When Aria told me that she wanted a pink toddler bedroom “like Pinkabella” I was not super excited. Most of our house is grey and white, our gender neutral nursery only has a tiny pop of colour and most of my wardrobe are earth tones so a pink room wasn’t really on my Pinterest board if you know what I mean. None the less, Aria wanted a pink bedroom and so that is what she was going to get.

Aria’s bedroom was not in great shape to be honest. We had stripped and sanded the floors but hadn’t varnished them, there was one forest green wall, the skirting boards had been pulled off and so there were some gaps between the wall and floor and quite a few spots that needed to be re-plastered. The poor child. We headed off to our local Builders and stocked up on plaster, new skirting boards, paint and all the other goodies that we needed to make Aria’s room look at least half decent.

The first thing that needed to get done is the plastering. Studin, our contractor that we use for most of our work did such a good job at it because let me tell you, there was a fair amount that needed to get done. Then it was time to paint, which is not really a big deal except we had a massive dark green wall that needed to be covered with light pink paint… so believe me when I tell you that we did a good amount of coats! Instead of one solid colour on the wall we decided to divide the wall diagonally and then paint a slightly darker pink at the bottom and a light pink at the top and I’m so glad we did because it looks great and adds that extra bit of dimension to the room. The other three walls were all painted Pale Concrete from Fired Earth like the rest of the house. The two pinks that we used were Blushing Bride (darker) and Innocent Pink (lighter).

After all the paint was on, Studin  gave the floors a quick sand and then slapped on two coats of varnish. I was hesitant, I didn’t want a super shiny floor but it turned out perfectly. Our plan is to slowly restore the floors throughout the house, Aria’s room was the first and our room will be the second one. But back to Aria’s room… Once the floor was done, the skirting boards could go on. We painted them grey to match the rest of the house – it’s amazing what a difference they can make to a room!

Now that the more hectic things had been done, we could start with the furniture and decor. I’m not one to spend huge amounts of money on furniture if there are pieces that we already own that we can upcycle. We repainted a blue bookshelf white, and I had blue wooden crates that I painted white and pink. Obviously we had Aria’s bed already and we just bought some new linen for it. I thought I would list and link all the other decor items just like I did with the nursery reveal post.

Teepee – My Tiny Teepee: I mean are you even an insta-mom if you don’t have one of these?! Okay but in all seriousness, they are really great to have and My Tiny Teepee has so many different colour and finishing options. Aria loves to sit in hers and read and its really great to hide mess or the masses of stuffed toys you inevitably end up collecting when you have kids. We have also used ours in the garden countless times to provide some shade for the kids when we have braais.

Crochet dinosaur – Sugar and Spice: Ah this was such a special gift from Sandra who owns Sugar and Spice. She also makes the most adorable accessories and is brilliant at whipping something up from a picture which I have often done.

Playmat – Kidko: I knew I wanted a mat in Aria’s room but with two crazy dogs that shed and her being a messy toddler a traditional mat just didn’t seem like a good idea. I’ve always um-ed and ah-ed about getting a foam playmat but I’m just not a huge fan of all of the different colours. When I saw these more monochrome ones from Kidko I immediately knew that I wanted one for the play area that we have off of our lounge, and then when I saw that there was also a pink and white one it was a done deal that I needed one for Aria’s room. Let me tell you, these mat’s are the absolute best! I have vacuumed over them, scrubbed paint off them, mopped them and they are still in perfect condition despite being driven over with plastic motorbikes and dogs running amok on them. Worth every single cent.

Book ledge – Olly Polly: Aria loves to read, she literally reads herself to sleep and so I was really excited to put her book ledge next to her bed so that she can keep all of her favourite reads right next to her. Being the adventurous soul that she is, she also uses her book ledge to hoist herself onto her window sill so that she can climb up the burglar bars, #toddlerlife amirite?

Linen – Woolworths: Initially I was keen for plain pink linen but in hindsight I think it would have been too plain. My mom spotted this super cute flamingo set in Woolies one day and it matches the room perfectly – thanks mom! Unfortunately it’s not available anymore.

Plush toy – LaFede: If you’re on the hunt for a plush toy that’s a bit different LaFede is definitely a good place to browse. Although Milan that is on Aria’s bed is no longer available, there are so many other gorgeous creatures to pick up. I just love the lamas!

Tassel pendant and pyramid blocks – Pinocchio Kids: The tassel pendant really just adds a little something extra to our teepee and I love the grey pom poms. The wooden pyramid blocks are not something that I would normally pick out myself but they actually look really great on top of Aria’s bookshelf. Pinocchio Kids has so many different offerings; from decor to dummy clips and even furniture!

Just like I mentioned in the gender neutral nursery post, there are are still some things that we want to do in this room as well. I’d like to replace the curtain with a blind (I’d actually like to do this throughout the entire house), I was thinking of putting up a canopy over Aria’s bed and I definitely need some prints for the wall but all in good time.

I hope you enjoyed this room make over post, hopefully our master bedroom will be next, keep your eyes peeled!