Sneak peek: A girl's bedroom in progress

Work continues on the girl's room I'm working on. You may remember that we're aiming for a look that is traditional yet modern, while keeping in mind the needs of an eight-year-old girl. Watching home decorating projects on HGTV sometimes makes me think that these type of projects can come together easily and quickly, but we all know real life is quite different. Especially when you don't have a staff of at least half a dozen specialists to help.

Patience being the name of the game, I have been sifting regularly through listings on Craigslist, checking out the offerings at my local Pottery Barn outlet and other stores, and mulling small crafting projects to personalize the room. So far, I've found a pretty desk for a very reasonable $100 on Craigslist. I was considering cheaper options, but I would most likely have had to refinish those. Instead, I decided on this Pottery Barn Kids desk because it was in nearly new condition, so it needed no work. It also came with a dirty white chair with a few layers of peeling white and blue paint, which I know some people would find appealing (the chippy paint, not the dirt!), but clearly would not do for this project.

The photo above shows what it looked like before I spruced it up a bit. Lacking time to do a complete stripping job, I simply sanded the chair lightly to remove any gloss and loose paint, scrubbed it and waited for it to dry completely. I then took my time spraying the chair with primer, waited for that to dry and finally sprayed a couple layers of paint. Frankly, I would have preferred a less traditional chair, something with a little more pizzazz, but we decided to save money by keeping the chair for now. The desk area looks rather plain right now, but I'm thinking accessories will go a long way toward jazzing up the look.

First up, we have the lamp shown above. Again, it's rather plain and colorless, but I just couldn't pass it up since it was five dollars, marked way down from $200. Yup, you read right. The lamp originally retailed for $200 at Pottery Barn and was the sale of the day at the outlet the day I happened by. The base is wrapped in white leather-like material and the shade is metal, overall creating a nice, solid lamp that provides a modern contrast to the traditional desk chair. I'm thinking this lamp would look spectacular once I cover the shade with a beautiful print fabric. I considered painting it hot pink like the chair but I think that would be a missed opportunity to create some interest and would make desk area look too uniform.

We decided on the duvet cover shown on a model bed in the picture above. The pattern is somewhat hard to appreciate in this indoor lighting but is rather colorful and will add a dose of fun to the room. It is yet another Pottery Barn outlet find, though the $75 price tag hardly makes it a steal. On the plus side, it is organic cotton, so the price for a new full-size duvet is worth it for a piece that will help set the tone for the overall look.

Next up will be choosing a rug that completes the room. I did find a rug at the Pottery Barn outlet, pictured below, but I think I would prefer something less preppy and with a little more personality.

I've always loved the Dream Menagerie rug from Anthropologie, shown below, and think it could possibly work in this room. But the rug is rather pricey for this project at nearly $300. In my opinion, it's totally worth it, but I think I'd like to hold off on deciding until I investigate rug choices from other retailers.

I hadn't intended for this to be a show-and-tell from Pottery Barn, but I'm happy with the budget-conscious choices I've made so far. I should mention that there are a few things the girl's parents need to do still, among them is painting white the girl's wood-tone bed and painting the room a different color, quite possibly a bluish-gray to contrast with the hot hues of fuschia. Meanwhile, I will continue to look for a dresser and a bookcase, while also shopping for accessories and beginning to research artwork ideas.

I hope you've enjoyed this tiny peek. The process of decorating a room is slower than I'd like, but, in the end, I know that taking the time to consider each choice just makes the end result more worthwhile. I'll keep you posted as the project progresses.