A New Big Girl Room for HJ

So she stayed in bed for 12 hours the first night and every night since WAY BACK THEN. 

She takes a nap everyday. 

She loves her nap. 

She LOVES her bed. 

Besides needing to get our 2-year-old out of the crib, we really wanted to have the fourth bedroom set up like a bedroom while we try to sell our house. Anyone interested? Anyone? Anyone? Anyway... This bedroom is the smallest one in the house, so I didn't want to take up too much room with a big bed.

The Daddy and I made the head board. Nana and I made the bed skirt. The linens came from TJ Maxx and Dillards. It's a LOT more vibrant than I thought I wanted, but it seems to suit HJ just fine. 

Want to know how to do it? I thought you might, so I took a few pictures along the way.

My favorite tool, the staple gun. 

Things you'll need:

• 3 yds fabric
• 1/2 inch thick MDF (cut to the size you need)
• Egg crate (we used a full size)
• 3 yds batting
• Staple gun
• Power drill 
• Hardware to attach optional legs
• Hardware to hang (we used d-rings)

This is the fabric we used.

I had The Daddy go to the hardware store and he had them cut the MDF to the dimensions we needed. HJ's mattress is a twin, but it's pushed up against the wall on the long-side. 

To get the egg crate and batting the right sizes, I just laid them on top of the wood and cut it. I cut the egg crate just a tad bigger than the wood. Then I cut the batting, leaving a 4-inch border all the way around. 

Here it is after I got done cutting it all.   The Daddy and I thought it would look better if we also upholstered two "legs" that would look like they were holding the headboard up.

So then I cut the fabric and flipped the whole stack over. 

You can see each beautiful layer before I began the stapling frenzy.

1. Fabric- pretty side down
2. Batting
3. Egg crate- bumpy side up
4. MDF

After I got done stapling like a mad woman, I cut the excess fabric and stuff so it would look a little neater on the back. 

Then I did the same thing to each "leg" and had The Daddy attach the legs to the main piece. We ran into a little problem drilling through the fabric. The batting got wound around the drill and it really made a big mangled mess. We persevered and just cut a little hole before we drilled the next one in.

We should have used two of these dealies to help hold the legs on. Since the main piece will hang on the wall, we didn't worry too much. Hindsight, that's all. You can also see up close how I folded the corners and used 100 (or so) staples on each corner. I'm precise like that. 

And there she is. We just hung her on the wall. Then, two weeks later I got the courage to cut the remaining fabric for the bed skirt. I didn't use a pattern. I just talked to several expert sewers about how to tackle the project. Thanks, Claudia and Heather! Then after I got the fabric cut, ironed and hemmed, my Mother-in-law came to the rescue and did the gathered part while we were in Africa. 

It sure was nice to come home and see a finished project! 

You might remember THIS DAY when I bemoaned missing a deal at the flea market. Well, I ended up buying the cute little green chest of drawers that was right next to the one I originally wanted! I had THIS GAL paint it and antique it for us. 

Ta-Da!

I got all the plates at TJ Maxx for $2 or $3 each. The lamp came from the old BABY ROOM. The mirror came from our guest bathroom downstairs. I found an upgrade for the bathroom and moved this simple one above the chest.

Love this sweet little dish; it's another TJ Maxx find. Nana bought the itty-bitty bracelet in Maui last year. Both the sisters have a bracelet, but I love where this one rests! 

SOOOOOOOOOOO, I've been thinking about adding a white grosgrain ribbon to the head board and skirt to add some more detail. 

What do you think? Should I or should I leave well enough alone?

You might just want to head over to Kimba's place to see what everyone else is DIY'ing!

Also, SHE gave me the courage to do such a thing as MAKE A BED FOR MY CHILD TO JUMP IN, so go see her beautiful upholstered headboard, too!