Eight weeks have come and gone. It’s funny how time flies when you’re having fun or have a deadline. I think back two and a half years ago when I was impatiently waiting for Vienna’s birth and now two years later I’m making her a reading nook in her closet. Where did the time go? It’s a thief that can make each minute feel like hours yet each year feel like minutes.
The most recent ORC I participated in was Fall 2023 our Barbie Boho Living Room. I was unable to join in the Spring 2024 One Room Challenge because I wasn’t in the right mindset mentally or physically. We had been working on a backyard kiddie pool and lounge area for Vienna and I couldn’t take on anything else. Summer came and Arya got sprayed by a skunk and it destroyed the house. It took weeks of monitoring and washing her every single day...but she’s back to her normal self. The house on the other hand was in shambles. After throwing so many things away, cleaning and painting for weeks, I wasn’t sure if I was going to participate in this Fall’s ORC. Thankfully, Vienna’s room was virtually untouched by the skunk oils. I had been wanting to fix her closet storage and make a sweet space for her to sit and read as well as play with her toys.
It seemed like the best therapy after a stressful summer…paired with talk therapy as well ;)
Before After
Her closet was a dumping ground when we first moved into our rental home. Vienna was three months old and all her baby stuff was shoved in the closet. The closet in her room and the living room, are the only storage spaces in our home. We were glad that her tiny room had a place for all her belongings. As time went on…I fixed it up a bit and put some wallpaper from her old nursery nook on the ceiling and rearranged her storage bins.
One of the shelves had a warped dip in the wood and felt like it was unsafe so I added a middle bracket just in case. I used baskets for her stuffed animals and hangers for her baby blankets and jackets. All her washcloths, towels and burp cloths as well as diapers wipes, diaper genie refills and changing pads were in the bins. as she started to grow, so did her stuff. The year came and went in the blink of an eye and it became a dumping ground again.
She got a little reading chair from her great aunt for her first birthday along with more and more toys. I put the chair in her closet so she could feel like she had a little cozy space, but the closet remained cluttered. It wasn’t until her chair was thrown away with the skunk that I decided to do an overhaul of this tiny space. As a Designer and DIYer on a budget, I knew that I could makeover her special big girl toddler space with little money and some hard work. I planned to make it a sweet and cozy, pink paradise.
My original moodboard gave me the inspiration I needed. It’s hard for me to manage my anxiety during a project because I can’t see my vision when it’s in the early stages. All I see is mess and disorder. This was especially true because I had to remove and put back her closet belongings every time I worked on it…because you know, we still live here and her stuff can’t be in the middle of the room. Not to mention, I couldn’t really work on it unless Brian was home and was able to keep Vienna occupied. This was the first ORC I participated in that I COULDN’T work on while she was napping because she was sleeping in her crib. This gave me even more anxiety because sometimes I only had once a week to do the work, and it didn’t help when sometimes I had to go backwards to go forwards.
First I removed the shelving since the top storage shelf had a deep dip in it. It was sturdy with the middle bracket we added but I didn’t want it to look like I was letting my toddler sit under a shelf that was going to fall on her head. The butterfly anchors were extremely difficult to remove and left huge holes in the wall. I had to patch with mesh tape and sanded it smooth when it was dry. I then painted the whole closet in Pebbled Courtyard by Behr paint. It’s the same color as her bedroom and it flows throughout the house into the living room. I like using the same colors throughout my home because it becomes a nod to the other spaces and feels more cohesive. As a very impulsive person, such as me, would do…I ripped off the wallpaper on the ceiling without using my heat gun. The peel and stick ripped off the drywall and I had to repair it by skim coating it with joint compound, sanding and repainting. It was a setback that made me huff and puff and stomp my feet a bit, but now It’s smooth and even…I’d say better than when we moved in anyway ; it was the first time I ever used a mud pan and repaired a ceiling. I have to pat myself on the back for that one.
Most of the project in this tiny closet (which I thought would be a simple makeover) was like a game of mother may I…taking two steps forward then one step back. But I persevered. The ceiling repair supplies took a bite out of our budget so I decided not to use the wainscoting kit or wallpaper I had chosen for the closet from Lowes. Amazingly enough, I was approached by Lowes to become a Partner and I was able to create My Storefront that really inspired the space for me. I had a new vision and felt a bit better about going forward. Sometimes the universe is all about timing. As a Lowe’s partner I collaborated with them on Vienna’s reading chair. A beautiful and cozy pink toddler chair that made Vienna’s eyes sparkle. It was lightweight and easy for her to drag around. Its zipper design helped remove the washable cover since you know for sure at one point it will be covered with little handprints and sticky stuff. To keep the cozy feeling, we also purchased a soft play rug that has a road design on it with houses and trees that she can drive her cars on. The rug also keeps her little body warm since the closet is an add-on to the home and feels a bit drafty.
