After finishing the two eldest princess's rooms, the younger girls wanted their turn. I had a seven year old, a four year old and a two year old that were all going to be in the same room soon. When I asked the girls what they wanted, I got two different answers. One wanted a school house room as she had a little antique desk and would bring home extra papers and teach her sisters "school."
The younger girls wanted an outside room. So, I pondered on that and compromised. Since the desk in their room was antique, I figured a wooden school house would be a cute way to decorate their room and at the same time, wanted to make it look like outside so I did two walls in school house wooden slats and two walls that looked like a field outside.
I used the left over tan and blue paint from the "Winnie the Pooh" room, (click here) and since I knew if I screwed up I could paint over it, I just went for it. I painted two walls in the tan and two walls in the blue. I decided to make the closet as if it were a window in the school house so I painted the bottom of it with tan and the middle and top with blue and then made the top red like the curtains I would use in the room so it looked like a window.
I then took some brown acrylic paint and a little water and started making the slates on the tan wall. I just went off the type of board size of slats I have seen and went from there. I made the boards different sizes in length ending at different intervals like you would with bricks so that they didn't all end at the same place. I then watered the paint down and made "knots" in the wood and painted some grain on the wood slats as well. I didn't make all the knots in the wood the same shape and size. I tried to vary it. I did the same with the color as well trying to make the knots and grain different in color and texture so that it looked like real wood as no two pieces of wood are the same either.
I painted the other two walls in the room as well as the ceiling the sky blue I used in the "Pooh" room. I then started putting clouds up around the room in different places with no pattern just to give it some dimension and texture. If you look in all the sky shots even on the closet doors above, you can see some "clouds" and on the wall to the right of it etc.
To paint on the wood grain, I used a small flat (not round) tole painting brush. I did some knots in almost all brown and most, wet the brush with water and then picked up just a little paint and used it like a fanning motion on the "wood grain" to just lightly put grain onto the wall.
I have to tell you that by the time I did the closet, I was tired and had been up most of the night so these close up shots aren't the best. I started on the far wall and ended on the closet doors. I put a lot more grain on them as I was tired and wanted to be done.
I only had Friday night and Saturday to get the room done and set up as the girls would be home Sunday afternoon and I had church in the morning so I wanted to get it finished to surprise them when they arrived home so I did the entire room in a short weekend.
If you have more time, you could probably get a more "wood grain" look by shading the wood on the edges a bit more than just doing darker lines like I did but in all, it gave the desired effect and it was for smaller children so they really didn't care. I was just happy to be getting it done for them.
For the outside look, I pondered on how I could make it look like outside where they liked to play and feel free. I shared how I painted clouds and sky color but wanted to make it more similar to our yard. I found this grassy looking stuff at the same time I got the tree leaves for the "Pooh" room and so after painting, I decided to attach some grasses to make it look like it was a field.
I used the same short staples in the staple gun that I used on the tree in the "pooh" room and stapled the grass and several different types of silk flowers to the bottom of the wall to make it look like it was growing. I had some "bug" stickers I had from scrap-booking and used those to put some bugs in the grass to make it look like they were outside.
My girls love to catch bugs and had several little mesh cages and magnifying glass containers where they would examine the bugs. I figured it was probably a good thing as many girls are afraid of bugs but thought it was cute to put a few around the room in the grass.
If you notice in the picture above and to the right, I had a ficus tree in their room as well and I had some extra ivy strands that I bought when I decorated the "Secret Garden" bathroom (Click here for that post) and so I wrapped some of the ivy around the rocking chair, around the base of the ficus tree and as you can see in the picture to the left, I had a high sofa lamp that I used so the person on the top bunk would be able to turn out the lights from bed and not having to climb the bunk in the dark. So, I wrapped ivy around the entire length of the sofa lamp making it look like the ivy was growing up it.
To make it look even more like the girls were outside, I bought some of the glow stars and glow planets they sell at the science museums but got the stars at the dollar store. I then used "Fun Tack" to stick the stars and planets all over the ceiling in their room. I spread them out and after doing that, I thought, they can't have a solar system and sky without the sun.
I found some glow paint on clearance at a discount store when I was visiting the east coast in 2002 and they had it in yellow and light green. I took some of the yellow glow paint and painted a sun around the light.
It isn't the most beautiful accurate sun you have ever seen but the girls LOVED it. When I would take someone to show them the girls bedroom, the girls would always turn off the lights to show the people how the sun glowed even when the lights were out. The stars also glowed as well as some of the planets but the sun really glowed well being right around the light fixture.
I tried to take a picture of the glowing ceiling but it didn't do it justice. The room took two days and I added the sun after if I remember right but for the most part, it went quite quickly. The girls loved the room and I still have one daughter in that room. I thought by now she would have painted over the school house room but she doesn't spend much time in the room so perhaps she really doesn't care. It is after all, the largest bedroom in the house. I figure if she moves room when Princess number three leaves for college, I can turn the room into a craft room as it has a walk in closet I can stack my craft supplies on and then make the larger room a grandma's playroom.
That way, I can make the smaller craft room I have now into a guest bedroom. I'm not in a hurry to get the kids out but it can't hurt to have a plan. ;-) This room was done using mostly things I got for free or had left over from other projects. I'll share tomorrow how I decorated it cheaply as well.
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