We did it! We can put three big ol’ check marks next to “paint the walls” and “paint the closet” and “paint the ceiling” in Clara’s room. It was definitely a bit of a painting marathon, but how sweet is the soft pink up there on the ceiling? It’s Pink Cadillac by Benjamin Moore in their eggshell finish. In some of these photos it’s pretty subtle, but in person it’s soft-but-noticeable – so while it’s not the entire room’s focal point, it’s a fun layered detail in the room. We thought clean white walls would complement the fun ceiling color without fighting too much with all of the color and pattern in things like the rug/pillows/curtains, so we went with BM Simply White in eggshell, which is also what we use for trim and doors in a glossier finish. Here are some other popular whites for walls and trim.
We also used some leftover ceiling paint in the closet, just to add something in there too. Someday I want to add a built-in bench in there and I even think about doing something interesting to the slanted ceiling (little cedar roofing shakes could bring out that “indoor playhouse” vibe – and maybe even some playful wallpaper on the back wall could be fun).
Oh and you’ll notice that the rug and the curtains from the living room have migrated up here. Clara’s pink rug was shedding like a maniac (the new hardwoods made the giant pink tumbleweeds especially noticeable) and Clara loves playing on this blue rug (she pretends the light blue parts are the ocean for her toys/dolls) so we rolled it out up here to see how we liked it. When we plopped everything down after moving we figured a bunch of things would find their way around the house, so it’s fun to see things making the rounds, and now this woven rug is in the living room – although the jury’s still out on whether we like it there for the long haul.
But let’s rewind to the room all prepped (we moved everything into the center and covered it with a few plastic dropcloths). Remember those old stripey walls from spraying the doors before we installed the hardwood floors? Well, we decided we didn’t want that primer/paint “flashing” (meaning that it could show through the paint if we didn’t prime) so we took a minute to prime just the areas that we worried about that happening.
Here’s that area all primed along with the ceiling painted (we painted the ceiling first, then moved on to priming just select areas of the walls where we worried about bleed or flashing).
Then we broke out the white paint for the walls. I grabbed this shot so you can see the difference between the yellowed old wall paint, the cooler toned primer, and the Simply White wall color.
Of course we’re still missing a bunch of things on the wall, like something I’m halfway through sewing for over Clara’s bed (COUGHcanopyCOUGH) so I can’t wait to get that done and hung – along with some other art and eventually a light fixture that we’d love to add too. But it’s already a huge improvement not to have the old yellowed walls and to finally be rid of those stripes from spraying the doors! And it’s certainly a far cry from the room full of blue trim that we started with:
We’ve also been trying to work on our photography skillz (picture us both laughing and blushing as we say that since we have such a long way to go) but we shot all of these after photos in manual for the first time! They’re definitely not perfect, but we’re slowly getting the hang of it… I think.
Clara is in love with her pink ceiling. When she came in and saw it she said “now when I’m sleeping I can look at the pink and the pink can look at me.”
I love that it’s a balance of crazy and calm in here, thanks to the fun mix of patterns (in the pillows, curtains, and the rug) combined with the white furniture and the white walls to sort of temper things so the room isn’t too wacky.
Here’s a shot from the closet, looking back at the other side of the room. That wall above the crib definitely needs some art, although Clara seems close to being done with her crib so we might just wait until she’s outta there to move it out of the room and then decide what will live on that wall, which will definitely inform the art above it.
Ooh look, I focused on the book and blurred the alligator. I feel like I should make myself a construction crown that says “Photoshoot Skillz In Da House” … and then promptly crumble it up after checking out my other favorite blogs, which all have infinitely better photos.
This cute kid makes any picture better though, so big ups to my girl for making this shot.
Oh and if you look closely you’ll see that we didn’t quite get into all the cracks where the wall meets the ceiling since we’re planning to add some crown molding – hopefully pretty soon!
What are you guys painting? Any clean walls + playful ceilings going on?
