You remember how I told you that I spent the first weekend in December painting, rather than baking and wrapping and doing all the other things I should have been doing?  Well, I had good reason for putting myself through all that work.  Kennedy, you see, had requested a ‘new room’ for her birthday this year because she felt she had outgrown the old one.  The Pottery Barn Kids catalog served as inspiration for her as she began putting together the components that would make up her dream room.  She had something like this in mind, with slight changes here and there:

Unfortunately for her (and me too really) the furniture alone from the Pottery Barn room cost well over our budgeted amount.  So, I did what any brilliant woman would do and I enlisted my husband’s help in scouring the internet for a cheapie lookalike.  It didn’t take long for us to find one at Target.

We promptly ordered it and saved ourselves both an arm and a leg in the process.  Then the hunt was on for the bedding.  I was drawn, time and time again, to the Pottery Barn website.  I really couldn’t swallow the price tag that soared over $600 (in bedding alone!) just to put together the look from Kennedy’s dream room.  So we improvised again.  I searched high and low for just the right thing but I really couldn’t find ‘the one’.  I pretty much gave up temporarily, hoping that at the change of the season the stores would put out a new line that more closely resembled what Kennedy and I had in mind.  Meanwhile I stopped by the Linen’s and Things store hoping to find some clearance deals before they went out of business.  I had no luck in the bedding department, but I did find packages of vinyl polka dotted wall stickers that struck my fancy.  And at just 2 bucks a pop they were totally within budget.  I picked them up hoping I’d find something that would work with them.

Back on the bedding front I made one last go round at Target.  The stars must have aligned for me that night (either that or I was struck with momentary design genius) because I scored.  Big time.  I mixed and matched and in the end I ended up with what could totally pass as a Pottery Barn designed bed evenifIdosaysomyself.

My mom and I went out in search of the finishing touches and then she, Jeff, and I worked hard to finish the room up before the girls came home from Christmas Dad camp.  Enough for the back story right?  Now for the internet unveiling…

And there you have it.  Kennedy loves it.  Cassidy loves it.  Even I love it.  I think it’s mature without being to grown up for a 9 and 11 year old.  Hopefully it’ll transition really well as they enter the tween/teen years.

Based on the cost of this project, though, they’re pretty much stuck with it either way.