I am so excited to share a preview of Everly's bedroom! Tempaper sent us this beautiful gold peony wallpaper that covers the upper half of the only wall with sheetrock (the rest are pretty much built-ins and windows). It is such a lovely, fresh spin on traditional floral wallpaper and adds the perfect touch to the room. Even though the rest of the room was dark and messy, the minute this one wall was done, the whole room felt brighter.
This is the view from the doorway looking in. It is hard to shoot the room right now because we are waiting for the hardwood floor to come in so we can rip up the dark blue carpet. The room was previously my uncle's library, and therefore had a very heavy, masculine feel to it. Although we both loved the dark wood built-ins and paneling and originally intended to keep the wood and brighten up the backs of the bookshelves with the temporary wallpaper so that we could someday turn it back into the library, we ended up going ahead and painting it due to our daughter's current nightmare situation. We are hoping the brightness of the room will at least keep the space itself from contributing to any scary thoughts at bedtime. (On a side note, she did tell me recently the other morning that she woke up from a scary dream and sang herself back to sleep with "when I am afraid, I will trust in you, I will trust in you, I will trust in you...in God who is my strength." So maybe we're making progress?? :)
(I don't love this wide shot but it gives a slightly better feel for the room.)
In terms of application, it was fairly easy. I started off with my mom and Jenni helping, and getting going was a little tricky both because I wasn't prepared for how sticky and slightly stretchy the material is, and because I started in a corner where the wall wasn't completely squared and I had to cut out for a door frame. However, once I got the hang of it, it went on so much easier, and I finished the second half of the wall pretty quickly. I am a little lazy about things like this, so I actually didn't work that hard to take the air bubbles out, I just pricked a tiny hole in a spot where there was gold and therefore the hole wasn't visible, and worked it out with the scraper-thing (that's what they call it on the packaging, right?) which seemed to work well. (I'm sure this is not what they recommend you do, but if you are lazy like me, it works!) The whole thing was done in an afternoon, and I am not very good at projects that require thinking ahead and common sense. (I had minor trouble with cutting out for the door because I kept doing it backwards.) That is to say, if you have a fair amount of common sense, you can probably do it quicker!
I love how the pattern is both elegant and fun - an updated classic! I think it is a very versatile design - it could be styled many different ways. I am adding lots of feminine details, like this old photo of a relative, and pink accents in the bookshelves:
I loved filling Everly's shelves with meaningful personal items. The shelf with the "E" has her baby announcement, the bunny which was the first gift her daddy got her after we found out we were pregnant, and the box next to it containing all the cards she got at the baby shower, as well as the cards people filled out with guesses about her height and weight, and name suggestions for her poor indecisive parents who still hadn't decided on a name.
Something about the way great great great aunt Getrude Lamb is leaning against the notebook with the words "I'm So Fancy" on it hits my funny bone:
The books above and below were mostly from my grandfather's library:
The middle shelf contains a basket with a tie of Uncle Bob's for Everly's future husband, because when I helped my mom divide them evenly among all the men in the family, there was an uneven number and Everly kept running off with this gold one...hopefully her future spouse doesn't have our sickly skin tone! ;) And the box next to it holds her receiving blanket and hospital bracelet.
I think the gold pattern really ties the wood and whites together. And the best part is, Everly loves it. For about the first week, every time someone came in the house, she led them to her new room (even if they had already seen it) and would say "look at this wall!" when they walked in, as if whoever it was could possibly think the disastrous other half of her room was the reveal. I still have quite a bit of painting to do on the other half of the room, and we have the whole carpet to remove and replace with hardwood, but for now, I'll just look at this half of the room!
Source List:
Wallpaper - Peonies in Gold Leaf from Tempaper
Dresser - IKEA Hemnes with knobs from Home Goods
Window above dresser, Pillow on chair, - consignment shop
Lamp - Joss & Main
Owl Bookends - HomeGoods
Gold framed photo - passed down from family
White vase on dresser - Michael's
Gold "E" in bookshelf - Michael's
Chair - Home Goods
Cream boxes in bookshelf with handles, round stackable boxes, large basket, and bud vase- IKEA
Dollhouse piggybank - Target
Gold geometric orb - Home Goods
"I'm So Fancy" notebook - Home Goods
Books in bookshelf - mostly from family
Baby announcement - Shutterfly
Have a lovely day!
-Jamie
*The wallpaper from Tempaper was provided in exchange for this post. All thoughts and opinions are our own.
