Annabelle’s Ballerina Bedroom

A big girl bedroom fit for our tiny dancer

When we found out we were having another girl, we decided it would be easiest to keep the nursery as a nursery and transform the guest room into a big girl bedroom. Annabelle is the epitome of a girly-girl – lover of bows, ballerinas, and tutus – so it only made sense to go with a pink ballerina theme.

I want TWO ballerinas.

One of the Moms of a student from the school where I used to teach is an incredible artist. When I asked her for ideas on a ballerina bedroom for Annabelle, she offered to paint her a mural! She brought over a sketchbook of different ballerinas and let Annabelle choose her favorite one. However, after showing Annabelle her finished work, my lovely little toddler asked for A SECOND ballerina on another wall.

White Furniture Only

Finding a white dresser and twin sized bed was difficult considering we didn’t want to spend a month’s mortgage payment on furniture for our toddler. I never knew how expensive children’s beds could be! I searched high and low for a dresser on second-hand Facebook groups and stumbled across the find of a century – $75 for a white 6 drawer dresser and mirror. It wasn’t in the best shape, but after my best friend came over to help with some sanding and two coats of chalk paint, we had a great piece of furniture.

Annabelle’s white twin bed is from Walmart. It was not too difficult to put together, but the wooden base is very hard and I recommend putting a box spring underneath the mattress. We just ordered one since Annabelle bangs her little shins every time she gets in/out of bed. I found her Bow Sheet Set at Pottery Barn Kids and the bedding at Home Goods.

Dress Up

I wanted Annabelle to have a little corner where she could play dress up, so I bought hooks at Walmart for the wall and rested the dresser mirror against the wall. I bought the shadowbox wall cubes on clearance at Hobby Lobby. I can’t find any online, but here are similar at Target.  All of the baskets in her bedroom are from Home Goods – they have the best kids section! As for dress up supplies, Annabelle has a whole basket of tutus and fairy wings in her closet for when she wants to be a ballerina.

What should we put on the walls?

I decided I would attempt to be crafty and paint a canvas or two for Annabelle’s walls. The tutu canvas was the most difficult because I burned the heck out of my fingers with the glue gun. The painting itself was easy and I sketched the bodice of the tutu and ballet shoes in pencil first.