I am so excited to share the girls’ new big girl room today.
My vision for the room was admittedly a little all over the place: I knew I wanted it to be calming, have lots of florals, and exude a sort of French countryside/garden vibe. I also wanted to tie in some travel-themed elements because I am who I am.
When I was looking for inspiration for the girls’ room, I couldn’t find an exact name for the ideas I had swirling around in my mind. So, I just went with what I thought would all look together and am super happy with how it all turned out.
We hadn’t done a single thing to the girls’ room since moving in three years ago. Char’s mattress was on the floor and Emmie was still in her toddler bed, and we had almost nothing up on the walls besides what they hung themselves, lol.
Here is what the girls’ room looked like before.
We planned to put together a “big girl” room this summer before they started their new school. And after I had the miscarriage in July, I coped by throwing myself full force into their room.
This project was so healing for me. The theme of my summer has been “control what you can control” and having something to pour my energy into for the girls was so good for my soul. I loved making this space special for them.
Sisters Bedroom Ideas: French Garden Theme
Board and Batten Wall
I’ll start with the accent wall even though this was actually one of the last decisions I made for the room. I toyed with the idea of wallpaper but was nervous it would look too busy. The girls’ room is actually quite large which is so nice, but I worried it would be too much wallpaper.
Once we started putting everything together, I felt like something was missing. We needed something on the walls to pull everything together.
I researched accent wall ideas and stumbled upon Sarah Joy’s DIY board and batten blog post. I liked how simple hers was and figured it would be doable for us (“us” lol).
Tyler did the board and batten wall all in one Saturday. I didn’t do much to help except provide an extra set of hands when needed, and then we painted it together at the end.
Choosing a paint color for the accent wall was a little tricky because the room itself only gets great light in the afternoon, but I tried not to overthink it and went with Behr’s Distant Shore. We had to go much lighter than I originally thought. Distant Shore looked almost white to me in Home Depot, and you can see in the photos how pigmented it looks up on the walls.
Beds + Bedding
I LOVE how their beds turned out.
I kept coming back to these Elsie beds from Pottery Barn. These are just so timeless and darling and went perfectly with the French vibe I was going for (or at least I thought they did!). We decided to go with the Sandstone color which is absolutely beautiful in person. Hopefully they stay in these beds until college, LOL!
West Elm’s collaboration with Rhode couldn’t have come at a better time. I fell in love with these printed sheets and settled on these before I even looked at quilts or pillows.
I decided to give Quince’s bedding line a try for this project and ordered the linen cotton stitch sets for their beds. I am so impressed with the quality! They are very substantial and look beautiful with the sheets.
I brought in a few more pops of color with these embroidered gingham pillows from AgnesStoreGoods on Etsy and toddler-sized Saranoni blankets in the “blossom” color.
Furniture + rug
Like any sensible woman with a big dream, I decided to offset the cost of the Pottery Barn beds by going with Ikea for the rest of the room. We found a white Hemnes dresser on FB Marketplace and then bought the nightstand from Ikea directly.
The bookshelf was my grandmother’s. My mom gave it to us for Charlotte’s nursery when we moved into our Oceanside house. I always meant to give it a fresh coat of paint but never did. I think it was my mom’s idea to paint it a fun color this summer, and I LOVE how the rich green looks in the room (don’t look too closely–I know I need to touch it up still). As it turns out, painting my grandma’s bookshelf by myself while blasting TTPD in the garage was just the therapy I needed this summer.
And the rug is from Ruggable. I didn’t necessarily have my heart set on a washable rug, but I did LOVE this pattern and the colors of this one. I will have to update this review once I actually throw it in the wash, but so far we love it.
Curtains + Decor + Wall Art
I went back and forth between a few different curtain ideas but ultimately decided on these scalloped curtains, another find from the Rhode + West Elm collab. These are so playful and fun.
For the space next to the window, I found these cute map prints from an Etsy shop called WriteandWrit. I got the France and Italy ones, but there are SO many adorable choices. I got the A3 size and put the prints in these fake walnut frames from Amazon.
I had been saving a travel-themed Rifle Paper Calendar from a few years ago for a gallery wall for the girls room. I thought I was being so frugal and clever, but it ended up being a kind of expensive undertaking. The artwork was a nonstandard size, so I had to have them custom matted at Hobby Lobby to be able to fit them into frames. All in all, it turned out so cute, but I guess they probably make the artwork in the calendars nonstandard for a reason?
The books with the light pink trim on their dresser were a souvenir from the Livraria Lello bookstore in Porto, and the scalloped picture frame is from World Market.
The girls each have a basket on the side of their bed for stuffed animals–I got ours from The Container Store. The adorable tiny lamp on the nightstand is from Wayfair (I got the bigger size!).
One last thing: the girls love hanging up their coloring and artwork, so I hung these bead strings from Amazon on the blank space next to the dresser.
Oh and the dollhouse is from Magnolia at Target. It is a few years old, and I just found it on sale here.
Thanks for checking out our little “French garden” themed girls room!
On that note…
