Big Girl Room

After hearing plenty of "horror" stories from my friends at school about transitioning to toddler beds, Zach and I decided we were in no hurry to do it.  We didn't need the crib, so Monroe could stay in it for as long as she wanted.  Then, we started potty training.  Monroe took to going both potty and poop in the toilet very quickly.  This was a huge relief, but it made us realize that she needed to be able to get out of bed to go potty if she needed to.  So, we converted her crib to a toddler bed.  

The transition went smoother than we expected.  Our only issue was that she would get out of bed, grab things from around the room, and take them back to bed with her.  After two nights of her getting her medical bag out of her changing table and dumping it in her crib, we decided we were ready to bring in her dresser from the garage.  Our thought was that the drawers would be harder to open and we could rubber band a few of them together to keep her out of them.  The dresser took up more space than the changing table, so the room needed to be rearranged.  While we were at it, we figured we might as well bring in her new bed too.  

Here's the new room:

The bed is from one of our spare bedrooms.  I found the bedspread at Kmart.

The dresser is the one that I found at a thrift store in North Platte.  I had planned to refinish it, but I am undecided if I'm going to.

I only did two projects for her new room.  The first one is one I've been meaning to do for a while.

The picture in the middle was made by Ramona, the counselor at Westridge MS.  When she gave it to us, I loved it, but it didn't match her room.  The outside frame was pink and the matting was blue.  I decided I wanted to for sure use it in her big girl room, so I painted the frame and matting the two grays from the room.  I love it, and I am so glad we are now showing it off in her room.

In her room before, we had a canvas picture of Monroe above the chair.  It was balanced on the wall by the lamp.  Once we put the bed on that wall, however, the picture didn't work in the far square.  We tried moving it to the center square, but it looked too small on the wall.  We needed something in the other two squares.

 So, I got two 16 x 20 canvases and covered them with material that matched the room.  They are a perfect addition to the wall and to the room.  

Monroe loves her big girl bed and her big girl room.  It seems unreal that she is old enough to have either.