Peel-and-Stick Wallpaper / Canopy Bed / Dresser (“Save” version here!) / Trunk / Rug (Also love this extremely similar one, and this one and this one!) / Chair / Velvet Quilt (Quince version here.) / Block Print Duvet Cover / Linen Shams / Lumbar Pillow / “Long Live Girlhood” Pennant / Chandelier / Jewelry Box / “Girls Rule” Pennant / Doll 1 and Doll 2 / Marble Frame / Liberty of London Print /Newer Green Check Pillow

Note: In case you’re coming over from Instagram, here is the last post I did on Emma’s room! Need to post photos of it now that it’s completed, but most links are here. :)

I’ll start by saying this: Emma’s a year or two away from being an actual tween. In her heart, though, she’s there. 😉 Yes, she still loves a lot of “little girl” stuff. But she also loves sleepovers, Zara, graphic novels, texting, dance parties, gaming, makeup, tween YouTube stars, Harry Styles and Taylor Swift. (Though probably not as much as her sister. IYKYK)

Why we’re redesigning Emma’s room

Last year, Emma told us that her room didn’t feel like hers anymore. “A baby’s room,” she said. I loved that room, but she was kind of right: We had designed it for a baby. She’d been two years old when we moved into this house and designed it for her! Back then, she could barely string sentences together, let alone ponder what her personal style would morph into around age seven. 😉

So, after mourning the loss of the baby blue room and baby stage, we set out to make her room a better reflection and a true celebration of who Emma is now.

(I should also note that growing up, my parents let me change my room several times, and I loved it. Once they even let me paint cow spots on the walls. I wish I had photo evidence of this 😆, but guys: It was hilariously terrible. And word on the street is that when my parents sold the house, the new owners couldn’t cover up the black spots for the life of them. Oops.)

Mistakes

When we first sat down to brainstorm ideas, Emma was going through an “I hate color” phase. I blame Zara and Chicago’s unofficial black-and-white winter dress code, haha, but we went with it—and it didn’t turn out great. The only way we could describe it was sad and dull.

The inspiration

So with our tails between our legs, we went back to the drawing board, and brainstormed a list of Emma’s interests that we might incorporate into her room:

  • Identifying plants, flowers and birds
  • Natural disasters (Ha—decided against including this!)
  • Space/the solar system
  • Noodle
  • Painting and drawing
  • Geography

In the end, Emma decided that she wanted a “forest room with little things I love.” And I have to say: It’s been such a fun project, and we’re both so in love with how it’s (slowly) coming together!

Can we show you around?

Wallpaper

We used Love Vs. Design, which is a customizable peel-and-stick wallpaper company that my best friend from college, Beth, introduced me to!

I loved the idea of peel-and-stick. It’s far more affordable than most traditional wallpaper, you don’t need to hire someone to install it for you (more savings!), and it’s as permanent or as temporary as you want it to be. Pick the right peel-and-stick wallpaper company, and it should last a long time. (We’ve had peel-and-stick in Emma’s bathroom for four years now and it’s still going strong!)

I also loved that we could change the colors. Because Emma wanted a “forest room,” we changed the background of the wallpaper to a sage green.

Installation took a full day, but please note the window situation. 🙈 That was tricky! Lucy also accidentally ruined two wallpaper panels, which required me to get very creative with scraps toward the end—and we’ve yet to do the hallway. But overall, it was an extremely positive and empowering experience, and I can’t wait to wallpaper another downstairs closet as well as Lucy’s bathroom with Love Vs. Design paper! Thank you so much for the recommendation, Beth!

Note: We went back and forth on the design for a while. Here are the prints we considered:

Note: LVD did offer me a discount code. They say you can use code “LVD20” to take 20 percent off your order. :)

Peel-and-Stick Wallpaper / Desk / Desk Chair / Faux Hydrangea / Bulletin Board / Noodle Print / Birds Print / Vintage Dog Print /Solar System Print / Wildflowers Banner / World Map / “Girls Rule” Pennant / Sleeper Chair / Floor Mirror / Newer Wooden Lamp / Mini Terrarium / Rainbow Hooked Pillow

Desk and art

Another Marketplace feat! Once again, we sold Emma’s first desk (which she’d outgrown) for the same price that we purchased it for, and bought her bigger desk for less than $100 more. She’s thrilled that she has so much more surface area, and Lucy loves that she can pull up a chair and “work” side-by-side with her sister.

So far, the art has been the most fun part of the project. We thought long and hard about what to put above the desk, and ultimately went with as many of Emma’s interests as possible:

We framed everything with Framebridge, which is our go-to for framing because of the quality and affordability. I was nervous about the mix of frame colors and textures, but I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.

