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IT IS FINISHED!! I’m finally done decorating Penelope’s room. Well, done until we move (likely soon). I’m very excited to share these photos with you! While I felt like I splurged a lot on Penelope’s room, I did manage to score some great deals along the way.

Here’s the breakdown. If you don’t see it listed here, I had it on-hand already.

• rug – Urban Outfitters – $45
• table – DI – $2
• chairs – Ikea – $30
• yellow box – DI – $1
• yellow basket – DI – $1
• paper for garlands – Robert’s – $2
• paint for nightstand, desk & crib – WalMart – $25
• lampshade – Target – $17
• lamp – WalMart – $12
• yellow frame – DI – $1
• watering can – DI – $1
• white wooden shelf – $3
• fabric for chevron pillow – DI – $2
• frame for LOVE poster – Ikea – $22
• trash bins for toys – Ikea – $50
• faux Eames rocker – Caitlyn Creer – $90
• TOTAL – $304

If I could have had my own way with this space, Penelope would have white walls, teal scalloped border with teal ceiling & white hardwood floors. Lemme just daydream about this for a minute. SIGH. I actually hate this disgusting tan wall color. Any house that I actually own will never, ever have tan/taupe/beige walls. Ever. Besides that, I really love Penelope’s room. It’s fun & bright. The white furniture definitely opens up the small 8’x10′ space.

Let’s talk details. Penelope has never had her own room before, she’s only ever had a closet. Not much to decorate there. When we moved to our little house, we were given a few pieces of furniture from family members to help us get started. My mom gave us her desk & nightstand from her childhood. I’ve always loved these pieces & was incredibly, incredibly excited to use them for Penelope’s room. They have such fabulous feminine details! The two pieces were slightly mis-matched, so I painted the wood white & fixtures yellow to modernize the furniture a bit more. I think they turned out gorgeous!!

Chris’s parents kindly handed down their crib. THE crib that they used on all six of the Esplin kidlets. THE CRIB. Can I tell you how utterly sweet it is to be able to use such beautiful, sentimental furniture?!? I love it. The crib was in need of a little facelift; I thought so at least. Chris was very resistant. I had built up this image in my head of a freshly painted white crib with matching white furniture, so it was very difficult for me to let that go. Just before I did, Chris kindly relented on the condition that I did all the painting. I’m really happy with the end result (see first pic)!

The Eames rocker was a great deal. Caitlin Creer, interior designer + blogger, hooked me up with the rocker and came over to my house to help me rearrange the furniture in the room. So awesome. The furniture configuration is a lot more open, thanks to her! Sometimes it’s so necessary to have a second opinion on stuff like this.

The toy bins were also the brain child of Caitlin. I was thinking of making some sort of toybox using her old crib, but that would’ve required a lot of time and mind-grapes on my part. At Caitlin’s suggestion, I headed over to ikea & coughed up $50 for the cans. I seriously don’t spend that kind of money on containers. Perhaps if I had been diligent enough with my thrifting, I could’ve found something similar for $4-15, but I was impatient & my aunt had given me a giftcard to use on something as frivolous as trash bins.

The artwork & dress above the trash bins were also hand-me-downs from my mom. My sisters & I wore that dress & Penelope wore it too. The artwork is a cross-stitch of a bunch of teddybears in tutus. AW. My mom made that back when we were little. Between my sentiments & Penelope’s love for dance, I thought I could find the perfect place in Penelope’s room to hang it.

The chairs were also another Ikea splurge, but they’re so darn cute I couldn’t pass them up! Isn’t Penelope so sweet playing lunch with her baby? Also, I didn’t mention it before. . . I love the rug I found for Penelope’s room. Well, I didn’t find it. Deb over at Fresh Nest did. I emailed her asking where I could find an inexpensive, bright, non-cheesy rug for Penelope’s room and she responded with a great article on resources for awesome kid’s rugs.

So, there you have it. I did Penelope’s room in just over $300. Not the best deal ever, but not bad. Right?

• UPDATE •

Here are a few links to see the 8 month journey of Penelope’s room & more info on the details I didn’t mention above:

• Penelope’s Scalloped Border
• Penelope’s Pom Pom Mobile (that got ruined by the awful maintenance guy)
• Penelope’s Chevron Pillow
• I used my loopy-loo garland tutorial for the window garlands
• I used Jordan’s velum mobile tutorial for the mobile above Penelope’s bed