Lindsay J says
Y’alls pictures are on MY list of pictures I want to immitate! I have always looked up to your photography skills. To me, it’s about the angles you capture in your views and that comes natural to you. Keep it up! And I love what you have done to Clara’s room so far. It’s so fun to see rooms transform.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Lindsay!
xo
s
Kitty Schaub says
My daughter has almost the exact same colors in her room! Her ceiling is “ballerina pink”.
Anele @ Success Along the Weigh says
LOVE her room! I think the rug looks awesome and the touches of pink are enough to keep it girlie.
So has Burger relaxed on photobombing? Haven’t seen a stray tail or curled up nugget with a look of “get the camera outta my face” look over here in a little while. ;)
YoungHouseLove says
He’s so lazy these days! Sleeps until 1pm, so a lot of times we’re shooting before then to get the best light.
xo
s
Susan says
Well…let’s just say it’s not my jam.
You have a LOT of clashing patterns going on in here with tones that don’t play well together, IMHO.
I really like the play of the pink ceiling with the navy blue polka dot pillows, though-I’d move the curtains to a different room and then do curtains in the navy dot; Craigslist the rug and do something wildly floral with all the room colors-navy, pink,red, turquoise,etc.
Rugs USA have some great ones, as does Overstock. Look for as much wool as you can, and you won’t have much of that off-shed.
As long a C-girl likes it, though, that’s all that matters. It’s great that her dolls have all those atolls to play around!
Kristina Strain says
Sooo surprised you guys went with white walls! Never thought I’d see the day. But I like it, and I’m sure it’ll grow on me more over time. LOVE the colored ceiling, and your cedar shake idea…
Shana says
I like it! The closet has got to be my favourite part, love the little hidden play area. I’m also glad you kept that dresser as opposed to the other one. I’m much more a fan of the midcentury lines and I’ve coveted that dresser since you did the nursery in house 1. People in these parts have cottoned on to their value and even on craigslist the cheapest I’ve seen them is $200.
I hear you with the photography – mine is just terrible. I wish mine was halfway as good as yours! The only time I get anything half decent is in the morning when the light in my kitchen is nice which doesn’t work for my teeny food blog unless I start making dinners at 10am (not possible when working). Sigh.
Can’t wait to see what’s next!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Shana!
xo
s
Jen says
Did I miss it? Where did Clara’s old rug go? I like the “new to the room rug”, but just wondering.
YoungHouseLove says
Check out the third paragraph for that info :)
xo
s
Jen says
Sorry, looked at the pictures and missed the some of the word. Hate rugs that shed! Should be illegal to sell them. :)
YoungHouseLove says
It’s so funny how we didn’t even notice in our last house but here with darker floors and it being in a room with more foot traffic it was crazy! Like pink sheep rolling down the hall!
xo
s
Bethie says
Keep the blue rug!! It is SO cute in there!!
Sara says
Love the room, it will definitely grow with her as she gets older. We moved to a new house this summer too and I still need to paint my daughters room, she wants purple walls so we are still trying to select a color.
Ruthie says
Seeing how you have set up her room has got me thinking! This is on us in the horizon for us so I have a mommy question… Are you planning on transitioning Clara to the daybed and sneakily removing the old crib (to a nursery if that time comes)? I like the idea of having both in the room so the little one can get used to the big bed while having the comfort of the old one still there.
YoungHouseLove says
Our doc is completely into her sleeping in her crib until she wants to make the transition (she sleeps such awesome hours we don’t want to mess with a good thing!) so we’re going to just wait until she gets into the idea herself and follow her lead. I think we’ll definitely ask her before removing the crib, but if it’s anything like potty training, the second she’s sleeping in a bed she’ll say cribs are for babies and be totally cool with us moving it out. Here’s hoping!
xo
s
Ruthie says
Haha, I hope I’m that lucky!
K says
Wow, I’m loving the new big girl room! Something about the rug and curtains just weren’t working for me together in the living room, but I really like them together here! I suppose it’s because the dots seemed so youthful, so the pattern mix makes sense in a kid room. The new comforter looks so comfy (ha) too. Can’t wait to see the canopy. I did a little playhouse one for our daughter – I should really blog it soon as I’m pretty proud of it!