Note: The floor mirror is temporarily next to the desk, but we need to move it back to its original home.

Curtains / Peel-and-Stick Wallpaper / Canopy Bed / Dresser (“Save” version here!) / Trunk / Rug (Also love this extremely similar one, and this one and this one!) / Velvet Quilt (Quince version here.) / Block Print Duvet Cover / Linen Shams / “Long Live Girlhood” Pennant / Chandelier / Marble Frame / Liberty of London Print

Curtains

Hands down, these are the best curtains. We have them in nearly every room in our home! I will say, however, that they’re an investment—and therefore I can only bring myself to buy ivory. I did, however, recently purchase these fun sage green velvet curtains for Lucy’s room since they were such a steal and got great reviews. I’ll report back.

Peel-and-Stick Wallpaper / Canopy Bed / Dresser (“Save” version here!) / Trunk / Rug (Also love this extremely similar one, and this one and this one!) / Chair / Velvet Quilt (Quince version here.) / Block Print Duvet Cover / Linen Shams / Lumbar Pillow / “Long Live Girlhood” Pennant / Chandelier / Jewelry Box / “Girls Rule” Pennant / Doll 1 and Doll 2 / Marble Frame / Liberty of London Print /Newer Green Check Pillow

Bed and nightstands

The girls’ queen canopy beds were gifts from my parents when we first moved in, and they’re my favorite part of their rooms. They’re showstoppers, yes, but they’re also so functional, as they allow for quick conversion into guest rooms. We picked out a beautiful floral duvet from Pottery Barn Kids, and simply cover it with this white Amazon duvet when family and friends stay in the room to minimize laundry.

Emma’s old nightstands weren’t great visually or functionally because they were shorter than the bed, so we sold those on Marketplace. We replaced them with these gorgeous raw wood dressers, which I think really play into the nature/forest feel of the room. (In these pics, we only have one—but the other arrived shortly thereafter!)

Rug (Also love this extremely similar one, and this one and this one!) / Similar Scalloped Shelves (Also here!) / Peel-and-Stick Wallpaper / Trunk / “Long Live Girlhood” Pennant / Circular Mirror / Doll 1 and Doll 2 / Marble Frame / Bunny + Sweater / Faux Peonies / Plush Sloth / Liberty of London Print /Newer Green Check Pillow

Rug and other decor

Mitch and I are clearly Facebook Marketplace-obsessed. I got this rug on major sale when we moved into the house, and four years later, Mitch once again sold it for the exact same price we paid for it! (If you don’t already use Facebook Marketplace, give it a try! It’s enabled us to make fun updates to our home without spending a dime.)

I absolutely adore Erin Gates’ rug collection, and when I showed Emma the one I thought would be perfect, she was so on board—especially since it wasn’t pink. I love that if we’re looking for a change one day, the rug could be used anywhere else in the house, too.

As for the shelves, they’re mine from my childhood bedroom! (Though try these if you’re looking for something similar.) We lined them with meaningful things that brought back happy memories, from Sammy’s wedding and trips with Gamma and Pa.

What we’re still working on

I’ll be honest and say that Emma and I both tuckered out in the last month. Ha! We need a design break. But we’d love to eventually do the following:

  • Wallpaper the closet/hallway area: We might do stripes!
  • Find something cute for over her bed: We both like the idea of a banner of some sort but haven’t found the right piece yet.
  • Paint: I would love to one day paint the trim a nicer white on my own. Right now, it’s Benjamin Moore Ivory White, and it can often show yellow depending on the time of day. I adore Benjamin Moore White Dove, which is similar but doesn’t show yellow. But we’ll see.
  • Move the mirror back to where it originally was: It definitely works best there.

For now, though, we couldn’t be happier—and Emma truly feels like it’s her room. ♥️

Shop the post:

Peel-and-Stick Wallpaper / Canopy Bed / Dresser (“Save” version here!) / Trunk / Rug (Also love this extremely similar one, and this one and this one!) / Chair / Velvet Quilt (Quince version here.) / Block Print Duvet Cover / Linen Shams / Lumbar Pillow / “Long Live Girlhood” Pennant / Chandelier / Similar Scalloped Shelves (Also here!) / Curtains / Desk / Desk Chair / Faux Hydrangea / Jewelry Box / Bulletin Board / Noodle Print / Birds Print / Vintage Dog Print /Solar System Print / Wildflowers Banner / World Map / “Girls Rule” Pennant / Sleeper Chair / Circular Mirror / Floor Mirror / Doll 1 and Doll 2 / Marble Frame / Newer Wooden Lamp / Mini Terrarium / Rainbow Hooked Pillow / Bunny + Sweater / Faux Peonies / Plush Sloth / Liberty of London Print /Newer Green Check Pillow