I planned my younger daughter’s nursery with the same goal as my older daughter’s nursery, to make it last long past the baby and toddler years. I originally fell in love with the idea of a pink, gray and yellow nursery but somehow the pink and gray seemed to swallow up the yellow. 

These original nursery photos were taken on an old cell phone so they aren’t the best quality, but they’ll have to do. 🙂 We were on a super tight budget during this pregnancy so we wound up with a Craig’s List find for her dresser and a cheap and ugly brown crib, both of which we painted white. 

As for the bedding, in true Fancy Pants fashion, the colors I wanted didn’t seem to exist in pre-made options. Of course. I was able to find the fabric from my inspiration photo, so my mother and mother-in-law both made the curtains, bedskirt, duvet cover and bumper. They LOVED being able to contribute their skills so it really worked out for everyone!

When it came time for the big girl bed transition, I was quickly reminded just how small this bedroom is. Even with a little twin bed, it was so difficult to make this room work. Between doors, the window, the sloped ceilings and the tree decal that I really didn’t want to cover up, I was ready to just leave her in a crib forever. We initially tried the bed up against a wall but that was a nightmare to make the bed and she kept stuffing contraband between the bed and the wall. After three or more rearrangements, we finally settled on dealing with the tree being partially covered up so that she had space on each side of her bed and an open area at the foot of her bed.

#We were still lacking storage space (her closet is also quite small) so I had to come up with a smart solution. She had long ago broken/ruined/killed her original dresser so we purchased a new Ikea Hemnes dresser. I initially had plans to semi-customize it by adding Ikea bookcases on each end to make it look like a built-in with tons of extra storage. I couldn’t quite get the idea to work given the sizes I was working with so I came up with option #2. I had my step-dad build a topper/hutch that I designed to make use of vertical space. 

We already had those pink baskets from the old playroom (from Pottery Barn Kids) so we made sure the shelves were the perfect size for them. They’re also fairly standard-sized baskets so I don’t expect a problem to find new ones should the need arise in the future. 

I covered the back of the built-in with gray contact paper we had on hand to save money but I really wanted to use this white and gray watercolor buffalo check wallpaper. I’m still determined to find a place in the house to use this stuff.

I stumbled upon the mirror at JoAnn’s and think it’s perfect for this space!

I didn’t have the heart to throw out the paper flowers I made for Avery’s 13th birthday party, so I decided they’d work in this room. 🙂

I love that by switching out the knobs on a mass-produced, plain piece of furniture, it transforms into your own faux custom piece. These came from World Market.

I found her upholstered pink bed on Craig’s list for $100. It’s originally from Pottery Barn Kids, which is also where her floral bedding came from. The gray quilt is from Kohl’s.

I spray painted another rogue piece of office furniture from our storage unit to use as her nightstand and added an inexpensive Target lamp.

This pillow was on clearance at HomeGoods and screamed “I belong to Riley.” 🙂

This is the artwork I replaced from the original playroom. I loved the frames so I used the pattern from my baby shower invitations to make safari animal art. I liked the idea of having a super girly room with understated animal accents.  

Fun fact: The white elephant on her dresser was an actual White Elephant gift that was supposed to be returned each year to keep getting circulated in our family. When I got it, I refused to give it back because it was something I actually needed for Riley’s room.

This room has worked as-is for a while now, but I’d really like to get her a bigger bed. When I try to read to her, we both struggle to stay on. We also lack a guest room so a tad more sleeping space wouldn’t kill us. Sadly, with the space shortage, it may be a while before we decide to tackle that challenge.

Riley loves her room, and really loves to make it messy. Shocker, I know. When it’s clean, it makes me smile because it suits her. She loves frilly and girly things … and the outdoors … and robots. 😉

Do you have a favorite Ikea hack?