Jessica says
I love the walls, pink ceiling, and curtains. Cannot handle that rug in there. It looks too rich and dramatic for everything else that you’ve got going on. What happened to her new blanket-the one with the pink/red/tan zig zags?
YoungHouseLove says
That’s just folded in her closet for now – not sure where it’ll end up!
xo
s
Amanda says
we would looove that pink rug!!! been trying to find it!!
ashley jensen says
I am working on redoing my 6 year olds room and am having the worst time getting the right paint color. I have 3 different colors painted in little squares on all of her walls. Looking for a light teal with just the right amount of green and blue but not too light or dark. Oh and the blurry background is called bokeh, and I know you follow Ashley Ann on Instagram but she gives tons of hints on her blog for photography. That is where I learned how to use manual settings!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Ashley! I love her blog and will have to check her out on IG!
xo
s
Amelinda says
I love this room! I think this might be the first time you posted pictures from the closet facing the crib, so I had been wondering if she already graduated to the big girl bed :-) In the first shot the ceiling looks vaulted, but it’s not right? Just a camera trick??
YoungHouseLove says
I noticed that in the pics too! Totally a flat ceiling but for some reason it looks sloped in some of the pics! As for the crib, she’s still in there but seems close to transitioning to her daybed, so we’re just following her lead and crossing our fingers that it’s smooth!
xo
s
Rachel says
Hello!
We are on the bed hunt. Where did you get her day bed?
YoungHouseLove says
It’s from West Elm a really long time ago (was a wedding present from John’s sweet God Mother).
xo
s
Erin says
Sorry to hear about the shedding pink rug because I loved that unique, fun pattern. Plus went so well with the old flame-patterned spread. But, as always, you’ve done a great job with a new look for little Miss Clara. The polka dot curtains and the rug from the living room are perfect there. Love, love the pink ceiling. Have you thought about maybe bringing the other daybed frame from the veranda up into Clara’s room when you replace the crib? You know how girls like to have their friends spend the night for marathon giggling sessions.
YoungHouseLove says
Originally I thought both daybeds would end up in her room but they’re so deep and cage-like that we actually tried two of them in there on moving day and it was crazy cramped. I’m sad because I love the sleepover idea, but maybe we’ll add a trundle bed under hers or create our bunkroom/TV room down the line in the unfinished storage area for sleepovers!
xo
s
alli says
Looks great!
Can you tell me where you got the white pouf ottoman? I’m trying to find an orange one for my son’s room and am not sure where to get it from. Also, did it come unstuffed and if so, what did you fill it with? Thanks in advance! :)
YoungHouseLove says
That was from joss & main, and came stuffed.
xo
s
Sasha says
Love the pink ceiling. :) Wish my mother had thought of that when I had my room painted soft pink when I was 8 my tiny room would have looked a lot better with the ceiling being colourful rather than the walls.. Oh well :)
Thought I would chime in with an idea for the big wall where the crib is, the idea is probably more for once the crib is moved out, but here goes:
http://m.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/art/70119430/
My brother and I shared a map of the world when we were younger and it was so much fun to look and talk about the different countries, when we grew older we put pins in it where we had been, kind of like your America map in the livingroom I guess :)
P.s. I was just wondering how much time do you guys use on writing posts on here? I love that they are so witty and well written :)
YoungHouseLove says
Love that idea, Sasha! Thanks so much for sharing the link! And thanks for the kind words about our posts. We probably spend about 15 hours a week writing posts (which includes proof-reading them and adding links to them and sizing the photos for them) and the rest of the time is spent photographing projects, doing them, planning them, answering comment questions/emails, setting up giveaways, managing sponsors, and doing side gigs (like writing our book or working on the showhouse)! Our blogiversary is coming up and we love to do breakdowns for that, so here’s hoping John has some pie charts in our future! Haha!
