Making it Lovely » Eleanor’s Room

Christmas Decorations (Part 1: Upstairs)

Making it Lovely — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 22:40:44 +0000

I know — it’s a little late in the game to finally be sharing our Christmas decorations! The house was photographed this year for the Christmas issue of a magazine (to come out next year, obviously), so I was focused on getting the little details right. Today I’ll share the upstairs decorations, and tomorrow the living and dining rooms.

First, here’s Eleanor’s room.

She picked out her little white tree last year, and she was happy to see its return. She decorated it herself (she really likes those spiky glitter ornaments), and was adamant about there being a star on top. We didn’t have one, so I bought a glittery star-shaped ornament to use and all was well. I probably wouldn’t have draped her bed with garland, but we had the magazine shoot and I was feeling a little extra pressure to really Christmas it up. E likes it, because “now her bed looks like a sleigh.”

(And I stand by my love for all the weird deer in my house.)

August’s room was decorated too. The little Christmas tree is usually on top of his dresser, but his room is so small and hard to photograph that I moved it over to the table (temporarily) to fit it all in one shot with the wreath and reindeer in the window. It looks really nice there — it just wouldn’t survive very long!

The library has had the silver tree for the last few years — mostly because we already own it and I figure we might as well use it. We already had the birds, and the red yarn balls are new (from IKEA). I was slightly freaking out (oh, just slightly) about there needing to be something else up there, so I invited Kathryn over for a second opinion. She suggested the white feather wreaths from west elm, and I like how they tie in to the white feather birds on the tree.

The other side of the library has had those brass deer up all year. I guess that’s strange? I added some garland and ornaments, white Christmas lights, and my giant sequin disco ball ornament things.

I think of these as the ancillary decorations. The pink tree is the real star of the house, and no doubt why we were chosen for the magazine. I’ll share the downstairs photos tomorrow!

New Art Above Eleanor’s Bed

Making it Lovely — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 20:40:29 +0000

I planned a mini-makeover for Eleanor’s room a while back. It took a while for her polka dot wall vases to get here, and then longer still for me to finally get everything hung on the wall, but it’s finally done! I’ll show more of the finished room soon, but first, here’s a shot of the new art above Eleanor’s bed.

I laid it all out on the bed before putting it up on the wall so I could play around with the placement. The cat hanging is a vintage Tammis Keefe tea towel hung on wooden dowels, the lowercase ‘e’ was from Anthropologie and the uppercase ‘E’ from Urban Outfitters. I got the wall dot vases in an online flash sale, but they’re available directly from Chive, and the screenprinted flower is by three sheets 2 the wind.

Planning a Mini-Makeover for Eleanor’s Room

Making it Lovely — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:38:47 +0000

I’m never really one to finish a room and call it done. It’s more fun to tweak and look at my home as an ever-changing, evolving project. So I have a mini-makeover planned for Eleanor’s room, all because I was in the market for a new duvet cover for her. Her polka dot cover is cute, but we needed a backup for when it was in the wash. Details below:

Painted Ponies Bedding

This set is the one I ordered, but I’ve put together a post with a whole bunch of options for horse obsessed kiddos.
Wall Dot Vases*
I ordered mine yesterday at half off from Fab (I found them on the last day, and the sale is now over), but they can be purchased directly from Chive.
Polka Dot Curtains
We already had these on hand, from Eleanor’s nursery. Similar curtains can be found here.

*Those wall vases will take a long time to arrive (several weeks, probably — the downfall of shopping flash sale sites).

Toy Train Table

Making it Lovely — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:18:59 +0000

The toy train table in Eleanor’s room is one of the most frequently used spots in our home. It’s big enough for both kids to play with at the same time, usually without too much conflict. It looks good in the room, in that classic toy way. It’s fun for the kids, and it’s fun for me. Seriously — I love rearranging the train tracks. It’s so satisfying when a good layout comes together.

I’m telling you. It’s highly likely that I will someday become an obsessed scale model-making enthusiast.

I wrote about the best additions to a train table layout today over on Babble. Give it a look if you’re in need of some ideas. You know, for the children.

Eleanor’s Bizarro World Room

Making it Lovely — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:52:49 +0000

The Land of Nod was so into the bedroom I designed for Eleanor (which they helped furnish) that they recreated the look for their new catalog. It’s on page 61.

Our copy arrived today, and I showed it to Eleanor. “Does this look like your room?” I asked her. She looked at it, then started pointing at toys and asking to play with them upstairs. The girl really wants her mercury glass mushrooms and toy calliope, please.

Here’s Eleanor’s room, for reference.

