes to horse themes for girls. I don't know about the rest of you, but I have yet to see a farm that is pink or purple (real one's anyway) and this just isn't what Ava seems to be into either, and though I've tried repeatedly, she is not budging on the red choice. Thankfully, after much searching and by removing the "girl" specification from my searches, I finally found a solution...I hope.

http://www.beyond-bedding.com/childrens-western-boys-horse-cowboy-twin-size-bedding-set.html

While we're still undecided if we're actually going to purchase any of these items, (we likely will get at least the bedding since I don't have a sewing machine), this is the inspiration and the look we're going for in her bedroom make-over. Though this was technically made for a boy, and Ava isn't understanding how this equates to horses, I love the red bandana western print and think it's going to be the perfect solution for achieving a horse themed room that's red. So now that the starting point is established, let me show you what's in the works...

Obviously, every bedroom must have a Bed - Project #1. Here's Daddy putting Ava to bed for the first night in what was her "big girl" toddler bed:

Now, just a year and a half later, she is ready for the next "big girl" bed, and though this one converts into a full size bed as well (our original plan), as you can likely tell from the picture her current room is very small (unplanned and a topic for a whole other blog post), so we decided a perfect solution would be a loft bed. This would allow us to enlarge the bed without losing the limited valuable floor space. Initially we had considered building one and even found the perfect playhouse loft bed blueprints online. While Dave certainly has the know-how to do so, while searching craigs list for yet another hopeful DIY project - a headboard for our own bed, we stumbled across a great playhouse bunkbed for an equally great price.

Yes, we are aware that the bed is the frilly, pastel, unwanted pink and purple, which we again tried to talk her into to no avail, so we're hoping to paint it. Dave has assured me that this can infact be done, but I would be lying if I said I didn't have my reservations. Even if this project goes well, and it does save us the time of actually building one, the painting process is not going to be a quick and easy thing and could end up being quite disasterous...we're keeping our fingers crossed and perhaps you can do the same. Or if you're experienced with this kind of thing, any tips you can leave us in the comment section would be much appreciated! Nevertheless, the painting has been put on hold. Paritally because we want to get the other more pressing projects first, and partially, I admit, because we're dreading this one...sigh...well, at the very least, it'll be a learning lesson...hopefully a victorious one!

In addition to replacing the bed, we've decided it's time for her long, diaper-changing topped dresser to go.

It's just taking up too much floor space and quite frankly I never liked the piece to begin with. It's one of those non-wood, cheaply made, but not cheap to the pocket book, kind of dressers, so getting rid of it was an easy decison; especially since we were blessed to stumble across this - Project #2 Dresser - sitting on the side of our road with a free sign on it!

While it may not be a looker now, unlike her current dresser, it is solid pine and is already fixing up to be a great addition to our daughter's new room! I can't wait to complete it, share the process and finished project with you, and ultimately start using it in her room!

The final big project for the Children's Bedroom Make-Over is Project #3 - The Toy Cabinet. Here's the current unit we've been using.

Definately not practical for a kid's room - too hard, too small, and being an open piece, lends for an unwanted cluttered/messy look. I'm very excited to see this go as well! Our solution for this came to us for free as well. Dave did a kitchen remodel and the owner gave him the old cabinets! They may be outdated and ugly now, but they're still in great shape and these two uppers are going to be converted into a fun, more organized toy storage!

Another great DIY project I can't wait to finish, reveal, and start using!

In addition to these three large DIY projects for our Children's Bedroom Make-Over, we're taking on several smaller projects to complete the detailed western look we hope to create. I will share those with you here as well, as they are completed. I hope that you will join us on this learning journey by choosing to follow My Guy & I DIY blog. We are certainly excited to share with you are funny stories, tips, and pics! Before I get back to work, let me leave you with a couple pics to give you a glimpse of what's to come...