xo
s
Sasha says
Hi Sherry,
Thank you so much for the response, glad you liked the idea :)
Wow, 15 hours on top of doing the work.. Whoever says blogging isn’t a job is definitely wrong ;)
Oh pie charts sounds like fun :) Can’t wait ;)
Megan says
LOVE this room! What is your ceiling height throughout? If they’re 8ft, has that impacted your decision to go with a softer pallet, focusing more on layering and tone-on-tone? Noticing a different vibe between your second and third homes…is that based on the layout/design or more an evolution of your style? We are likely moving for the final time within the next year. I have made our current home one we love and would be sad to leave, but I also feel like many of the design elements I adore here – I may not recreate in a new house. Part of me worries that I get bored too easily and am never satisfied! :-) Does being in your potential ‘forever home’ make you rethink choices a bit more???
YoungHouseLove says
Our ceilings are about an inch or two higher than 8′, and I think when it comes to our style we are drawn to more classic choices since this is a colonial, but we’ll always love colorful and cheerful things (like patterned curtains, bright rugs, etc) and some dark enveloping rooms (like our new dark blue bedroom). So it’s sort of like this house is the cousin of our last house and our first house was another cousin – they’re all sort of related but not identical twins if that makes sense.
xo,
s
Cher says
I painted my bathroom ceiling pink last winter! It is so fun- Even if people say it’s “too girly” It makes the white and grey bathroom pop!
bathroom: http://instagram.com/p/XoIIOHtWRv/
ceiling: http://instagram.com/p/XqYg4cNWap/
YoungHouseLove says
Love that!
xo
s
Melisa says
Love! My only nitpick? The rug, while fabulous, covers almost the entire pretty, new dark wood floors. That I love and am salivating over because our wood floors need to be refinished in a pretty warm, expresso color. :D Again, nit picky because I really do love the transformation. And I think you’ve inspired me to take the plunge and paint my girl’s room white. Eeeep.
YoungHouseLove says
Yeah, I do wish there was a smidge more wood floor showing, although for a room where a kid plays (and jumps off that pouf and falls out of her daybed, haha!) it’s nice to have a soft floor for now! Thankfully this room is off of our super long hallway that’s chock full o’ hardwoods, so there’s lots nearby!
xo
s
katelyn says
$her-dog and J-boom– I love this!! What a fun color palette for your sweet baby girl! kudos you two!!
Jenn says
Where did that adorable giraffe come from? Its absolutely beautiful!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks! It’s from Target a long time ago.
xo
s
Erin says
Now I want to see what the living room looks like! Have a replacement rug already or on the lookout? Clara’s room is perfectly calm and creative.
YoungHouseLove says
We linked in the post to the rug that’s in there now ;) Not sure if we love it but it works for now!
xo
s
Pam says
LOVE the pink ceiling! Will look great with crown molding. And love this version of her room best so far, so fresh and peaceful with the white sheets & bed cover. Love the dotty curtains; they seem much more “little girly” than the chevrons on the bed & curtains before.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Pam!
xo
s
Kimberly @ Turning It Home says
I love how it turned out! I wish I could be as speedy as you two, after enlisting my husband, we finally finished painting our living room (after six months of “in progress” http://www.turningithome.com/2013/09/making-more-progress.html)! Paint makes such a difference, even after six months of beginning to paint.
YoungHouseLove says
Wahoo! Congrats Kimberly!
xo
s
Katie says
Love love love
Since you asked, I recently overhauled our powder room. I was all set to paint it Elephant Skin when my aunt (who was helping/teaching me everything) told me that we needed “a pop of color” and picked up Aster. It’s much more purple than I had ever envisioned. Sooooo I’m still a little shaky about it.
We did paint the ceiling in the powder room which was new to me.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, it sounds pretty Katie! Maybe once you get the accessories and art in there it’ll balance out?
xo
s
Kara says
Looks great! I love the blue over the pink. I have never been a pink girl. I just realized yesterday at my 91 year old grandpa’s house. He has blue and cream trim ALL over his house with the dark paneling. He has a great ‘Before’ if anyone is looking to make it an ‘after’. lol
YoungHouseLove says
Haha! That sounds like my idea of a good time!
xo
s
Eve says
I like the pink ceiling against the airy walls – very pretty. I’ve been trying to tone down my older saturated walls everywhere look and yet get away from white everywhere (that we lived with for a year) – I struck a balance recently with deep charcoal walls and saturated ceilings. We used Day’s End by Benjamin Moore for the walls and have a fuchsia ceiling in the dining area, teal in the kitchen, and citron in the living room. It looks awesome, and yet still sophisticated. I’m in love with it!