Quite the resemblance, right? (Although, now that I think about it… they’re based in Chicago. I’m in Chicago. Dudes, why didn’t you just shoot here?)

Anyway, thanks team Nod! It was neat to see the Bizarro World version in the catalog.

Eleanor’s New Bedroom

Making it Lovely — Thu, 26 May 2011 16:36:10 +0000

Eleanor’s room is done! She’s a fan.

The pink walls, lighting fixture, and curtains that I made are still in the room from when it used to be my studio. There is a detailed list of sources on a separate page, so do take a look if you’d like to know where something specific came from.

Here’s the vintage dresser from her nursery that we painted pink. I hung a mirror (it’s named the Eleanor Mirror!) above to reflect light from the window on the opposite wall, and the basket on the floor is for Eleanor’s laundry.

To the left of the dresser is a rocking chair and her closet. To the left of that are her bookshelves.

She loves grabbing toys from them.

There are three framed prints above the bookshelves. I made the Que Sera, Sera print in the middle (download it for free here!), and the other two are by The Black Apple and Lulu Dee. The frames are from Target.

Download this print for free!

I also made the recycled paper banner that hangs above her closet.

There are more toys on the other side of the room, behind the door. The smaller things are in toy boxes, and the larger toys are tucked away in a little alcove.

And then there are the books.

The girl loves to read.

Will We Have Rainbows, Day After Day? (Free Printable)

Making it Lovely — Mon, 23 May 2011 16:17:23 +0000

My Grandma Rose sang when she was happy, and it wasn’t until years later that I realized most of the songs she sang were by Doris Day. Que Sera, Sera was one of her favorites.

I thought it would make a sweet print for Eleanor, though I did take a little liberty with the lyrics. Doris asks her mother, “Will I be pretty, will I be rich?”, and she asks her sweetheart the line about rainbows. I transposed them because I thought it was better for a little girl’s room that way, and the fact that I could make “RAINBOWS” in rainbow colors may have swayed me a little too.

You may download and print this PDF for your own personal use. The file is 8″x10″, so it will print nicely on a sheet of paper. I used card stock and a white wooden frame from Target.

I’d love to see it if you put this print in your own home too!

Eleanor’s Room (Sources)

Making it Lovely — Thu, 12 May 2011 14:56:38 +0000

Furnishings Partially Provided by The Land of Nod

I’ve made a page listing all of the sources for everything in Eleanor’s room. I think it’s a nice mix of vintage, reused, and new, and I can’t wait to show you the finished result!

Eleanor’s New Bedroom (It’s Almost Done!)

Making it Lovely — Wed, 11 May 2011 16:49:43 +0000

I have a few more little peeks into Eleanor’s new bedroom for you today. The vintage dresser from her nursery that we painted pink is there. It needs something above it, I think. Oh, and pay no attention to the holes in the wall next to the hooks! I may have repositioned that one on the left a few times.

Eleanor’s rocking chair is off to the side, between the dresser and the closet.

And here is Eleanor’s bedside table, sans any styling. It’s always filled with books. I’m considering painting it one day, but white is fine for now.

Tomorrow, I’ll share the sources for everything, and soon I can share the finished room!

Toy Storage in Eleanor’s New Room

Making it Lovely — Wed, 04 May 2011 17:59:27 +0000

Partially Furnished by The Land of Nod

Eleanor was happy to sleep in her big-girl bed, but bringing in her toys really sealed the deal on her new room.

There is a nook behind the door to her room that lends itself well to toy storage. It used to look like this when it was still my studio:

Now that all of the studio furniture has made its way down to the basement, I put a couple of storage bins for toys along that wall. I was going to switch out those curtains that I made, but I decided that they were too cute to get rid of.

Larger toys go in the opposite corner under the eaves. It’s looking a little messy already, so I think I’ll add a big basket help contain things a bit.

We gave Eleanor a train set for her birthday, and she’s been having a lot of fun with it (“CHOO CHOO!!!”) on her play table. I like that there is a trundle underneath for storage too. That’s where her vintage colorforms blocks and a few other toys are.

The bookshelves in her room are gorgeous, but they could use a little bit of styling. Nothing too over the top (this is a toddler’s room), but a little prettying up wouldn’t hurt.

I need to figure out what to do above them for art. You can see the closet to the right there, with the recycled paper bunting that I made a while back, and that’s staying. The bunny clock was in Eleanor’s nursery and I like it in her new room, but it isn’t necessarily staying where it is. I think the fabric ‘e’ might get hung too, but I’m not sure what else to do. Maybe a big art grouping? Any ideas?