A fun DIY playroom refresh at Nana's house
For as long as humans have been eating fruits and veggies, we’ve been decorating with them, too.
From ancient Egyptian frescoes to Renaissance tapestries to Nana’s little playrooom for the grandkids, garden bounty has found its way onto our walls in every season.
From delightful bunnies to designer pears
So when it was time for a quick kids’ room refresh, pears seemed like a perfectly delicious place to start.
But first, the bunnies had to come down for a little summer nap.
One of my favorite things about removable wall decals is that a room doesn’t have to stay the same forever. Kids grow. Seasons change. Nana gets another decorating idea. ;-)
Our Ode to the Bunny decals had a very happy run, so we carefully peeled them down and saved them for another day.
My memories of the play space at my own grandmother’s house are still as clear as if I walked into her playroom yesterday. I love thinking that these little rooms might become that kind of memory for our four grandchildren.
And this refresh will have an especially good memory attached to it. It was the first one this little grandson (now big!) helped me create.
Nana Hack #1: Save those decals!
1. Clear the canvas.
We took down all the bunny books first so we had plenty of room to work.
2. Peel, don’t toss.
Then we gently peeled the decals from the wall. Our Mej Mej decals always come off easily and leave the wall pristinely ready for the next room refresh.
3. Bunnies back on their backing.
We saved the original backing paper, so my excellent helper simply placed each decal back where it started. Didn’t save yours? No worries. Write us and we’ll send you some. In a moving-tomorrow emergency, the shiny side of butcher paper works, too.
4. Roll ’em up and tuck them away.
Into the grandma closet they go until bunny season comes around again.
And just like that, we had a blank wall and a farm-fresh plan.
Want to see two professional faux-wallpaper installers at work? Here's a short video for you.→
Take a look at Nana and her first grandchild giving the book nook side of the playroom a fresh new wall before the cousins arrived.
One thing we love about our easy-to-move decals is... well... they’re easy to move. Put up a pear. Stand back. Too high? Scoot it down. Too close? Peel it off and try again.
Which also means kids can actually help create their own spaces. There’s really no wrong place for a pear.
Nana Hack #2: Use an easy-to-make template
1. Start with this pro tip.
Cut a few decals in half. Begin where the wall meets the ceiling, and place the bottom half of each decal. It’s a little thing that makes wall decals look like trimmed wallpaper patterns.
2. Make a low-tech template.
Decide how far apart you’d like your decals to be and cut a square of paper to that size. I used a 12" grid for mine. For a more open look, try 16" or 18".
If you want a drop repeat like ours, the same piece of paper works. Just make a little pencil mark at the center of the top and bottom edges.
3. Peel, place, repeat.
For a straight grid, center a decal at each corner of your template. For a drop repeat, alternate your rows using those center marks as your guide. (That’s what I am doing in the middle picture below.)
4. Stand back before you keep going.
After your first few rows, walk across the room and take a look. Your eye will spot a pear that feels too high, low or lonely much faster from a distance. The good news? Just peel and scoot.
5. Add books. Decor that sparks your imagination.
Once we were proud of our work, it was time for the best accessories: books! Decor and bedtime reading all at once.
We chose stories that felt right at home in our farmers market: gardens, food, fruit, veggies, bees, butterflies and, of course, Sunflower Seeds by Ellen Heck, written and illustrated by the mom of this little helper. Nanas/moms are allowed to brag like that! ;-)
And there you have it. Pearfection.
Once everything is in place, turn to your grandchild and say, “It’s pearfect!” Because nanas are allowed to be corny like that.
But wait! Our garden wasn’t finished.
We had another blank wall in our DIY playroom project begging for attention!
Two walls. Two different jobs.
The pear wall is pattern. It gives you that wallpaper feeling and makes the little nook feel enveloped and calm.
The alphabet wall is art. It’s a statement wall. Bigger scale, more color, more visual interest.
And yet they work together because they share the same watercolor hand, garden palette and subject matter.
B is for Big. Statement. Wall.
One wall got a quiet repeat. The other got the whole farmers’ market.
Our Farm Fresh Alphabet is a favorite part of our Farmers Market collection. And if you’re curious how we got from apples to zucchini, you can read the whole story here: Nursery Decor Fresh From the Market.
The alphabet gave us a chance to bring in more color, a bigger scale and a little learning without pencil or paper or screens. Y is for Yay us!
Read the room. And the books in the room.
With our farmers market backdrop in place, we created a little seasonal library to go with it.
This time we chose some favorites that carried our garden theme onto the shelves. Who knew there were so many good stories about carrots?
Here are five we love. Some have been favorite bedtime stories for three generations. Others are newer finds that earned their place on Nana’s shelves.
I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child
If you have a discerning eater in your house, this is the book for you. I can’t guarantee they’ll eat tomatoes afterward, but they might eat moonsquirters.
Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds, Pictures by Peter Brown
This story is as much fun for the reader as the readee. And don’t worry, you won’t be afraid of carrots by the time you reach the end... but you may respect them a little more.
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
A classic from 1948 that is still as charming and fun to read to our grandkids as it was when it was read to me. With its delightful illustrations and gentle story, it’s a perfectly calm bedtime favorite.
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss, Pictures by Crockett Johnson
A little boy is told over and over that his carrot seed won’t grow. He tends it anyway. And I can’t tell you how it ends... but care and patience have a way of winning.
The Gardener by Sarah Stewart, Pictures by David Small
One of my favorites. Lydia brings a suitcase full of seeds when she goes to stay with her cantankerous uncle. By the end of the story, well... let’s just say it’s hard to stay grumpy around a garden.
And then our little room refresh was complete.
We had a whole new playroom without replacing the furniture. We didn’t paint. We didn’t buy new shelving. We changed the walls, swapped the books, added some flowers and gave ourselves a proud high five.
A pretty big change for one little afternoon.
And the best part? We did it together.
That’s the part I’ll always remember.
xo Cathy (Nana)
The Author: Cathy Heck
Cathy began her career as an art director in New York City followed by 40 years as a freelance illustrator. Her artwork has been licensed for thousands of products for babies and children of all ages. In fact, over 2 million babies' memories have been recorded in a Cathy Heck baby book. You might even have one in your own keepsake box. :-) Today, Cathy, with her daughter, Julianna, and their husbands, Jim and Anton, work together to design, manufacture and ship Mej Mej wall decor and unique gifts to children and families around the world.
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