The Big Girls’ Bedroom {and How We Organize Their American Girl Dolls and Clothes}

by | Aug 7, 2014 | American Girl, Bunk Beds, Home Sweet Home, Kids Bedrooms, Organization | 27 comments

After I posted pictures of the girls’ paintings yesterday I realized I should have taken a picture of them hanging on the wall!  I still need to purchase a couple white frames, but we temporarily used some tack adhesive to hang them in their bedroom. I also realized that I never did share pictures of their bedroom last summer, after we assembled their new bunk bed and they switched rooms with their younger sister.  Since we spent last week deep cleaning and reorganizing their bedroom, now is the perfect time to take some pictures to share! 

This bedroom is still the original “Buttercream” color that I originally choose from Ellen Kennon Full Spectrum Paints when we added on the bedrooms and bathrooms about 10 years ago. I’ve had to touch it up here and there over the years, but it still looks so bright and cheery. 

“Buttercream is a soft yellow with just enough pink to give it a rosy glow without turning peach. It is a mental, intellectual color promoting creativity, logic and organization. Reminiscent of sunshine, it also encourages hope and optimism.”

The girls dresser is one that I was given. I had it painted and the knobs replaced by the same lady who painted my dining room hutch.  The “Thank Heaven for Little Girls” sign reminds me of my Grandmother, who would always sing that song to me as a child, and was purchased from a local boutique when the girls were younger.

Caroline (Christmas ’12), Felicity (8th birthday/2011), Elizabeth (Christmas ’10) and Saige (10th Birthday/2013)

Twinkle Toes keeps her American Girl Dolls on top of the dresser along with her doll cradle.

Kaya (Christmas ’12), Josefina (Christmas ’10), and Kirsten (7th Birthday/Apr. 2012)

Chiquita keeps her dolls, along with Kaya’s Animals and Josefina’s bed, on top of the short bookcase in between the foot of their bunk bed and the bedroom door.

When I had to give up our little school room to the younger boys last summer (sniff, sniff . . . I’m still recovering from the loss and struggling to find new homes for everything), I moved two of the newer white bookcases to the big girls’ bedroom. The taller bookshelf is filled with quite a few books from my  childhood, as well as some of the girls own favorites.  The bottom shelf has Magazine Files for all of their Lap Books (both completed and in-progress) as well as three-ring binders that contain their individual Holy Card Collections.

We usually hang a crucifix above each bed, but the girls’ crucifixes are still hanging above the beds in their old room. Using a couple holes that were already in the wall, I “temporarily” hung a crucifix and our Our Lady of Mount Carmel picture (also from the school room) last summer.

The smaller bookshelf was transformed into their American Girl Clothes Closet and Bookshelf!

We lowered the shelf and placed a tension rod near the top which gave us a perfect place to hang all the pretty dresses and nightgowns for their dolls.

Last year I ordered some tiny wooden hangers at the suggestion of a friend (Thank you, Aimee!) and they are just darling!

I ordered a mix of the standard Doll Clothes Hangers and some Doll Clothes Hangers with Clips.

The girls line up all the dolls coordinating shoes against the back of the bookcase behind the dresses. 
The “closet” is still the same – closet organizers along one of their bedroom walls.  Now that they are getting older I wish I would have left a spot for long dresses and skirts when I installed the closet organizers four years ago.  
Behind the doors the girls keep a couple boxes with all the rest of the doll accessories, a couple boxes with letters from pen pals, some craft supplies, a couple boxes with all their favorite artwork, and their binders from Little Flowers and Along the Alphabet Path.  Inside the drawers below they keep their hats, craft supplies, and the bottom drawer has their few LEGO sets. 
The girls keep their fall and winter clothes on the top bars for now, and have their summer skirts and dresses on the bottom bars. The Green Closetmaid Drawers are where the girls keep their summer shoes (one drawer each), their robes, all of their Calico Critter dolls and furniture, some craft supplies, and I actually think the top drawer is empty at the moment since the dolls that were in it are over in their little sisters room at the moment!  
Blessed Imelda(s) and St. Catherine of Siena Zelie Dolls and First Holy Communion Dolls from Saintly Silver 
I couldn’t resist a close-up picture of some of their dolls on the shelf… You can also see their American Girl Dolls dressed up as saints here
Underneath the bunk bed we have three storage boxes: one for all of their dress-up clothes, one for hand-me-downs that are still too big, and one for their shoes/winter boots. 
Despite the little defects (including gray spots/paint overspray on one of the headboards which you can’t even notice with it against the wall) I just LOVE the girls’ bunk bed!  It is so beautiful and feminine with the lace finish and ROSES! 

