The walls of Clara’s big girl room are finally dry and the few pieces of furniture we own for it — mainly a daybed, an old side table, and two small wooden thrift-store chairs — are back in place. It’s not magazine-perfect, but the room already feels so much more finished and cozy.
The new wall color is lovely. In person it reads as subtle, warm, and inviting without leaning too yellow or peach. It creates a calm backdrop that won’t compete with other colors, which makes it easy to layer in brighter accents later. We’re really happy with how it turned out.
About those thrift-store chairs: we found them for $8 each on a trip back from visiting family months ago and stashed them in the playroom until we cleaned this room out. Now that the space is cleared, the chairs feel like a discovery — an extra little corner of the house we didn’t know we had. We’re planning to paint them a bright, happy color (red is a frontrunner) and keep the table crisp white to balance the look.
That brings us to the table. This little piece has been around a while. It started as a simple side table we bought years ago and later gave a larger top before painting it white. Over the last couple of years it didn’t have a permanent home and spent time in the sunroom and the basement. Paired with the thrift-store chairs it suddenly made sense as a kid-sized table in Clara’s room — except it was too tall.
To make it work, John shortened the stem. After failing to find screws that would let the top separate cleanly, he used a reciprocating saw and then a Dremel to level and smooth the cut. The angle of the base made the first attempt look rough, so he marked an even line around the stem and carefully shaved it down to create a level surface. It ended up slightly shorter than planned by about a quarter inch, but practically that difference doesn’t matter.
Once the stem was trimmed, he used a Kreg jig to create pocket holes and reattached the stem to the base. The pocket holes are tucked well under the table so they’re not visible from a standing position — you’d have to be under the table to notice them. Now the table is nearly the same height as Clara’s drawing desk in the living room, which makes it perfect for coloring, play-dough sessions, dolls, or card games.
Clara’s big girl bed is already in the room, and she’s absolutely smitten with it. The doctor recommended keeping her in the crib until she shows signs of being uncomfortable or attempts to climb out, so for now the bed is more of a staged transition, a fun place to play and nap under supervision. Still, she looks adorable in it, and someday she’ll officially move in.
The blanket on the bed is one of my favorites, and the tie-dye-like pillows add texture and color. I’d like to add a few more pillows — navy would look great against the current palette — and a few more cozy layers.
This room has come a long way from the junk-filled space it was for the last two years. We’re calling the current progress about 7% finished, which is both funny and accurate: there’s still a fair bit to do, but the foundation is set and the room already feels purposeful.
Here’s what’s still on our to-do list:
- Paint the thrift-store chairs a bright, cheerful color
- Find a dresser, ideally secondhand
- Make and hang curtains
- Add a cozy rug
- Hang art and a few three-dimensional decorative items
- Install a new light fixture
- Hang a mirror at Clara’s height so she can make faces and laugh at herself
- Convert the cluttered closet into a clothes closet and a small reading nook
- Add crown molding (and finish the other bedrooms on this side of the house)
- Bring in more accessories like pillows and toy storage bins
We’ll keep updating the room as we make progress. What projects are you tackling right now — painting, tweaking secondhand finds, or giving an old table a new life? We’d love to hear about your DIY wins and thrift-store discoveries.