45 UHeart Organizing: A "Pretty" Organized Girl's Desk

What is it about white and gold that just makes the heart sing?  The combination of the two colors has the ability to make a subtle yet stunning statement in just about every space.  Earlier this week I shared how Grace added beautiful white and gold shelving to flank her workspace.  Today, Contributor Anneke from This, That & Life, is here to share how she added a little white and gold to her sweet daughter's new workspace.  Here she is now!

Hello iHeart readers!  Thanks so much for having me again today!  We recently decided to take the leap and switch most of the rooms in our little beach house to make the most of our space.  After the past year of our three kids sharing a room, a HUGE part of this switcheroo was surprising our oldest daughter with her very own room for her birthday.  She hasn't had her own room since her little sister came along.  So fun right?  Needless to say I was in decorating heaven!  We took the room from Semi Office/Guest Bedroom to Girly Chic (with a few more additions planned down the road).

In order to pull this off in a relatively short period of time (a few days), I had to concede that I couldn't DIY everything.   I could, however, diy some things along the way to cut costs and add some custom flair to her room.  Probably the #1 reason I personally love to DIY is because of the custom look you can achieve.  She was going to need a new big girl desk with some great storage and I finally settled on the Target Threshold Desk which was in stock at our local store.  I found others I loved, but this one has the perfect dimensions and a nice large drawer for her school and art supplies.

I decided to add a little girly glamour to the desk by spray painting the base pieces and hardware gold.  This was such an easy project right out of the box!   Easy to paint and easy to assemble.

I painted each piece with a few coats of Krylon's Metallic Gold spray paint, which I was happy turned out much less shiny than what you would think from the cap.  I was actually freaking out a bit because I loved the color so much.   It's not completely matte or bright and shiny, but it has a definite depth to it.

I even used the same paint to spray paint her plant container which was just a glass dish from the kitchen.

She got right to work organizing her wardrobe and desk drawers, adding stuffed animals to her bed and books on her book cart.   You can see a video of her reaction and, ahem, the rest of our home in it's still unorganized state (since we are in fact human), when we revealed the room to her.  It's priceless!  Things are just about back in order now, but switching all the rooms in your home is practically like moving.   No regrets here though!

My daughter naturally really loves to organize, but she is still learning how to be efficient and clear things out when necessary.   It doesn't always make sense to me, but here are a few tips I've found that work for us right now at her 9 year old age as well as with her younger siblings:

• I still need to guide her, but allow her to work through the process and come up with solutions that work for her too.  That has been the most difficult thing for me!  To let go and let her learn and problem solve .   If I try to go in and do it all for her or demand she organizes everything "my way", failure and frustration is around the corner.  I want to inspire her.
• With that said, we've decided that I'll touch base with her on the organization of her room and desk about once a month.  If there is a trouble spot where things are kind of getting out of hand, I try to help her brainstorm solutions before just "fixing it" for her.

• I've learned that organization with my kids is not something we just "do", but actually something we talk about.  It impacts our daily lives so I try to be intentional with them about it. We talk here and there about not just what to do, but why we do it.   This is actually a core value of anything in our family, from food to relationships to faith, etc.  For example, when you consider others in the family, you put the scissors back where they belong so the next person can use them.   It's a simple concept, but for kids on the go, it seems like such an inconvenience!  This is where we teach them a deeper "why" principle which is thinking of others.
• These clear containers are everywhere in our house.  The bathrooms, kitchen, drawers, etc. I found them at our local Fred Meyer, and they are seriously perfect!  They stack.  They come in different shapes and sizes.  You can immediately see what's in them.   They are the perfect depth for shorter drawer space.  I absolutely can't recommend them enough!

• Let kids be kids.  My daughter is a lover of rocks and other little "special things".   I've had to basically give her a limit or our house would be full of them, so she uses some of the clear containers to put her random special treasures in.  Having a place for specific things like that reduces tension or stress and gives our kids boundaries while still enjoying the things that matter to them.

Just last night her room had gotten a bit messy and after picking everything up and putting it in its place she told me, word for word, "I feel so refreshed now that everything is in its place!"   And then I proceeded to scrape my jaw off the floor.  She's a great kid, and I'm so happy she loves her new room!


"Hi everyone! I'm Anneke and you can often find me working with some tools, browsing for great furniture finds, or getting all girly for a date night! Like many of you, I'm often looking for ways to make life run more smoothly amidst kids, messes, responsibilities, and limited time. I recently celebrated the awesome 3-0, ten crazy years of marriage with my hubby Michael, and have the privilege of being a stay-at-home mom to 3 amazing kiddos, not to mention our sweet miniature schnauzer. We live in the beautiful Northwest, near Seattle. Although I have a degree in Music, my brain spins with ideas about DIY projects, interior design, health, and family, all of which I blog about over at This, That and Life. I am beyond thrilled to be a part of the wonderful contributing team at IHeart Organizing and can't wait to get to know some of you better as well!"