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this little tour of their bedroom. Now I have proof that it was actually clean for a couple days! Time to move on and see if we can tackle another room or two in this house before our school year begins. . .

27 Comments

  1. Amy Caroline

    Man, now I have to clean my girls's room. This is gorgeous!

    2014-08-07 03:22:47

    Reply
  2. Nancy

    Beautiful – an inspiration! I love the Zelie Dolls!

    2014-08-07 04:36:05

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  3. Sunshine

    I love your girls' room!

    2014-08-07 13:25:20

    Reply
  4. scmom4

    Faith's room is in such need of a makeover, but she has too much stuff (I fear she'll be a hoarder!).I plan to show her these pictures. Maybe it will inspire some desire to have less — which can be put away easily and neatly.

    2014-08-07 13:33:14

    Reply
  5. Patty

    Fantastic ideas! I love those hangers for the doll clothes. Mine are little hoarders, when it comes to keeping their AG boxes. They never throw them away. Personally, I'd like to see the boxes go 🙂

    2014-08-07 13:52:40

    Reply
  6. Melanie

    lovely, I wanna come play with those dolls! lol Good call on the wall color. I painted our living room an actual peach color and it came out….orange. Lol. Not happy with that at all!

    2014-08-07 13:53:17

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  7. anneneulieb

    This does look lovely!! I'm dying for a post on how you store and organize LEGOS!!!! My one son is 7 years old and though I mostly make sure they stay in his room it still feels like they are taking over our house sometimes and definitely his room!!

    2014-08-07 14:29:20

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  8. Matily

    Beautiful! I love the doll clothes storage idea and all the lovely colors. I'm particularly in love with that bunk bed. Where did you get it? Who makes it and what is it called? God bless you and your adorable family!

    2014-08-07 14:51:31

    Reply
  9. Jessica Gordon

    Thank you, Amy! It was definitely worth the work and the girls are enjoying it so much more now that it's all clean and organized again. 🙂

    2014-08-07 17:12:40

    Reply
  10. Jessica Gordon

    Aren't the dolls just lovely! We also have the St. Therese and St. Michael Zelie Dolls and, after naming our recently miscarried baby Anthony, the St. Anthony doll is at the top of my wish list. ♥

    2014-08-07 17:14:03

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  11. Jessica Gordon

    Thank you, Sunshine!

    2014-08-07 17:14:22

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  12. Jessica Gordon

    My girls have that tendency too, but having boxes and limits has really helped (i.e. they can keep all their art work that fits in their box or portfolio; all the pen-pal letters in another box; all baby/keepsakes are kept in a one box per child under my bed, etc.).

    It also helps when they know what they are giving away is going to someone else who could use them. This past year we have sent some boxes of clothes and toys to their cousins back East. When our oldest daughter received the new AG pony the deal was she would need to give away her old pony. It made it's way back into the house from the donate pile a couple times before she was finally able to part with it, knowing it was going to her cousin.

    Little lessons in detachment, right? I've also noticed that the more stuff my kids have the less they take care of it, so I've really been trying to simplify these past few years. It's a constant work in progress. . .

    2014-08-07 17:24:06

    Reply
  13. Jessica Gordon

    Oh, the boxes! My girls had a hard time parting with them at first, but they just take up SO much room. We did keep the box for Caroline's Party Set, but so fat that is the only box we still have… other than a couple discontinued dolls and accessories I have stashed away to give our youngest daughter when she is older! 🙂

    2014-08-07 17:28:13

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  14. Jessica Gordon

    Paint colors are so hard, aren't they?! It took me forever to find the right shade of green for my entry/living room.

