Ava's New Room!!!! (Lots of Pictures)

Advisory: The following photos are dramatic and shocking in nature. Not only is the transformation of the decor of the room stunning, but the abject squalor of the "before" photo is unnerving for those with weak dispositions. Please view with caution.

Before and After

It took a lot of work to get from the first picture to the second, let me tell you!  We are absolutely thrilled with Ava's room re-do.  It turned out better than either of us even imagined.

I have lots of photos that show off the room as a whole and the little details that really make it special.  But first, I have to mention that we filled 3 enormous garbage bags with trash and 2 more huge bags with stuff to give away when we first started working on Ava's room.  I'm talking about the kind used for yard work, not the kitchen trash can.  Her room had collected all kinds of things during the past 4 years that we were long overdue in cleaning out.  The biggest part of our success was making her room more manageable to clean and organize by removing the trash and items she had outgrown.

One of the first things we ordered was the zebra print futon.  It turned out to fit the room perfectly and will easily fold into a twin size bed whenever a friend spends the night.  The black metal flower above the dresser came from the Hobby Lobby clearance isle.

The zebra print inspired other touches to the room.  Ava prefers to stay extra toasty at night, so I added a zebra fleece blanket to her bed.  We also chose a new comforter set and sheets to fit the black/white/pink theme of the room.

I am especially proud of this next piece.  I found zebra wrapping paper on clearance and an old black frame in my closet.  I cut out the letter "A" from hot pink card stock and threaded ribbon through the back of the frame to hang it.  This took about 5 minutes and $3 total.

Ava already had these cool pink and black letters (a gift from a friend) but we added pink and black frames so she could show off some of her favorite photos on top of her dresser.

The lamp is a birthday gift from Cody's parents.  Ava picked it out at Hobby Lobby.  She loved the fabric ruffles and the way the base almost looks like a letter "A."

I'm not usually a details person, but the idea of pulling her switch plates into the theme of the room seemed easy enough and these fabric covered beauties I got from Etsy didn't disappoint.

We decided early on that a large pink rug would really help pull everything together.  This was an inexpensive 5 by 7 rug we ordered from walmart.com.  We matched the color of paint on the accent wall to the rug.  That was a wise choice.  There are several different shades of hot pink in the room, but the two biggest swatches of pink match.  We found the curtain fabric on sale for $3 a yard and added the black pom pom trim to fancy it up a little.  My mom helped me sew a bolster pillow from left over fabric.

Ava loves her new room!  It's now a useful, beautiful place where she can relax.  She is even keeping it clean because she has pride in its appearance and ownership because she helped put it together.  This turned out to be a great birthday present for my sweet 10 year old!