Laelia’s Big Girl Room

Laelia’s Big Girl Room

When we first moved in to this apartment, we were so excited by the luxury of a whole second bedroom. Moving from Tyler’s 150 square foot studio in Venice to this space felt unbelievable! First it was an office, then it was a nursery/office, then it was just an nursery, and then we transitioned into a toddler room, and now it is a fully-fledged big girl room. When I last blogged about this room, it looked very different!

Girl's Room Gold Polka DotsGirl's Room Triangle Quilt

Since the last blog post about Laelia’s room, we re-painted (in July 2013) with Benjamin Moore’s Horizon Gray. I was feeling like the old aqua color was going to compete too much with the brighter, bolder colors I knew I was bringing in for her big girl room, so I wanted a more neutral color to help ground the bright colors. And while I wanted this room to be girly and fun, we didn’t want it to scream “girl”. We finally hung the shelves and the wall dots (from All Four Walls) in February 2014. We painted the nightstands and her bed. I finished her quilt and the stripey knit blanket, I made the sleeping cloud pillow and the cardboard and fabric letters above her bed, and I added plenty of touches with some raspberry colored spray paint. I also painted some details on her curtain finials, and repainted the IKEA abacus to reinforce the color scheme. I swapped out the old black-brown Expedit for a white one, and swapped out the old cane chair for the Eames style rocking chair.

Eames Rocker, IKEA expedit, KALLAX, art stationArt StationChildren's Book displayExtra YarnChildren's DrawingExtra Yarn California PrintEames Rocking ChairIKEA expedit eames rockerBasket Pom Poms

Peg People DIY

These are the cake toppers that graced Laelia and Luca’s most recent birthday cakes, respectively.

IKEA Basket Handmade QuiltsExpedit/Kallax OrganizationChildren's Book stack

Disneyland Castle Peg People DIY

I painted these little peg people for Laelia’s 5th birthday cake, which was small world themed.

Grimms WaterwavesKids Jewelry StandExpedit Eames RockerRainbow knit blanketMini Mickey Mouse EarsPuffin Books Anna Rifle Bond Vintage Disney Books        fabric cardboard letters DIY

DIY Cardboard Letters

I made these letters with cardboard, tape, quilt batting, fabric and glue. I had planned on making a tutorial for how to make these, but it was delaying this project by almost 2 years! But I’ll make one if there is a big enough demand–if you want to know how I did it, please comment!

IKEA abacus makeover

I painted the standard IKEA abacus to anchor the color scheme of the room. It’s kind of like seeing the color palate on a mood board!

pinwheels and cinderella's castle

Laelia’s pinwheels from her first birthday, still going strong.

IKEA curtainsIKEA curtain finial DIY

DIY Nightstand

To see the before and after of these $5 Rose Bowl Flea Market night stands, click here.

IKEA mini kitchen Hack

IKEA mini kitchen DUKTIG DIY

For more detailed information on the play kitchen, click here.

vintage handkerchief bunting bannerChildren's Art

cinderella dress

Laelia came into her room as I was winding down the photo shoot; we decided to take some photos of her in her element.

cinderella butterfly dress

All hail Queen Laelia, first of her name. Queen of “lollipops”. Mother of MagiClip dolls. Protector of Lego realms

White Eames Rockerella princess dress

All in all, even though it felt like it took a long time to call this room “done”, I feel happy with it now. And most important, Laelia loves her room!

P.S. I may update this later with photos of her closet. I think photos of how I organized it could be very helpful, and we did get a new set of mesh drawers to complement the IKEA system we previously installed!

32 Responses to Laelia’s Big Girl Room

  1. Sass says:

    I love everything that you’ve done with your home but this is my favourite. The amount of attention to detail, even the colouring on the finials is just wonderful to look at. Your little girl must be so thrilled with this room, I know I would have been at her age.

  2. Sara says:

    I love this! The colors are so happy! Can you please explain how you broke the IKEA abacus apart to paint the beads? I have been wanting to paint the beads on this abacus, but couldn’t figure out a good way to get the beads off and reassemble. Thanks!

  3. Lori says:

    Hello!
    This room is beautiful and cheery. Where did you purchase the colorful rainbow blanket as well as the pastel book collection. There is also an interesting wood piece that looks like waves stacked upon each other with a figure in the center. My daughter loves unique pieces like that.