Do you have the urge to paint all of your ceilings now after this one? I think most of our white ceilings are going to be gone soon. ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Yes! The same thing happened in our first house (we painted the ceiling in Clara’s room and then did our bedroom one and I think both bathroom ceilings got painted – it’s contagious!)
xo
s
Michelle Kersey says
CONGRATS ON SHOOTING IN MANUAL!!! It’s a big deal! And you learned how to select your focal point, that was such a HUGE deal for me when I got my first DSLR!
Try not to compare your photography journey to any others… you are on your own journey and that’s OK!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Michelle!
xo
s
Martha says
LOVE. I could never figure out what it was about her playroom at the old out, but I was just never feeling it, and I always felt badly about it – like, how could I not like a Petersik room????
This is great! That rug looks awesome and so do the curtains. Are the old Clara curtains migrating somewhere?
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Martha! Not sure where they’ll end up, but we have so many curtainless rooms that we think they’ll find a home!
xo
s
Molly says
Do you have tips for painting ceilings? (Have you talked about that, like a how-to, in a previous post?) My kitchen desperately needs it, but I’m terrified of dripping on my floors. Maybe it is just me, but conceptually it seems scarier than painting walls.
YoungHouseLove says
Painting the ceilings is one of our least favorite things, but if you use an extender rod with your roller it helps the ol’ back and just clearing the room or using drop clothes helps to cut down on drips. Good luck Molly!
xo
s
morgan says
gahh! I love the pink ceiling! I almost painted my bathroom ceiling pink (but darker) but chickened out. Maybe this is the push I need :)
Carrie Gail says
Love the pink ceiling and polka dot curtains! Have to admit that the rug isn’t my favorite in this room. It seems to get all the attention, and the rest of the room just fades away. Just my opinion, for what it’s worth.
Jennifer says
Sorry if you’ve already answered this, but what’s the white you’re using? I swear, I never realized there were so many shades of white!!
YoungHouseLove says
It’s Simply White by BM.
xo
s
Emily says
I’m guessing this is just in one of your “middle makes no sense” phases, because this room looks like a hot mess to me.
I love the pink ceiling and think its really soft and sweet, but the rug, curtains and all the accessories just don’t look good with the paint colors.
Brittany K says
It looks so good. Love to see how you are switching things up and shopping “around the house” for different items to complete each room.
Our house is a very open concept, so to get a fresh start before we actually pick different paint colors, we are giving our TWO living rooms, dining room, kitchen, and foyer a fresh coat of paint this week to just give us a clean slate! We went with Kelim Beige by Sherwin Williams. It feels so fresh and so clean already lol. We are hoping to be finished by the weekend! Then we are painting our laundry room “playful pool” by valspar which is a bright blue… different from my usual tastes so i’m nervous. But I have def. got my fill of painting for the next few years. The hubs can just do it all ;)!
Lisa says
Love the room, and completely agree with your direction of keeping the walls calm to allow the other items like the rug and ceiling to stand out. You do such an awesome job with styling too, I love it all! Oh and the idea of doing a plank ceiling in her closet sounds awe-some. I totally would of lived in that little nook as a little girl. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much Lisa!
xo
s
Michelle @ A Healthy Mrs says
I love the soft pink ceiling with the blue of the carpet — so pretty!
Looking good!
Laura says
Did I spy a Knuffle Bunny Book in your artsy book shot? – Great Book!
Love the pink closet and can’t wait to hear about the canopy!
YoungHouseLove says
We are such huge fans of Mo Willems aroung here! Love all his stuff!
xo
s
Laura says
Yeah, he is pretty much a Rock Star in our house.
