Shelby's Updated Bedroom: What I learned

Hello! I'm so excited to share a little home improvement/decorating project I've been working on. Shelby wanted to overhaul her room. It's been the same powdery pink since we bought the house more than seven years ago. She's going into 5th grade and wanted something more mature.

The whole process of updating Shelby's room has been so much fun, but also a little frustrating. Shelby definitely has an opinion about things and we don't always agree. We both had to make some compromises when it came to her new room, but I also had to remind myself that she deserved a larger say in the outcome, since it is her space after all.

Since this has been quite a process, I wanted to share what I learned:

Take your time. Since we were excited, we both wanted to quickly push the makeover ahead. Luckily, Mike is quite level headed and made as take our time. We picked paint. Prepped the room for the new color. And then spent a weekend purging, organizing and painting. The result? A clean, well-painted canvas we could slowly start playing with.

Next, be thoughtful. We have been super thoughtful about everything that we bring into the new space. If Shelby didn't totally love it or need it, then it didn't make the cut. This has created a clean, minimalist space that's both stylish and tranquil.

Compromise is key. For decisions that didn't matter, I let Shelby have 100% control. That way when more important decisions came up (ones that hinged on location of outlets, ceiling fans, etc), then I had more leverage to make my case and drive the decision making.

Let it go. There are some things Shelby and I will never agree on. For those things, I had to let go. It's her room. It's her space. I really shouldn't care that much, so I'm (trying) to let go of my own agenda and support her choices. This is a great exercise for the future when we're going butt heads over a lot of things (hello pre-teen years).