The Pink Hide Out

I'd told J that when I got back from Virginia, we'd get her new big-kid bed. We'd picked it out at IKEA months ago. She loved the play area underneath and Joel and I knew it was the kind of bed we'd have loved as a child also. So...
the Tuesday after my return, she and I headed into IKEA, got male staff help to get the 51 Kilogram (112 lb) box into the cart and then the Honda's trunk. I got it tied down along with a pink t-shirt of J's to act as the flag on the end. And we got it home without it even budging!
The Kura bed is absolutely great in the pine and blue as it is -- but the blue just seemed a bit dark. I'd already decided to paint the pine pink and thought the panels would be good purple. J was quite happy about the colour change. The challenge was that the panels were already the dark blue.
The Rona staff were helpful in telling me how to sand off the blue and then paint it with primer (two coats) before two coats of the new paint. Yes, it was a hassle but in the end worth it. We were both delighted after choosing the colours to find out that the hardware store calls them "Candy Store" and "Bubblegum." Big grin from J when she heard that. Bubblegum was also supposed to be more purple. However, as I painted, I realized it was more pink. I said to J: "This is going to be a lot of pink." Big Grin. "It will be the Pink Hide Out," she said.
After the painting was finally done, Dad took over to put it together. Six hours later....in retrospect, this is one IKEA project that really goes faster when two work on it together and I joined him for the last hour.In the end, it was well worth it. J is ever excited about her bed and anyone coming into the house has to see it. We're actually surprised at how much extra floor space it's given. I think also, painting the bed the lighter colours helped as well. Here's J with her new bed.