Making the house our home - Emily's room

The family room may have been the one that bothered us the most, but it isn't actually the room we assigned top priority.  That honor was awarded to the room of one Emily Dawn Gatlin. We let her choose which room she would call her own and she settled on the "red one" closest to the stairs.

This is a pretty craptastic photo, but, remember, we had been sleeping on the floor for a few days. I love you, Internet, but sometimes I just cannot give you the very best.

Emily went through any number of color decisions before she found one to stick with.  She wanted pink with purple polka dots. No! Each wall a different color: purple, pink, silver, and bright blue. Pink with big butterflies! Then, while we were waiting to see the doctor for her school physical she came across an add featuring a bedroom with dark plum walls and bright white furniture.  I wish I had saved it because it is a surprising source of inspiration for a six-year-old.

It took no time for her to pick her shades from some paint swatches. What took a lot of time was prepping the walls. As with the fireplace, there must have been five layers of paint on those walls. There was some, um, interesting spackle formations to sand down as well. After what felt like an eternity, Emily had a purple room.

Wall and closet opposite the window

I hung the shelf and rod myself. Em elected to not have closet doors, but we will eventually hang a curtain.  As it is, having the closet open actually makes the room feel bigger.

A few days before the painting was finished all of our stuff arrived. Yea! But, Emily would have to continue sleeping in the other bedroom for a few more days while Ben (with some help from me) finished making a very special something to go into this very purple room.