    2014-08-07 17:29:02

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  15. Jessica Gordon

    I can definitely relate to LEGO taking over the bedroom and sometimes the house! Our boys' room has changed since we removed the single bed to make room for the desks from the old school room, but you can get a general idea of how we store their Legos in this post: The Boys' Bedroom and Triple Bunk Bed

    2014-08-07 17:33:11

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  16. Jessica Gordon

    The bunk bed is the Twin over Twin Gabriella Bunk Bed by Smart Stuff Furniture. I ordered them online from Hayneedle.com. It was the first time that I have ever ordered furniture from an online company. I waited for a good sale with $100 off and free shipping and then ordered them with a 6 month interest free plan from BillMeLater. A few of the pieces (including the headboard pictured in this post) arrived with defects (you can't see it in this picture put there are slightly grey spots – paint overspray from something else or water spots? – all over the top of this headboard, a defect on one of the footboards, and other random scuffs and spots on various other places – I wasn't very happy with the quality control). They ended up giving us a discount, instead of sending replacement parts, so in the end the bunk bed cost $1045, which is very close to what we were looking at spending on bunk beds from Costco and one other online store. It is still a lot of money, especially since it is the first bed(s) we have ever purchased new for the children (all the rest were hand-me-downs) but I think it was worth the money. It is so beautiful! God bless you and your family too!

    2014-08-07 17:40:28

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  17. Saiorse

    Love your storage solutions. We are in the process of moving our 3 sons in together. The "boy cave " as the are calling it isn't large – so we need all the ideas we can get!! :-).

    2014-08-07 17:43:18

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  18. Elena

    I am definitely going to show these photos to my granddaughters! Less is more; a good lesson.

    2014-08-07 17:57:28

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  19. Casey

    Jessica, can I ask how you found pen pals for your girls? My 12 year old son and 10 year old daughter would like pen pals but I'm leery of using the online matches without knowing anything about them. They love sending letters to their three year old cousin but she's a bit too young to write back. 🙂

    2014-08-07 18:15:07

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  20. guest

    I love how tidy, simple, feminine, and just plain lovely their room is. Looks like a perfect place to set the memories of childhood. Your artistic touches and faith weave together in a delightful way. Nice work girls!

    2014-08-08 04:59:54

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  21. Kimberly

    + Jessica, will you please share with me how you store the holy cards in a three ring binder? My girls want to keep their collections in their room, but they just have stacks of cards which end up all over the place. Thank you!

    2014-08-08 05:01:19

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  22. Matily

    Another idea for holy cards we came up with… my husband and I made a collage out of our favorite holy cards, framed them, and hung them above our bed. We got the largest "nice" frame we could find at Michaels with a 50% off coupon. We used the paper insert that came with it, placed the cards how we wanted them within the lines of the "mat", and then taped them in place from behind. It's been a wonderful focal point for mental prayer time….

    2014-08-08 16:57:13

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  23. Jessica Gordon

    We just use trading card pages. They don't work perfectly, regular sized holy cards stick out the top, but it's better than having them all over the place! 🙂 I'll try and take a few pictures sometime soon to share.

    2014-08-09 14:53:48

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  24. Jessica Gordon

    Ooh! There are so many different sizes available online, versus our local store. I just ordered a package of the 6-Pocket pages to see how they work for some of the holy cards. The Artist Trading Cards, Holy Traders, etc work well in our traditional trading card pages, but these 6-pocket pages might hold regular holy cards much better.

    2014-08-09 15:10:37

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  25. judy

    Hi Jessica, the girls' room is lovely! I am curious to know what book collections you allow them to keep in their room. I recognize Nancy Drew, but that is it! Thank you for taking the time to share and God bless your family!

    2014-08-10 02:15:21

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  26. Jessica Gordon

    I had a few emails asking the same thing! I'll try and post a list sometime soon. 🙂

    2014-08-12 15:29:04

    Reply

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