Hello my friends and welcome to the first After Party in the monthly Before-and-After series!
I can’t wait to see what you’ve accomplished this month! Even if your current project isn’t quite complete, feel free to link up how your project has progressed.
With a stomach bug taking up residence in my house this month, I finished up my goal just in the nick of time: making over my daughter Hannah’s closet. After the bi-fold doors broke off their runners, we took them off and decided to try an open closet concept. The previous owners had already installed a great built-in shelving unit – I just needed to make it functional for an 11 year old who is caught in the middle of being a little girl who plays with dolls and a tweenager who plays with makeup 🙂
This is the color scheme we went with when we moved here last year…..a cheerful blue {Ben Moore Splash 2059-60} that I tried to temper with lots of white, and just a pop of lime green and hot pink.
Enter the closet project.
When my Hannie Pannie asked for hot pink in her closet, how could I say no, when I see my baby girl growing up before my very eyes? There’s plenty of time for sophisticated in the years to come….right now I’m all about embracing this age of silliness and fun.
And oh, how painting this closet brought me back to my childhood room, coming home from school to find my mother and aunt transforming it for me – for me! I had shared a room with my brother but when mom decided it was time for us to have separate rooms – ages 4 & 5? 5 & 6? – he joined my other two brothers and I got a room all to myself. I’m sure mom thought I’d be delighted, and the boys thought I was so lucky – there I was with a whole room to myself while the three boys were all smooshed in another – but I could hear them laughing at night through the wall and I was oh so lonely. So on a tiny little budget my sweet mom made that room of mine into a little girl’s dream and I learned to love it and enjoy having my own space. Now I see my daughter read, do homework and write stories in solitude, and play, dance and laugh with her friends in this room like I did once upon a time in mine, and I want this to be a happy place for her, in this beautifully uncomplicated and simple time of her life called eleven.
If a color palette will elicit a little joy, then why not? So my kids’ bedrooms look like Candyland!! The closet had to be painted anyway. So here we are – and I have to say – I love it, and so does Hannah!
We found a place for arts and crafts (storage made out of wine boxes….more on that later!).
A spot for the week’s outfits, to make getting ready for school just a bit quicker.
{The clean laundry is woefully low since Mom has been busy doing projects. Will there be clean laundry in Hannah’s future? The Eight Ball predicts, It Is Decidedly So}
A little nook for the thousands of lotions, nailpolishes, and hair bands my girl has accumulated, with a couple of paper lanterns for light.
We purged this closet, and I hope having an open closet will help us to do it more frequently. Those grey Fuggs have seen better days but she won’t part with them!
Now how could a girl that lives in this room possibly have a moody adolescence? Right??? I’m all about a little color therapy to battle the impending hormones.
Hannah loves her closet makeover and I hope having it look so nice and tidy will encourage her to take of her things and stay organized, but more than anything, I hope that when she grows up she fondly remembers this room and her crazy hot pink closet.
Now what about YOU?? Do share! I’m dying to see your projects!
If you’re linking up a blog post, please add the Before & After button or a link to Shine Your Light so your readers can find the party.
The next BEFORE party is next Friday, February 3 and I’m looking forward to see what you have in mind for your next project. Before you leave, don’t forget to enter the giveaway!
And thank you for joining me for the first Before & After here – I’m so happy to have you over!
I am linking Hannah’s closet to Thrifty Decor Chick’s closet sharing party today!
