alex's new beach room

alex was quickly growing too tall for the bed she was in and her room was a general disaster so we decided to redo her entire room. we asked her what she wanted as far as a theme goes; i made some suggestions like space and i don’t even know what else, but she decided on a beach theme (all her idea, i would never have suggested a beach theme considering at first thought the images that come to my mind are cheesy faux realistic soft paintings and drab colors). so, i was not into the idea at first. she also decided that she wants her birthday party theme this year to be the beach - wow, this girl loves the beach. i actually think that her deciding her party theme helped me envision her room a little differently. the idea has been scaled down quite a bit from the original concept: alex wanted a green submarine, and to look like a lake beach, and basically a giant mural. we even had ideas of making the loft bed ourselves, but came to the conclusion that we don’t have the tools nor the time to make a safe, strong loft bed so we found this awesome one on ebay actually that is working out beautifully. clearly i got rid of all her mural ideas of the submarine and lake beach and all - i want this room to not be outgrown in two years and thought a mural of that sort would limit how long she would enjoy the theme. so, it’s basically sky, beach and water with very few wall hangings. first step was to pick colors. these paints are all from the disney collection of colors - they’re so bright and bold, perfect. i had john paint the light blue sky and the teal water around the entire room. Next was painting the sand which i basically did freehand since it’s just waves and hills with a couple of sand castles. it look three layers of paint and i think it looks great. i painted clouds in the sky and water waves over the teal and we finished off the room with just a couple of pieces; my favorite is the tin beach sign. i think it’s bold and fun, alex loves her new room, and i’m hoping that she’ll enjoy it for years to come.