Imagine me rubbing my hands together like a cartoon villain—gleefully, because I’m finally at the finishing touches of a room refresh. That satisfying home stretch feeling is real.
After wrestling with what felt like the awkward “middle” of the project for a while, a few small, tying-the-room-together updates helped us round the corner this weekend. We’ve still been furiously installing, caulking, and painting board & batten, but these little changes made the space feel more complete.
We finally replaced the worn tan fitted sheet that had lived on the daybed for years with a simple navy blue, 100% cotton twin sheet set from Target, and added a cushy mattress pad so the bed is ready whenever Clara decides to officially move in. For now she prefers her crib, and we’re following her lead.
We also rotated the rug the other way and were surprised at how many more dots showed—lots were hiding under the daybed before. The rug now greets you with both a gradient and a playful dot pattern as you walk in, which is more fun than the single-gradient look we started with.
Another small but meaningful change: the toy and book storage baskets finally made it into the two little corners flanking the daybed. We used the same inexpensive woven baskets from Target that we’ve had around the house and gave them a quick makeover so the corners wouldn’t look dark and heavy.
I painted a clean white band along the bottom of each basket to brighten them up. It was an easy afternoon project: I taped a garbage bag across the top of each basket to protect the rim, used Frog Tape to hold it in place for a crisp line, and sprayed a few coats of Rust-Oleum Universal spray paint (it has primer built in and a nice trigger spray system, which makes it my favorite).
The spray paint didn’t sneak through the weave or get on the inside, so the whole thing was quick and mess-free—no need to dunk or hand-paint each basket. The basket to the right of the daybed holds toys, stuffed animals, games, and puzzles, while the one on the left is full of Clara’s favorite books.
It’s great to add practical storage to those previously unused corners. The layout also stays flexible: when Clara is older and wants a nightstand or a place for a bedside glass of water, the baskets can easily be swapped out.
We also finished a small art project you might have spotted earlier. I’d picked up some vintage red dominoes and scrabble tiles that spell LOVE while thrifting, thinking they’d be perfect for Clara’s big girl room because of the color match and sentimental value. The dominoes form “143,” pager shorthand for “I love you” (1 letter, 4 letters, 3 letters), and the scrabble tiles reinforce the message—simple, meaningful wall art that’s personal to her.
Rather than buy a shadowbox, I used an old Ikea frame we already had and removed the glass. The components look charming in a glass-less frame, and it was a good example of making do with what’s on hand.
One of the sweetest updates was a very small project we did together: a wooden name plaque that hangs above Clara’s play kitchen. It was handcrafted by a generous reader and painted by Clara and me. She chose red (no surprise—red and pink have been favorites for a while), and we spent about fifteen minutes painting it together. She loved the process and talked about it the rest of the day. Those little moments of shared creativity are the best part of decorating a child’s room.
The room keeps evolving into a space with more purposeful zones: a play-kitchen corner, a closet full of games and toys, the newly painted toy and book baskets, and hooks for hair clips, headbands, and necklaces. One of Clara’s favorite activities is still “fake-sleeping” in her big girl bed—complete with adorable fake snoring. It’s genuinely the cutest thing.
Her tea-party table remains a popular spot. There’s usually a doll or stuffed animal having breakfast, and the bright red chair backs add a fun pop of color. The toy arrangements—sometimes elaborate animal meetings—are all part of the charm.
The new navy sheets look sweet with a heart pillow on top, and Clara still loves gazing up at the birdcage decor and the shadows they cast at night. For now we’re keeping those pieces simple and out of reach so she won’t be tempted to climb the wall—later we may add hanging toys or faux birds once she’s a little older.
The postcard-style ledge shelves above the dresser have been a fun spot to swap in small objects and art. We’ve mixed in metallic animal prints and reader-donated pop-art Clara prints, and it would be lovely to add some of Clara’s own artwork up there as she paints more.
We also brought a few favorite nursery toys into the new room: her wooden stacking tree and lettered blocks. A lightweight metal red bowl on the desk stores the blocks and is easy to bring down to the floor for play. It was originally white and spray-painted red to match the room.
So that’s the update: painted storage baskets, a personalized name plaque painted with Clara, new navy sheets and a mattress pad, homemade domino artwork, and more toys, books, and functional corners. The room finally feels like a real, lived-in kids’ room instead of an endless work in progress. We still have a few items on the to-do list, though:
paint the roomcut down our old den side table to make a play tablebring in a dresser (we’d love to find something secondhand)make/hang some curtainsadd a rugmake a frame collage full of animals Clara loves, and even some Clara artpaint the backs of the chairs along with her play tablehang our postcard ledges and fill them with favorite flashcardsinstall a new light fixturehang a few 3D objects that we have in mind for wall decorturn the junked-up closet into an actual clothes closet/reading nookget a new set of sheets for the daybed (most likely in navy) along with a cushy mattress padadd accessories like more toys, storage bins, personalized art, etc.- refinish or paint Clara’s new dresser
- add crown molding throughout this side of the house
- paint the closet and the ceiling a fun color (soft coral or blue are contenders)
Thanks for following along as this room came together over the past month or two. Decorating a child’s space is always full of small, joyful projects and little moments like painting a name plaque together. I loved Clara’s nursery and I love this big girl room too—turns out decorating kids’ rooms never gets old.
What did you work on this weekend? Anyone else tackling board & batten or finishing touches? We can’t wait to share the full reveal soon.