Now that the main piece of the puzzle was taken care of I needed to finish the rest. I began to design my ‘hand stamped wallpaper’ I looked on Pinterest for inspiration since I was on a budget and nixed the wallpaper. I came across a “how to” make your own stamps pin. So I promptly went to Michaels, bought foam paper, drew out a bow and used my wallpaper cutting blade to trim the edges. I glued it to a bottle cap and cut the rest to put inside a candle lid as a stamp pad. I began to plan my design on paper, but I didn’t like it at all. The design was super cute, but I didn’t like the way the bow transferred and decided to go another way. Instead, I painted the feature wall behind her chair with leftover white stone paint by Behr that I had used in the bathroom. I freehanded a giant bow design that framed out her chair with the color Sunwashed Brick also from Behr from our living room. I used the same color to paint her Barbie Dreamhouse outline that I drew on the play side of the closet. This was a nod to my childhood. Her little people Barbie Dreamhouse will one day, give way to mine. While still up in my mom’s attic, I can’t wait for the day I can share it with her. This whole closet nook is a dream for me. A special, cozy and safe place where my little girl can explore books and use her imagination.
For her play storage, I used hand me down Ikea Eket Cabinet cubes that my brother gave me. I spray painted them with Behr’s paint and primer spray paint and then painted them with Rustoleum chalked paint in the color Blush that was leftover from her crib makeover. I wanted all of the pinks to tie in together and feel like a warm blanket. I also tied in the last of the wallpaper that I had used in her nursery nook in our old apartment when she was first born. The same one I ripped off the ceiling. The same pattern that is on her changing pad cover and crib sheets. I lined the bottom of the shelves since her toys would scratch and nick them. We also re-installed the top shelf in the closet for her storage bins using the board less warped that I removed from the bottom shelf. Using gold brackets from Lowes (also found in the link for My Storefront,) was another awesome #lowesfinds that helped to secure the shelf with an upgraded look. The other brackets that I didn’t remove supporting the storage shelves to the right were given a makeover with antique gold rub n buff to tie the look together. The gold also repeated with the Bow Hooks on the wall to complement the hand drawn design.
The coolest diy in the room, was the reading lamp I built. Using an old ikea “fridfull” plant pot, I had made previously made a little hanging light in her closet by adding a tap light inside. I knew I could upgrade this for little to no money by gluing pieces of plumbing pipe together. I went to Home Depot and got a non metallic 4in round blank electrical cover as the base and glued together a 90 degree 3/4” street elbow and a 1/2 “ pvc coupling. I used liquid nails and hot glue and clamped it until it was dry. Then I primed it with spray paint and used midge podge and the extra wallpaper to decoupage the piping. After gluing the lamp shade to the arm it made a perfect little sconce light to add some ambience to her reading nook.
There's no electrical in the closet so for other lighting I bought rechargeable led light strips for the walls to light up the space (which she loves carrying around) it has an auto sensor switch as well as a steady on switch so when someone walks in the light goes on automatically. Another light to shine on Vienna was the special LED "Doroty" (as Vienna says) Rainbow Neon Light. You can see nods to the Wizard of Oz in her special space.
I truly can’t believe that I got to create this little corner of the world for our little girl. After the physical and mental struggle of trying to conceive, a difficult high risk pregnancy, emergency c section and post birth trauma, and post-partum depression…we are here in this moment. It's funny to say that I participated in the ORC in every single one of those seasons to help me through it all. I am so thankful for each of these time periods, because without them I wouldn’t have this beautiful girl who is growing before my very eyes.
As she is growing, so are her things. At times I feel so overwhelmed by the toys and books in our home. Even while rotating them from upstairs to storage in the basement, it’s overstimulating for me to say the least but I wanted to be able to facilitate her learning by giving her a place that is just hers. I learned to embrace the living room as a grown up playroom of sorts, but now, this little play area in her closet can be designated for her bedroom toys and books and tucked away when not in use since her room is tiny like her. If you suspected that she has more books than staged, you’re absolutely correct. She has tons she loves to read and these pretty scalloped shelves were the perfect addition to display some Christmas ones.
Everyone has a child that still lives inside them. My inner child was screaming to be accepted and loved. Barbies, books and imaginative play helped me through my parents’ divorce and shaped my early childhood. Teaching me to be a caregiver, educator and a strong independent woman. Vienna is also healing that hole in my heart every day teaching me how to be a mother and accept myself, seeing who I really am through the way she looks at me. I hope she enjoys this space as much as I have had creating it for her…and the fun I’ll have playing in it with her.
Love, Jacqueline
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