Emma says
Love that ceiling! And I think it’s great that the room is not dripping in pepto-bismol pink. Because girls don’t have to like pink and ONLY pink :)
KatieH says
I am loving all of the colors!!! So perfect for a little girl’s room!!
Sad to hear about the shedding rug though! We’ve had our living room rug for almost a year and it’s still shedding!!! I understand your pain!
Cheyenne says
Today I’m painting my bedroom Benjamin Moore’s Graphite. I. Am. Terrified. Mostly because its so dark, but we want a cozy, cave-like feel and I think it’ll look great with our birch veneer Malm Ikea bed set. Wish me luck!!
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh, I think that’s going to look awesome!
xo
s
Lisa says
Hey Sherry,
Love the new paint, we’ve just painted our study a simple beige and we’re going plain white in our master bath – kind of old school. We might have to steal the colored ceiling idea, I’m not sure I’m brave enough though!
BUT, we had a similar problem with a rug and I wanted to rec something to you. If the vacuuming doesn’t fix it – and you’re not in love with it so much you can’t live without it if it doesn’t work! Try using a powerwasher. Seriously, we got bids on all our low and shag area rugs this summer for cleaning and it was insane, so I tried one indoor/outdoor on about a medium spray after scrubbing some Tide laundry soap in by hand. It isn’t as powerful as what you’d use on concrete so it takes several passes – but ALL of our rugs are spanking clean and smelling yummy like clean clothes. It took two days to do all our area rugs and you have to be careful, I blew some fringe off one because I got too close, but it might work for your pink puffs problem – just gently blast those bad boys off!
Good luck and thanks for your blog, it brightens my day!
Lisa
YoungHouseLove says
Holy cow, who knew that could work?! Thanks for the tip Lisa!
xo
s
annoymous says
I took my rug to the car wash one time to use their powerwasher sprayer ( I live in powhatan with 4 dogs and the red clay they track in is ridiculous.) it worked! hahaha I looked dumb in the car wash with a rug instead of the car, but I don’t care what people think!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s amazing. I wish you made a covert little video.
xo
s
Jenny says
I love the pink ceiling! I’m not a pink person at all (more the opposite) but I love how this brings the tone in quietly and lets it play off other pinks in the room, but doesn’t shout it too loud. You’ve got me thinking if we should do something similar in our boys’ room? We have the walls there white to highlight artwork and other hanging stuff, but I feel like this is the best of both worlds.
And go you, on making a canopy! Can’t wait to see it. I love how you’ve overcome your sewing machine feud. ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, we still have tiffs for sure, but I’m getting there, slowly but surely!
xo
s
Carrie says
I really like the new rug in Clara’s room! I was never a huge fan of the pink one. Do you guys have a new rug in the living room? Do you ever consider going rug-less? Love your blog.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Carrie! We linked to the rug that’s in the living room now in this post but we’re not sure if we love it. I think rugless could work, although sometimes it’s cozy to have something underfoot, so we’ll have to see where we end up!
xo
s
Kimberly @ Turning It Home says
I love how it turned out! I wish I could be as speedy as you two when it comes to painting… we JUST finished painting our living area after beginning six months ago. We may fall under the “slacker” category now, ha!
Ali Burtt says
It’s funny that you mentioned using manual mode for the photography in this post for the first time. I had just been thinking that the photos in this post were looking especially nice. I’m learning to shoot in manual too and so I’m noticing things about pictures that I never noticed before. First of all, your photos always look great. It never occurred to me at any point that I thought your photography was somehow lacking. However, these ones have that subtle glow that I associate with really nicely-shot images so go you! And a relief to know that bloggers as super-talented as you guys still feel they could stand to improve!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks so much Ali!
xo
s
Teresa @ wherelovemeetslife says
Love the new colors! And I really like that you went with white… it’s so versatile lol.
I’m hoping to finish painting my master bedroom and the hall bathroom in the next few weeks. It’s been on the list since 2012 ..so sad. But pregnancy and a baby can do that to those fun lists!