Tasha's New Bedroom

Before pics of what we have always called the "middle bedroom."







Natasha wants a chalkboard wall so after researching a bit we realized we needed to sand off the texture.  What a mess!



Natasha picked a teal color and grey for the rest of her room.  She wanted a darker grey, but I talked her into a lighter grey because I didn't want the room to be too dark with a black chalkboard wall and so many cloudy days outside. We painted teal around the dormer section where we plan on building a window seat and we also painted the large slanted wall teal.  After painting the chalkboard wall, it needed "priming" -- which means it needed to be chalked completely over and erased so that words written on it wouldn't stain it permanently.

We ordered the comforter cover and twinkle lights on Amazon and found the black bedside tables on craigslist.  We got the lamps free from the Mendenhalls (they were giving away some household items because they are moving).  We bought the sheer fabric at JoAnn's and Jake helped us install curtain rods at the top and bottom of the slanted wall.  Knowing what to do with a giant slanted wall was a bit tricky.  I thought adding fabric would bring some texture and make it kind of like a canopy and headboard in one.  Natasha wasn't sure if she'd like it or not, but decided it looked good when it was all said and done.  We both thought it needed a few more lights though so they wouldn't look like they were just in rows.



We found these two old heavy end tables on Craigslist.  I thought they would be just the right size to support the window seat we wanted to make.  It turned out I had to cut a few inches off the bottom of both of them with the jigsaw.  Natasha sanded them and painted them white.
Jake picked up a board at home depot and cut it to the right size for us.  We originally thought we would finish the board in white too and make a cushion, but decided to us the board as part of the cushion and staple the fabric rather than sew a cushion -- less fabric and less complicated.



Dantley didn't have kindergarten for the first few days of school, so he helped me put the window seat together.  I ended up buying a mattress topper and doubling it over to be the right size and then wrapping it in batting several times around before pulling the upholstery fabric as tight as Dantley and I could and stapling everything in place. Dantley helped me hammer in all the staples.

Dantley and I also hung up the rest of the lights and the lanterns to finish the bed area.

Natasha and I picked out a little black desk and an old dresser at a used furniture store in Battle Ground.  We put the desk across from her chalkboard wall and ordered some cork board squares to install above the desk for her to put photos on.  The super cute white chair was on craigslist as well -- I drove clear to Camas just for it, but we both love it so it was worth the drive.  The triangular shaped wall next to the bed by the bathroom seemed like the last unfinished thing in the room.  I had the idea to use some of the paper lanterns as wall art.  Natasha laid them out on the floor how she liked them and I stapled them to the wall that way.  

Now we both agreed the wall just needed a pop of color.  I joked that maybe one of those giant bum ball machines would be perfect and we both agreed it would truly be cute.  So that night just for kicks I looked on Craigslist to see if I could find one and scored.  There was one that needed a bit of work on the inside that I got for $75.  Jake and I took it apart and figured out how to make it work.  I think it looks super cute.  Now Natasha is just worried about keeping the kids out of her room.  I think Dantley has already used all of his quarters though so I might be able to get him to do jobs I need if I keep quarters hidden and handy.

When we very first moved to this house we promised Natasha she would have her own room.  It took us a while to get around to it, but I think it was worth the wait.