We spent the weekend tackling hands-on projects for the girls’ room in the showhouse. The space still feels a bit sparse and is far from finished, so it will likely keep evolving right up to the deadline. That said, we made a lot of progress and significantly shortened the to-do list.
- The bed needs to be raised and we’ll add a colorful throw.
- Linens need ironing and a custom bolster will be layered on the bed.
- Colorful fabric window treatments will be hung as soon as they arrive.
- We might switch out the end table — that decision is still up in the air.
- We have a soft blue lamp and several accessories to add to tie the room together.
Over the weekend we stenciled the wall, painted the headboard, hung art, painted and upholstered two secondhand chairs, and installed a few playful wall hooks. It felt great to cross so many small but important tasks off the list.
One of the standout finds was an old full-sized headboard we picked up for under ten dollars at a local thrift shop. It now wears a fresh coat of paint in a hydrangea-inspired hue and sits in front of the newly stenciled wall. Both the headboard and the stencil work were completed by Parker, one of the builder’s key crew members, who turned out to be an expert at stenciling in addition to his other skills.
Normally we would have been the ones up on ladders, priming and painting, but with 3,500 square feet of house to furnish and accessorize, it was nice to delegate some of the wall painting so we could focus on other projects. The room base is painted a clean off-white with a layered stencil in a bright hibiscus tone for a playful, kid-friendly look that’s easy to paint over later if a future homeowner prefers a different style.
We also refinished a pair of thrift-store chairs that were priced at just $16 each. At first we debated staining them; John sanded them to raw wood to test that option. But because the room has carpet instead of hardwood and many painted pieces, paint ended up feeling like the right choice. We primed the chair frames with two coats of a quality primer, applied two coats of the hibiscus paint left over from the stencil, and used a small foam roller and brush to reach all the nooks.
For the seats, I added extra loft batting for comfort and used a manual staple gun to secure it around the frame. We recovered both cushions with a playful fabric called Candy Floss. When upholstering corners I fold them similarly to gift wrapping to get a clean front appearance. With patterned fabric, be sure to keep the print straight as you staple and, when working on a pair of chairs, orient the pattern the same way on each seat so they match visually.
Once the paint and fabric were dry, we reattached the seat cushions and the chairs felt brand-new. They still have that secondhand history, but the colorful makeover makes them fresh and fun for a kid’s room.
We added some ceramic animal wall hooks to give a place for a mini backpack, purse, or scarf. To add a bit of interest against the white wall, we dipped the tips of their antlers in two different paint colors rather than spraying or taping them off perfectly. We literally dipped the antlers into the paint cans, let drips fall naturally, and hung them to dry — an easy technique that gave a glossy, slightly imperfect finish that looks intentional and whimsical.
The room also has a quirky pendant light that became an instant favorite. With those elements in place — the stenciled wall, the painted headboard, the reupholstered chairs, and the playful hooks — the space already reads as much more finished than it did a month ago.
There are still about half a dozen additional tweaks to make in the girls’ room and 24 other rooms in the showhouse to finish in the next two weeks, so we’re in full sprint mode. For clarification: the double-desk configuration in this kids’ room is intentional. John grew up with two desk areas — one for a computer and one for homework or drawing — and since two chairs fit easily along that wall, the layout could be very practical for a child. Also, the furnishings here are meant for the showhouse, where we’re encouraged to take design risks; the eventual homeowner can choose to keep or replace items after the show.
We managed to balance showhouse work with a few of our own house projects during the chaos, and we’re excited to share more as we go. What did you do this weekend — any art hanging, headboard painting, chair makeovers, or creative dipping experiments?
Update: Several readers asked about the double desk in a single kids’ room. The extra surface can work as separate zones for a computer and for writing or drawing, and it felt like a practical solution given the wall’s proportions.
Update #2: A few people wondered whether our showhouse choices must appeal to every buyer. These rooms are designed for the show, where bold choices and personality are encouraged. After the show, the homeowner can decide which pieces to keep or replace to suit their family’s needs.