Goodbye boring... Hellooooo personality!

The time has come, my little friends, to talk of other things;  of shoes, of ships, of sailing wax, of cabbages and kings. And why the sea is boiling hot and whether pigs have wings...

Oh look at that. I've got Disney-brain again. 

That always seems to happen to me.

...Wonder why.

What I really meant to say was...

The time has come, my reader friends, to write of other things; of paint, of shelves, of window seats, of window drapes and sheets. And why there's Alice in the room, and why the Doctor too...

See what I did there?  =)  

Really, this post has nothing to do with Disney, and everything to do with Anni's other birthday present. The one that wasn't the party. 

She's been living in a bit of a boring hole for the past year. When she turned 11, I said - "Go ahead, choose your paint colors!" She said, "Yes! I want tan. And white. And a bit of red. You know-- like Paris." Me: "...Paris, France?" Anni: "Yep!" Me: "...Paris, France?" Anni: "Yes." Me: "Those colors for Paris, France?" Anni: "Mom. Yes. Stop asking me like that." 

Well, I don't know where she picked up that Paris, France is tan, white, and a bit of red. NO. IDEA. But, determined she was. So we did it. Now, the pictures below don't do it full justice because it almost looks like a yellow in there- which would have been a cute room. No. This wasn't cute. Or at least- it could have been if she'd gone a cowboy way, because tan and red and white = cowboys. Doesn't everyone know that? =) In my mind it's what I see, with their red and white handkerchiefs and dust billowing behind as they ride off into the sunset. Tie it in with a denim color blue and it is definitely workable. But ... Paris, France? Not so much. 

Anyway. The girl has also never had real bookshelves. She desperately needed them, as you'll see. 

So we got busy.

The tan became a very VERY fun, lively teal blue and the red stripe was painted over white to match below the chair rail. Bring in a couple of sturdy bookshelves from Target (Hello lowest prices I could find anywhere, thankyouverymuch), and a "new" desk brought up from downstairs and she has quite the cozy little homework spot. 

A cool thing about our house is the window seats in both girls' rooms. They're great! But poor Anni's window seat has never been truly usable because I just never made it a huge priority. And because I thought I'd have to spend buko bucks on a crib mattress to fit it (they fit just perfect on the seat area) and there were other things that needed doing first. Turns out, I didn't need to do that at all- all I needed to do was send out a Facebook request and find one for free!! YES!!!! =)  Now why didn't I think of that sooner??? Anyway. Once we had the mattress, we covered it in this great chevron teal stripe fabric I found and added cute purple curtains Anni adored. Voila! Her window seat area is complete!

Now, when redoing a room, the accessories have to fit just right. Right? So, with Anni, she likes so many different things and colors and whatnot that we've got a bit of everything. Right over her desk is the beloved Dr Who poster she purchased in Sacramento during one of our many excursions downtown to a fun movie memorabilia shop there. Fits kinda perfect and is SO HER. I do love that girl! =)  

And above the bed, one of my favorite things in there, is Alice. Alice painted by .... well shoot I don't remember her name and I can't go look behind the painting right now to remember. But the artist was featured in the gallery in Downtown Disney where Anni first saw it. Thanks to my cousin in CA (really, thank you Devan!!), who surprised the girls with a fun package with these gifts, we were able to hang it in her room. This, also, suits her so well as it is still so Alice but with a funkier, more playful edge.  She may have had too much KoolAid at the Mad Tea Party, who knows??   =)    But the painting is beautiful and we LOVE having it in her room!

So- in a nutshell that is Anni's new room. She loves it and it is so much easier to keep organized and clean. HOORAY!!!!!!!

So picture time? Oh yes I do believe so.

BEFORE:

oh... just so sad.

And, AFTER!!

Vibrant! Colorful! Happy!

Evidence of Anni's Dr. Who enjoyment. Love that she loves it so much! 

Did you notice? Disneyland postcards AND  a quote from Disney himself on opening day of Disneyland. She did it herself. No suggestions from me- at all. My heart was happy seeing this.  =)

The orange pillow! We love this spot of happy orange in here.

And there's Alice. It occurs to me I need to get a much better photo.

DISCLAIMER:: I don't hate the colors tan, red, and white, and I don't think the only situation they work together well in is a cowboy situation. Just for Annis' bedroom, with the type of person Anni is, it just didn't work. That's all. And it felt like it should be someone's living room- not a bedroom. So, yeah. That's all. =)