New Enchanted Forest Bedroom for Olivia Part #1

Jessie
by Jessie
7 Materials
$50
2 Days
Easy
I haven't posted in a little while and I'm excited to show my latest project! We recently switched bedrooms for our daughter Olivia from upstairs to our first floor second bedroom and Olivia wanted a new theme ( you can see some of her first bedroom makeover that I did in my projects). This time she wanted an " enchanted forest" which is my favorite because I really love trees..icon
This is what her new bedroom looked like before I painted it a soft yellow-green color...
My idea was to use this closet as the main "tree" in the forest. The closet houses an old staircase to the second floor that is closed at the top. I removed the shelves and rail inside so that she could use the entire closet as a "secret room" ( She is just like her mommy and loves secret hideaways). I didn't want to paint the wood door because I like the wood finish and so I just used  it as the base for the tree...
I mixed equal parts brown, orange and white craft paint to match the wood color as closely as possible and just drew the sides of the tree trunk on either side of the closet door...
At this point I just let myself attempt to replicate a tree ( I don't draw well) but I painted long broad strokes to fill in the space. I didn't want an even coat since I wanted the variation in color and pattern to help replicate tree bark. I then took my brush and began painting out long sinewy "branches" from the base of the tree. It looked really wonky at first, in fact, Olivia mentioned that it looked a bit creepy and like the branches were "reaching out for her " icon  ( sorry no pics at this stage) sooo, I then took a chip brush and began "dabbing" on pink flowers to make it less creepy. I wasn't so worried about the proportions ( big tree, thin branches) because I knew this would be simply the base for the coming "real" tree branches...
Once it was all nice and dry, I used faux leaf picks ( from Ollies at 1.99 each!). They were perfect because I could open and shape the branches as I needed. My only dilemma was in actual placement.. icon  how was I going to make it look like they were growing out of the branches?  My husband suggested that I simply have them coming out of the drywall ! So that's what I did.. I took a screw driver and literally punched a hole in it ( much the same way you drive an anchor into drywall). The pick fit into the hole perfectly, without being loose!
I proceeded to place the picks all around at the end of most of the branches... once all the green picks were placed, I then placed the pretty hanging wisteria picks around the end of the tree canopy extending out into the room...
Once that was done, I used green wire Christmas lights  and hung them randomly all within the branches. Lightweight Fairy lights are also perfect for this part!
So here we are and VOILA, the tree is finished  and Olivia loves it!  I still have a lot more features to add including some fairies, an owl, and the completing the INSIDE of the tree that will be her secret forest hideaway! I'll post those pics soon, till then, thanks for viewing!!!icon
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  • Denise Brooks Denise Brooks on Oct 19, 2018

    What about cleaning and treating for creepy crawlies?

  • Hedda Lettis Hedda Lettis on Oct 19, 2018

    This does not appear to be the same room that you did the beautifully decorated "castle" window in. Did you remodel?

  • Karen Karen on Nov 04, 2018

    Why did you cover art of the tree with a bookcase?👻

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