    • Hi! I knit Laelia’s rainbow blanket. I wrote a post about it here!

      The pastel book collection are puffin books. You can buy them at most book stores or on amazon.

      The wave piece was made by one of my favorite toy makers, Grimm’s Spiel and Holz Design. I bought this on amazon as well. Check out all their stuff, it’s amazing!

  4. Amanda says:

    Which pieces did you use for the shelving corner?

  5. […] I love how Jesyka decorated her baby girls room over here. […]

  6. Jaime says:

    You’ve inspired me to do a complete make over of my home office! I love the neutral wall color with the pop of bold colors throughout! Could I ask you where you purchased the weave baskets that are inside the cubbies?

  7. How did you attach those clothes pegs to the wall and where are they from? They look really good and that’s a clever way to organise kids’ artwork.

  8. sania says:

    I love this room! It is so happy :). Do you mind me asking what the wall color is? And also where did you get the jewelry stand from? Thank you!

  9. Jenny says:

    LOVE this room and all of the beautiful details. Where did you get the pink rod and clips and mini white buckets for holding supplies?

    • Hi! They are from IKEA (the kitchen section!). I spray painted the rod pink. ;)

      • jamie says:

        Hi. The room is beautiful and such a happy place! I am just wondering what brand and color pink paint you used for the rods and shelf brackets. I am looking for a similar shade for my playroom and am having trouble finding one I like and that color seems like it would be perfect.
        Thanks!

  10. Suzu says:

    Wow! I’m not one to comment on things but this room is fantastic and a real inspiration for me now for my daughter’s room! The attention to detail is amazing you are very talented :)

  11. Katie says:

    Can you please explain how you did her name? It looks incredible and I’d like to try to copy!) THanks!!

    • Thanks so much! Hmmm, maybe I’ll make a tutorial and put it up here on the blog… But here is a quick run down of how I did it:

      1) Print out the letters in a size and font you like.

      2) cut out the letters.

      3) Trace the letters onto cardboard, two times for each letter (one for the back, one for the front). Cut out letters from cardboard.

      4) Cut out 1.5-2″ thick strips of cardboard, depending on how deep you want the letters.

      5) Tape or glue the strip 1.5″-2″ thick strip of cardboard to the outline/edge of a letter; place the letter’s pair on top and tape or glue that to the strip as well.

      6) Cut out quilt batting in the shape of your letters.

      7) Cut out choice fabric in shape of your letters, but about .5″ – 1″ wider than your letters.

      8) Place quilt batting on top of cardboard letter, then fabric. Fold fabric around edge of letter, making sure to cut around curved edges if need be. Glue in place.

      9) Cut out strips of fabric 2- 2.5″ thick, to go around the depth of your letters. Fold over the edges of each side, and glue down around the edges of your letters.

      10) Cut out felt in the shape of your letters for the backing.

      11) (optional) Cut out narrow strips of a contrasting fabric and twist and glue around the outline of your letters for a neat piping effect!

      There is probably some confusion there, but that is the gist of it! It would be easier to understand with illustrations… >.<

  12. susana kury says:

    Hi! I love this room!!! I want to create something similar for my girls but I’m having a hard time finding big tassels in happy colours. Could you please share where you found it? Thanks !

  13. louise says:

    Hi, this room is lovely. Was wondering what size the dots were as would like to recreate the look on my daughters wall and the size look perfect. Thanks.

  14. louise says:

    Thank you

  15. Francine says:

    Hello please i wanted to know where did you bought wicker traps whith different color tassel tank you

  16. Natty says:

    This room looks great. I’ve been trying to find a nice white wooden kids table and chair set. Can I ask where you got the little white chair from? It’s exactly what I want. Thanks!

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Welcome

Welcome to Visual Vocabularie! My name is Jesyka, and I am a designer, artist, mom to Laelia and Luca, wife to software engineer and UX designer Tyler, coffee lover, and all around enthused person. This is my blog; here I share my personal projects, whether it's a furniture makeover, a new painting, a birthday party, an invitation I designed, or a favorite outfit for my little. You’ll also catch a glimpse into our family life in Los Angeles.

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