We just updated my Avery’s room & I’m in awe of how time just keeps passing us by. I am eager to share the update with you, but before I do, I want to document what her room looked like BEFORE the update, when she was still a pre-teen.
I took these photos January 2015. Avery requested a room makeover for Christmas so “Santa” brought her the new bedspread you see in the photos, the dot pillow, new containers for her shelves to hold all the things, a soft pink blanket to keep at the end of her bed, and the big furry prop up pillow you see her relaxing on. He also brought her the fuzzy robe you see hanging below, the blue side-table lamp, a soft new puppy with floppy ears, & even those fluffy socks you see on her little feet–that have grown a full size since these photos were taken! She was really into cozy comfort those days and as you can tell, loves all the “soft, fuzzy, fluffy, furry & floppy” things. She was delighted!
Her pile of Christmas gifts that year was huge, especially compared to her sister’s gift piles, who are both older so their Christmas gifts turn into Christmas GIFT–singular–like a new phone or a new guitar. If you don’t have teenagers, know that when you do their gift lists get much smaller but more expensive!
I had a blast shopping for my Avery as I knew this was one of the last years before she would catch up to her sisters and start requesting higher priced, fewer items that are not as fun to shop for or wrap. She was also young enough that she still thought that what Mom picked out was cool. It helped that I knew her tastes and interests well, so I was pretty confident she would like what I…ahem..”Santa” bought for her.
Isn’t that pillow cute? It was from Target and I had to have it. I love using a pillow in a room to catch-all the colors & make them all work together. We kept the pillow in her most recent room update, and have focused on using it in guiding our decor. The light turquoise color is the color we chose to paint her walls for the most recent update, which I will share with you soon…but first on to the documenting!
I’ve done a few other posts documenting the changes in my girls’ room as they grew up. It is so fun to look back & see which of their tastes & interests change & which ones stay the same. I’ve been blogging since Avery was 4 years old, and she is now 13, so many of her life moments have been captured here at New Nostalgia, which I love!
Here is one other post I’ve written featuring her room in 2013…she was only 10 years old! Oh my, she was so cute and young & her room was so sweet and reflective of her personality at the time. She was all about creative projects and art! So happy I have the memories of that stage featured in a post.
Although Avery’s room has changed, the way she hides from my camera has not..and… that blob of blue paint on her wood floor? It has not changed, either.
What has changed?
~having a television in her room. No longer needed in the day and age of iPods, YouTube, Netflix & Amazon Prime
~her bedspread. It tore almost immediately, which was disappointing! We purchased another and will show it to you in the “New Updated Room” post coming soon.
~so much pink. We got rid of the pale pink walls & painted them beautiful soft baby turquoise blue. It looks so much better with all of the wood work in her room.
~baskets of balls & toys. She is now 13. Bye toy baskets, hello baskets full of nail polish, headbands and lip gloss.
~her A-shaped earring holder hanging in the window. All of her earrings were outdated and too young for her now 13-year-old ears. She rarely wears earrings anymore. She is girly, but also sporty, so earrings have cramped her style, especially when it comes to playing soccer!
~her crochet hooks. Crocheting was a hobby that served it’s time and purpose. She has moved on. Her new hobby is baking & cake decorating. She has quite a collection of baking items which I make her keep in her room. We will show you how we are storing them in the next room update post.
~that pink footstool. Again, we really wanted to clear out anything that created clutter or was not being used. That footstool was never used, and constantly had to be moved out-of-the-way when sweeping or vacuuming, which just created more work.
~that fuzzy blue robe. She never got into wearing it, and we are all about minimizing so it was time to give it away. She always runs warm and would rather just throw a t-shirt and sporty shorts on, straight from the shower, which she also wears for pajamas. No more cute, printed pjs for her! Where did my little girl go?
Can you believe that trash pile? Ugh.
This is one thing that HAS changed a bit and I am so happy about that! These room photos were taken in early 2015. CAN YOU BELIVE THIS PILE WAS THE AMOUNT OF STUFF STUFFED UNDER HER BED? That pile was crazy impressive, it is amazing how much trash can fit under a bed. A few days ago when we updated her room, the pile was much, much smaller. She is no longer stuffing which shows this Mama that she is growing up!
Did you notice those Cosmic Brownies & candy wrappers? Todd takes our girls to spend their allowance (if they choose to) during our weekly Friday family nights. They can buy junk food, and my Avery in particular loves it! I, on the other hand, don’t like all of the artificial colors & flavors, so I don’t buy it unless it is for a special occasion or holiday. I do buy sweets, but most of them are from Trader Joes where they don’t have artificial colors or high fructose corn syrup in them.
Balance. Moderation. It’s all good.
{Do you see the brush, yarn, basket & shredded paper filling? They were not trash and were rescued from the trash pile.}
So there it is. My girls room before she became a teenager. Thanks for letting me share if you are still reading at this point! I love capturing this awesome life with these awesome kids that I get to call mine, and taking you along with me is so much fun!
Document Your Own Preteen’s Room
Children change & grow so quickly & so do their rooms! The best way to remember and keep these room memories is to document your child’s room along the way in photos or videos. I know I sure love seeing photos of my childhood room, it brings back so many memories and is fun to remember the room they spent so much time in.
It also makes giving away certain items much easier, knowing they were caught in documentation. Special stuffed animal, pillows and wall art that your child has outgrown can be given away but still remembered by simply taking a photo.
{Above Image For Your Pinning Pleasure}
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Do you update your kids rooms as they grow up?
Are you amazed by how quickly time goes by & all of the changes it brings?
Do you document the change in your kids rooms? If so, how?
