I can’t help but laugh a little when a room reaches the final “finishing touches” stage—there’s something satisfying about seeing everything come together. After a weekend of small but meaningful updates (between all the board & batten we’ve been installing, caulking, and painting), Clara’s big girl room finally feels like it’s rounded a corner.
One of the first changes was swapping out the tired tan fitted sheet that had lived on the daybed for years. We picked up a simple navy 100% cotton sheet set from Target and added a cushy mattress pad so the bed is comfortable and ready for Clara to move in when she’s ready. For now she still prefers her crib, so we’re following her lead.
We also rotated the rug so the dotted pattern shows better as you enter the room—turns out rotating it revealed a lot more dots that were hiding under the daybed before, and the extra pattern adds an extra playful touch.
Another small but useful addition: storage baskets in the little corners on either side of the daybed. These are the same affordable $25 baskets we’ve used around the house. To brighten them up and avoid dark shadowy corners, I painted a white band along the bottom of each basket. I taped off the tops with a garbage bag and used Frog Tape to get a clean line, then gave them a few coats of Rustoleum Universal spray paint (I like that it includes primer and has a comfortable trigger).
The baskets ended up being an easy project—the spray didn’t seep inside when they were upside down, so no messy dipping or pouring was necessary. One basket now holds toys, stuffed animals, games, and puzzles; the other stores Clara’s favorite books. These corners feel much more functional now, and the layout still leaves room to swap the baskets for nightstands as she gets older and needs a glass of water or an alarm clock.
We also finished a simple framed art piece using secondhand finds: red dominoes and scrabble tiles that spell “love.” The dominoes represent pager code 143 (the letters-per-word shorthand for “I love you”), and the scrabble tiles reinforce the sentiment. Instead of buying a shadowbox, I used an old Ikea frame and removed the glass so the pieces could be displayed without extra fuss.
One of the most special projects was painting a wooden name plaque with Clara. The plaque was a thoughtful handmade gift from a reader, and painting it together was a simple, memorable activity. Clara immediately picked red—one of her favorite colors—so she painted most of it while I helped with edges and touch-ups. It took about fifteen minutes and one coat of paint, and she talked about it all day, which made it well worth the effort.
As the room has evolved, Clara has gradually gotten more to do here. Between her play kitchen corner, toys and games in the closet, the new toy and book baskets, and wall hooks for hair clips and necklaces, the room now supports a range of activities. One of her favorite pastimes is “fake sleeping” in the big girl bed—complete with pretend snoring—and it’s probably the cutest thing.
Her little tea-party table remains a hotspot for dolls and stuffed animals, and the red chair backs add a cheerful pop that livens the corner. We’ve also arranged birdcages on one wall; Clara loves watching the shadows they cast at night, so for now we’re keeping them instead of filling the space with framed prints. When she’s older and has no interest in swinging on them, we might add faux birds or butterflies for a playful touch.
We’ve also had fun with the flash card ledges over the dresser, swapping cards for small objects Clara enjoys. Because the shelf is out of reach, it’s a safe place to display more delicate things like metallic animal prints and a few pop-art pieces we received from readers. I’d love to add some of Clara’s own artwork there in the future.
We also brought a few favorite nursery toys into the room, like a wooden stacking tree and lettered blocks. A lightweight red metal bowl (spray-painted by me) works great to hold the blocks and makes them easy to grab for floor play. Leaving a few select toys off the floor sometimes makes them more enticing, which helps keep playtime fresh.
So that’s what we tackled this weekend: new navy sheets and a mattress pad, painted baskets, a name plaque that Clara helped paint, some domino-and-scrabble art, and more toys, games, and books arranged throughout the room. It’s finally starting to feel like a finished space instead of a work in progress. A few items still on our to-do list include refinishing or painting a dresser we found, adding crown molding, and painting the closet and ceiling a fun color, but for now the room feels comfortably complete and ready for more memories.
What did you do this weekend? Anyone else working on board & batten? We’re excited to share the full reveal soon.