Samantha’s room was badly in need of some updating. The last time we decorated, she was 9, and while this room is cute at 9,

it’s not so hot when you’re 14! A birthday room re-do was definitely in order! The wall mural had to go, but we left the paint color so that the whole room didn’t have to be painted.

Once the walls were done, I planned a new quilt for the bed around Alexander Henry’s “Starling” fabric which Samantha picked out years ago. Samantha is a lot of fun and has a passion for things that are creative and a little out-of-the-ordinary. This wonky log-cabin quilt (Project #5) suits her perfectly!

Next was an update to the valance on the window (Project #6).

We ran across this naked chair in the “As Is” section at IKEA for a measly $29, and since lack of a cover shouldn’t slow down anyone who can use a sewing machine, it came home with us!

I sewed up really simple pillow shams for the cushions on the back and covered the seat cushion with an elasticized fitted “sheet” that I made following a couple of tutorials for crib sheets (Project #7). We threw on a few toss pillows, and Samantha has the perfect place to curl up and read or knit to her heart’s content.

Samantha loves to draw, and since this is her room, we framed a few of her favorite pieces of artwork to display.

A few days before Samantha’s birthday, we loaded in the car and drove around town snapping pictures of the letters in SAMANTHA. (Yes, we did get some odd looks, and I was a little nervous snapping pictures from my car window of the bank around the corner.) We used this really cool Christmas Card holder that we grabbed back in December–another IKEA find–to spell out her name with letters that we photographed.

Samantha’s bulletin board got a quick re-do with some Mod-Podged fabric, trim and new paint. (The perfect spot to display a collection of Texas State Fair ribbons for her knitting work!)

This quote cracks me up!

A few accessories wrapped up the project, and now Samantha has a room that will hopefully last until she’s ready to move on to a college dorm! (Ack! Let’s hope that time doesn’t come too soon!)

One more look at the finished room. (Well, sort of finished–there is a purple desk on the other side of the room that needs replacing, and now that Samantha is big enough not to fall out of bed, a boxspring under that mattress would be nice. For now, though, I’m calling it good!) What do you think? Any rooms in your house in need of updating?