A Dreamy White Little Girl’s Room

When I was dreaming up a room for my oldest daughter (3.5) well over a year ago, I was taken back to an incredible stay at Sunnyside Resort in Lake Tahoe four years ago. Our room was California cool with white floor to ceiling board and batten, lots of textures, and pops of color in the textiles. This was what I wanted in my daughter’s room.

Fast forward…

…to when I was 6 months pregnant with my second daughter, and the board and batten seemed like such a big task. Big girl was being booted from her nursery though, so I went with plan B and painted the walls a peachy pink and hung lots of quirky, fun art. Was it fine and cute and did my daughter love it? Yes, yes, and yes. Did I? I REALLY wanted to, but the pink walls were just not my style. You can check out the full reveal of that space HERE.

I spent the next year wishing for that minimal board and batten feel that could grow with her for years to come. So once we were ready to ditch the toddler bed for a thrifted vintage metal full size bed, game was on!

The Vision

Here’s the step I skipped with the peach room, and it was evident. I never skip creating a mood board now. It helps you see the design put together before you go out and buy a bunch of stuff that you THINK will go together.

One thing I love about a mood board though is its fluidity. This board changed several times even once I was ready to put the room together. In the end, the feel I wanted is there and that’s what it’s all about.

The Walls

* The paint was provided to me by Sherwin Williams. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Remember when I said I dreamt of floor to ceiling board and batten for a year and half? Well, I fought it down to the last minute. I thought about just doing one focal wall with 1/2 vertical shiplap and a ledge. I even went as far as starting a hand-painted wallpaper. When it came down to it, it was worth the extra effort to install board and batten on every wall.

The walls are painted a matte finish of Westhighland White by Sherwin Williams. I used their Emerald Interior Paint, and it went on incredibly smooth with little to no order, which was amazing since my daughter was still sleeping in here.

Full board and batten tutorial coming soon!

The Furnishing

I always like to start with what I already have and build on that. For this project, I already had the rug, bed, and bookcase.

I refinished the metal bed and brought it back to life with flat white paint. (I wish I would’ve used a satin finish in the end though.) Check out my Instagram for a quick tutorial.

Since this is my daughter’s room and not mine, I asked her specifically what she wanted. Pink and rainbows. Did you expect anything differently from a 3 year old? So, I found the perfect Rainbow print from Juniper Print Shop that checked both of our boxes.

I added in the pink and purple with the bedding from Target. This is a great way to go with a bold color that your child is wanting without painting the walls teal, purple, and bright pink! Colorful textiles and art fill up the room visually more than you’d think.

The Details

Once I finished the board and batten, it was obvious that I needed to keep the art minimal and let the wall treatment shine.

Also, if you know my style at all then you know that I’m typically a bit more eclectic when it comes to mixing styles and finishes, but this room was not the case. I wanted gold and brass everything. I just thought it would be such a beautiful, girly element that would shine against the white walls. I got three different sizes of THESE affordable gold frames from Target to frame the three pieces of art for the room.

Lastly, the stark white metal closet doors stuck out like a sore thumb once the walls were painted. Contrast was needed, so I decided to spray paint them Charcoal by Rustoleum and add new brass knobs from Hobby Lobby. It was just the facelift they needed! (They look much splotchier in this picture due to funny lighting and shadows.)

The Reveal

Ok, so here she is. One of the rooms I’m most proud of. I catch myself walking by and staring at it wishing it was my room. I pray my daughter grows to love this little space that she calls her own and looks back at amazing memories of her childhood bedroom!