Ballerina Girl Bedroom Makeover Reveal

Ok, I’m calling it. Livie Bug’s bedroom makeover is officially finished!

When we first moved in back in November 2013, her little abode looked like this:

Womp womp.

And then we moved in the little bit of furniture we owned (seriously that dresser and crib were pretty much all we owned), installed an Ikea light, dumped a hand-me-down mattress in the room, and we were left with…

Oh yeah. Gorgeous set up, I tell ya. Her room had this look going on for a year.

And then in April, when I hashed out the plans for her ballerina bedroom makeover, I thought it would take a month tops. Ha! It’s now the end of July. Doy! (Face palm smack.)

But the day is finally here! Entrez, mes amis.

It all started with this idea I had to use all of the old ballet items I had from my dancing days. (We have dance parties in our kitchen every morning, so why not branch out to her room? This kid has moves!)

And when inspiration struck to use an old mirror I had to make a ballet barre, everything else fell into place.

A lot of lucky finds went into this space like her bed that I found at Goodwill for $25. Those thrift store tips come in handy all the time. A couple coats of Annie Sloan Old White made it good as new… er shabby chic.

We made these wooden sheet music signs for $20 each, and they worked perfectly for her barre wall. The song lyrics are so perfect for a little one’s room.

I still can’t believe that lucky angel wings find that my parents bought for us as a gift on our vacation flea market trip. The applique pillow I made out of fabric scraps fits right in too.

Olivia loves her “princess” canopy that we made with a shelf, and her silhouette art and the repurposed ceiling medallion frames added just enough on her wall.

I repurposed this birdcage that was one of our wedding centerpieces to make a simple lamp. (Thanks to a cartoon character’s noble sacrifice.)

I’m so thrilled that we got to use this old nightstand that belonged to my grandfather, which I brought back to life with an aged metallic paint job.

We made her bedroom look bigger by framing out the window and adding a couple of curtain panels I found at Target.

I’d found a play vanity at a consignment sale that I painted and gilded in silver. She loves tickling her face with the blush brushes I gave her, and she has so much fun making funny faces in that mirror.

And trying on the bling, of course.

I’d found this old dresser at Goodwill for $15 that I painted with more Annie Sloan Old White. For some art, I framed a couple of dresses she had worn as a baby along with a sketch my brother-in-law did.

Before moving into our house, I kept a shoe box of all of the little items from my pregnancy and the hospital when Olivia was born, so I gave them a change of scenery in a shadowbox. That silver rattle beside of it belonged to me when I was a baby.

I found this cute miniature dress form at an antique shop a few months ago that I had to take home with me. Isn’t it adorable?!

My father-in-law has a whittling shop and, from the time Robert and his sisters were born, he whittled a rattle for each of them out of one piece of wood. Robert’s deserved a spot on Olivia’s dresser. It doesn’t get much more special than that, right?

I had found an old bassinet stand for $3 at a yard sale that I reused to make a dress-up rack for all of Olivia’s play clothes. It is so perfect to have right beside her ballet barre mirror where she can twirl in all the frilliness.

I bought this shelf at Hobby Lobby that will work great for any of her boas and hats and things. I printed off one of my favorite Bible verses, Proverbs 31:25, to put in a thrift store frame I had.

Robert’s first toy (the circa 1986 Snuggle bear) and Olivia’s first toy are buddies up there.

My father-in-law has whittled a rattle for each of his grandchildren too. When he gave us Olivia’s bird rattle at our baby shower I actually cried. (Okay, it could have also been the pregnancy hormones talking, but isn’t it so sweet?)  He made that one out of one piece of wood too. Seriously, the man has mad skills.

I placed my grandmother’s birdcage veil on top of the shelf too just because it was wasting away in a box in the closet. It has yellowed and torn in a couple of places, but that won’t stop us from appreciating it.

My grandmother gave me a big box filled with all of her old hats from over 50 years ago that we love to play with. Really, y’all, this corner of her room is way too fun.

She insists on putting on those dance dresses pretty much every day. And then twirls and laughs to her heart’s content.

I have three pairs of my old pointe shoes hung around her room. I wore one of these (below) when I got the chance to dance with the Moscow Ballet Company when they were on their Nutcracker tour. The principle dancers signed it for me. And yep, there is still bright red stage lipstick on my ribbons.

Overstock.com was so generous to provide me with a beautiful rug. I’ll be sharing more about it tomorrow along with a bunch of my favorites. It was so hard to decide on one!

By the way, I attempted to have Olivia’s feet pictured on it but ya know that whole never-stopping-always-running thing little ones seem to do? Yeah, that didn’t happen. So I slipped on my shoes for a minute. (And then Olivia wanted me to demonstrate “tippy toes” because she thinks it’s hilarious.)

I picked up the letters of her name for her barre wall at Hobby Lobby for 50% off and they fit exactly between her two sheet music signs. Total happy accident!

And we found this chandelier for 50% off at Lowe’s to replace the Ikea light from my confused designer phase.

I had debated a lot whether or not to put a pair of art pieces on either side of her canopy, but simple seems best.

I’m so glad it’s finally finished!!! Are you on frilly pink overload right now? I promise I’ll give you a break from princess-ville for a while.

It makes me so happy to see that so many sentimental items from our family have ended up in this room.

Ready for the grand total? Here we go!

Budget breakdown: (Some affiliate links are listed below and denoted by asteriks. My full disclosure policy is here.)

• Wall paint (Benjamin Moore Grey Owl):  $54  (We bought 2 gallons during the 30% off sale.)
• Bed:  $25 (Thrift store find)
• Dresser: $15 (Thrift store find)
• Annie Sloan Chalk Paint: $40
• Chandelier*: $70 (On sale at 50% off)
• Wall frames*: $70 (On sale and with a coupon)
• Wall shelf: $28 (On sale at 50% off)
• DIY Sheet Music Art:  $40
• Bedding: $0 (A gift from Olivia’s great-grandmother)
• Curtains: $60
• Play vanity: $20 (Consignment sale)
• Name letters: $30 (On sale at 50% off)
• Angel wings: $0 (Flea market find and a gift from my parents)
• DIY Window Trim:  $30
• DIY Ballet Barre: $16
• DIY Canopy:  $45
• DIY Applique Pillow: $0 (From fabric scraps)
• DIY Dress-Up Rack:  $15
• DIY Birdcage Lamp: $12

Total Out of Pocket:  $570

(Rug* provided by Overstock is originally $274.99.)

Let me know if I left anything out, but I’m hoping I covered it all.

Now that I’ve taken all of these pictures, she can totally destroy this room. Okay, I’m kidding. But in all seriousness, I can pretty much promise you it will never be this tidy again.

Embrace the messes though. It means a mind is exploring and growing.

So what do you think? You ready to come over for a dress-up sesh? Or a dance party? We crank up the Bruno Mars and get to steppin’ around here. He’s no Tchikovsky, but who says a ballerina can’t shake things up? I’d love to know if you’re making over a nursery or kids’ room in your house. What cute ideas are you thinking up? You think you’ll try out any of the projects we did? I’m still so ready to make more sheet music signs for other parts of our house.

Want to see some of our other room makeovers so far? Here’s our master bathroom and breakfast room makeovers along with our house tour progress. The strides we’ve made in a year and a half and a low budget always astound me. And sure, I may spend the little extra money we have on home decor instead of shoes but, really, it’s so worth it.