This looks like Pea. It really does. Bright, whimsical, a little bit of a devil-may-care manner. So I am using it as inspiration while we make her room her own. I really wanted to stay with a monochromatic look. But that’s me. Not my little Pea. And so, in an effort to let her be who she is, we’re running with it…

It’s not secret that I love the Bianca and Family shop. It’s where I bought those incredible affiches scolaire earlier in the summer, for Coco’s room. And those little market baskets, to organize all of Pea’s little goodies in her bedroom. But I know that as she grows, she’s going to grow out of her bedroom. So I’m not going to spend a fortune on the decorative aspects. Well, aside from her growing art collection, but that’s courtesy of GiGi. And the antique yellow dresser that’s showing signs of all of the colors it’s been over the years, before it settled on yellow. That was from her Daddy, when she was born. And the rest of her furniture was all mine, when I was a kid. So she doesn’t need much. Just a few things, here and there, to make it her haven.

But because of the childish design ideas that she had, budgeting was on my mind. (Who’s mind isn’t it on these days?) I didn’t want to spend spend spend on things that she’d leave behind as soon as she hit the double digits. The first thing was to choose a paint for her walls. And after swearing that I would never, ever paint my daughter’s room pink, I caved. Because it’s all she’s been talking about. And I knew that I had to let her have those blushed walls when she came to me, a small paintbrush from her water color set in hand, and asked me if she could paint her walls. Pink.

Sigh.

As it turns out, Home Depot has a nice line called Freshaire that’s made without VOCs. And the color that Pea chose was surprisingly pale. Not the fuschia I thought she was going to go for. It’s called Pink Reef, and it’s perfect for a little girl’s room. And because she’s such a book-eater, we had to get shelves. I decided on Ikea’s Lack shelves – two – in white. It leaves floor space open underneath. And at the foot of Pea’s bed, on the wall, we hung a couple of the Lidan baskets, also from Ikea, for her special things. Apparently, special things to a 3-year old are chewed up Chapsticks and wooden clothespins. As for her nightstand, these galvanized pails are perfect for organizing even more of her little odds and ends. (Noticing a theme here? Organizational storage is key.) Make sure you poke around on their website, too. I never realized how little metal pails were going to be the answer to my storage dilemmas.

I’m having fun here, in a place I never thought that I would… wildly vibrant children’s rooms. We’ve been looking in magazines, catalogs, websites, and she knows what she likes. As it turns out, I should have listened to her sooner. The kid has really good taste. And to believe that it all began with this little lampshade that Pea noticed on an earlier trip to Ikea and just had to have. I wasn’t crazy about it then. I’m crazy about it now. I’m all for personal growth.