Mayhem’s Big Kid Bedroom Makeover

This post sponsored by our partnership with Stone & Leigh Furniture. 

Achievement: big kid.
Status: unlocked.

Despite my best attempts, I cannot seem to find the pause button on life. Or Mayhem. And our recent move to Georgia has only seemed to amplify her big kid status. I’m not sure if it’s the nonstop desire to be outside shooting hoops or the fact that she’s constantly racing one of the older boys down the street … with Dad keeping a very close eye on the boys races.

Making a move across a few states feels like a big deal. New house. New friends. New places. New routines. And we felt like it was finally time for Mayhem to have a new room too. As in, a big kid room.

Mayhem comes from a long line of hand-me-downs. The bassinet Keith slept in as a baby was her first bed, and she moved on to the crib I slept in as a baby, when she outgrew the bassinet. While I’m completely aware that those pieces didn’t exactly meet today’s safety standards, there was something sentimental about having her sleep in the beds we slept in. When it was time for her to leave the crib, we simply pulled the queen size mattress and box spring from our spare bedroom. And positioned them directly on her floor.

Her bedroom (here in Georgia), when we moved in, matched the rest of the house. Gray, but with spectacular light. We brought her mismatched pieces and plopped that same queen size mattress and box spring on the floor. Just like in Ohio. It was a big blank boring canvas of a room. Not exactly inspiring for a creative sponge like Mayhem.

But now, it looks like this:

Thanks to Stone & Leigh.

Stone & Leigh is a new kids furniture line from the well known, well loved Stanley Furniture brand. Stanley furniture has been around for a while. As in, like, almost 100 years. And with Stone & Leigh, Stanley Furniture is bringing their commitment to striking designs and impeccable quality to the youth furniture market.

When Stone & Leigh reached out to us, I jumped at the chance to finally get Mayhem’s bed off of the floor give Mayhem a real big kid’s room. Keith suggested we check out the furniture for ourselves, so we found a local retailer, and visited their showroom.

“Wow!” was Keith’s reaction to seeing the furniture in person. It was VERY well constructed, and the designs were impressive.

We chatted on the way home about how furniture like this would be something Mayhem could keep for a long time. As in, like, the next time she gets new furniture, she’ll be buying it herself. And since Stone & Leigh furniture is built to last, maybe one day she’ll have a little girl sleeping in the bed she once did. Cue the sappy flashbacks.

Choosing which style of furniture we liked best, proved harder than we first imagined. I especially loved that Stone & Leigh’s styles aren’t particularly juvenile, knowing that Mayhem is already outgrowing the “little girl” phase. But we finally settled on the Driftwood Park collection (in Vanilla Oak finish). We thought this collection had a bit more of a relaxed vibe to it and the goal for Mayhem’s big kid bedroom quickly became to create a space that would be calm and relaxing. We opted for the queen bed, bedside table, and dresser. (You can shop Mayhem’s bedroom here.)

As for the walls, we opted for a pale blue/green shade that we’re all pretty much in love with. I’m a big believer that color can affect moods, so choosing a color that would be calming was important to us. As was choosing a color that wasn’t so harsh or bright that it reflected off of every surface it touched.

Soft. Soothing. Calming.

When it came to decor, we really wanted to make the room about who Mayhem is, so we opted for a lot of personal projects. Except for the butterfly print above her dresser, which also came from Stone & Leigh! There was something that really struck me about our little girl growing up and becoming this “big kid” and all of the changes that come with it. And that butterfly seemed to fit with the idea of growing and changing and becoming something new.

Keith gets all of the credit though, for suggesting that we “frame” one of her paper dresses. And honestly, it’s one of my favorite things in the room. Once we had settled on a paint color and the furniture, I selected a dress and Keith built a shadow box for it.

Above her bed, we hung her initials, that we created with a fun string art project.

On the wall next to her bed, we put up some more string, then we printed out a bunch of photographs, and used little clips to hang them about. I’ve found her several times just standing on her bed looking through the photos of some of her favorite people, and we also have a big stack of additional images, so she can change them out as she likes.

Keith also built a chalkboard for the wall and we found some little pails to hang next to it for chalk.

We even created book ends from on old pair of Mayhem’s sneakers … easiest DIY ever!

And in the corner, a little piece of home. Ohio, home, that is. I couldn’t bear to leave the window sheers that had been a part of so many of our photographs for years, so I replaced them before we left, and brought the originals with us. I asked Keith if he thought we could build a little reading corner using the sheers, and he made it happen. We added some fun little star lights, a couple of pillows, and a rug to create a cozy little nook, and Mayhem and Moxie are both enjoying it thoroughly.

I could go on and on about how happy and excited I am that Mayhem has an awesome space of her own, but there’s something even more exciting about this big kid bedroom makeover … and it’s that we get to give one of you a bedroom makeover from Stone & Leigh as well!!!

Stone & Leigh is graciously offering a youth bed, single dresser, and nightstand (of your choice!) for one lucky winner. All you have to do is start dreaming up your perfect #BigKidRoom, go follow Stone & Leigh on Instagram and tag a friend on one of the Stone & Leigh Instagram posts.

For now, we’ll leave you with a few more glimpses of Mayhem’s new room.

Massive thank you to Stone & Leigh for providing the furniture to not only make this big kid room happen, but for also providing one winner with furniture to create a big kid room of their own! We are so highly impressed with the quality and workmanship of this furniture and we look forward to it becoming a hand me down for generations to come