Today, I am taking a slight detour from all the holiday happenings, and I am reflecting on, and honoring this sweet and impactful makeover. The Beautifully Boho Makeover featured our nature-infused and gloriously peaceful collection, Simply Boho. This collection is a medley of macrame, plants, classic black and white and inspiring messages.

When I think about this makeover, I just smile. The beautiful community we got to be a part of that week was such a gift and honor. And the way this community loved and adored and rallied around Shelly was just so inspiring. Particularly on the heels of a pandemic, it carried even more meaning.

Shelly embodied and represented the strength and resilience that we have seen in teachers across the US throughout this pandemic. In the face of so much unknown, teachers provided a safe and consistent space for students. And for Shelly, she continued to do so, selflessly, in the wake of personal heartache. The gift of her unconditional love for her students, and her perseverance was beyond impactful. For this reason, the Schoolgirl Style team, Carson Dellosa and Mardel’s partnered together, and JOYFULLY chose Shelly for the makeover.

One of the posters in this collection displays “Fresh Start” on a white background with a wood grain border. This poster epitomized what I hoped this makeover would be for Shelly – a fresh start and new beginning. So I made it a focal point by her teacher desk by painting a bold, green circle, framing the poster in a white frame and adorning each side with a fiddle leaf tree from our Designer Accents set.

Her teacher desk got lots of love with some warm lighting and the Little Black Desk Set. The Little Black Desk Set is just so perfect for organization at the teacher desk, and it coordinates beautifully with all our collections. I also added the Simply Boho Planner and the coordinating thank you notes! The gold details of paperclips and push pins are the details dreams are made of!

The love for door toppers is real at SGS. That space above doors or bookshelves is always so lonely, like a cupcake without frosting, which just seems wrong! SO we created the most adorable greenery door topper, full of cascading greens. This little darling was used several places in Shelly’s room – above the door, teacher bookshelf and on either end of the alphabet line. Door toppers really are like the frosting in classroom decor!

The warmth in Shelly’s room stems largely from the greenery. I integrated both real and faux plants – just a little mix ‘n match. We found the dreamiest nursery in Arlington, TX, Calloway’s Nursery, where we found all our pottery and real plants. I fell in love with this nursery, and it had the most BEAUTIFUL fiddle leaf trees I have ever seen!

This was the first room for which I used sconces and these particular ones just melt me. The vibe was right on par with boho, and the warm, “homey” feel they added to the space was just what I wanted!

Wall letters are one of my favorite UPRINT pieces we offer. They are SO versatile and create such a beautiful focal point within classroom. For Shelly’s room we curated “Rooted in Love” and “Plant Kindness“. “Rooted in Love” was placed above the whiteboard and adorned on either side by the large UPRINT greenery cut-outs, which were the perfect touch!

The demand was HIGH for this style of wall letters, so we actually created a listing for the entire alphabet so you can create your own personalized focal point!

Oh texture, texture, texture – it is everything! Obviously the varying plants added depth and dimension which lended to the layers of texture within this room, but another key player was the bounty of PILLOWS. The patterns and colors of the pillows really take a classroom from feeling like a classroom, to feeling more like a home. The pillows I used for this makeover were from Target and Hobby Lobby.

Natural light is my favorite, and to the window that welcomed the most sun in this classroom, I added a layered pom garland, and a set of three window box planters filled with faux plants. It turned out just so perfect! This nook is the corner of the room with bench seating and poufs, and I can just picture the students using and loving this nature infused space!

The student work display for this room… OMGoodness I am in love with how it turned out. I ordered two lattice pieces from Ikea and spray painted them black. With hot glue, we adhered the clips to the lattice with the hexagon label for names. The work display papers are hung with the clips and voila, a unique, eye-catching way to display student work! This is a great option if you are short on bulletin board space!

One of the Schoolgirl Style Simply Boho rugs made their debut during this makeover. I used the 7’x12′ Greenery on Black Rug for the whole group gathering space, and the 5’x7′ of the same style under the teacher desk. The green on black gives off that sophistication vibe strong!

In classroom makeovers, I work to create distinct spaces within the room. Seating of course plays a big role in that, and in Shelly’s room I created spaces with poufs, benches, and of course rugs.

The large greenery cut-outs seen throughout the room were created exclusively for this makeover. The preprinted decor has a lot of greenery pieces, but I wanted some BIG statement pieces.

The door decor for the Simply Boho collection brings in a little bit of all those boho highlights – greenery cut-outs, hexagon labels, macrame – and really creates a warm welcome. Door decor is like the sneak peek to the rest of the classroom space, so it’s important to me, when we create this part of each collection, that it highlights the unique features of the theme.

Shelly had a wall of storage cabinets that I decided to paint black and update the hardware to these elegant gold handles. Normally, I go white for all the walls, but painting the cabinets black created such a stunning statement and overall feel of sophistication.

There is something about the classroom jobs mini bulletin board sets that just give me all the feels. It’s one of those culminating elements in the collections where classroom management and decor meet, and it’s a happy place! I LOVE the fringe detail on the job labels, and in the UPRINT version the popsicle sticks for names AND the extra job pockets are EDITABLE.

Another unique UPRINT I added for this makeover were inspirational messages on the hexagon cut-out. We made them into plant “labels” and sprinkled them throughout the room in the potted plants. For each makeover, and within each collection, I try to weave encouragement and positive thoughts within the details.

Wall letters for the win, AGAIN, and I’m not sad about it! Continuing with the weaving of encouragement I added “PLANT KINDNESS” at the entrance of the room. I loved the placement of these words, because I feel they are such a poignant reminder to students to be givers of kindness as they enter and exit the room.

Borders. I adore all the borders designed for this collection, but the crowning combo for this makeover was the Fringe Border and the Greenery Border. Normally I am a “triple-decker” border kind-of-a-gal, but the intricate details of both of these borders really allow them to stand on their own in creating a rich depth.

You guys. The wash station of this room was transformed into a showstopper! I had a vision that we could use my Brick Border and create a beautiful faux brick backsplash, and it turned out better than I imagined! All you need is the Brick Border and the ever-so-glorious mavalus tape!

The countertops were transformed as well. They were in a shade that clashed with the new hues of the room, so we covered it in contact paper and then painted it the white we used on the walls. We had our fingers crossed during the process, but it was a dreamy DIY, and this was an easy and WONDERFUL solution.

Also…glory for all the terracotta galore – a mix of aged and classic – found at that sweet nursery, Calloway’s. And oh the happiness in finding the perfect finishing touch – a cascading, hanging plant over the sink = eye candy!

My favorite detail in the birthday set is the monthly headers. I adore the letter board design! The detail of the poms in the corner of the bulletin board added the perfect dose of texture, and the balloons added the perfect pop of whimsy.

As I do with all my makeovers, I aim to add as much storage as possible. Throughout Shelly’s room I added book bins with the Simply Stylish labels and jelly totes with the hexagon label.

Student desks were in groups and at each group I placed two Little Black Dress Classroom Caddies. There is practicality in that this provides such an easy way to organize supplies, and there is the aesthetics aspect, in that they create a cute centerpiece.

The nameplates and the name tags for the Simply Boho collection are just simply, dainty-goodness, with the perfect accents of greenery.

I created a “landing space” at the entry way of the classroom by defining space and creating dimension with a bookshelf and palm. The open shelving kept it from feeling closed off, and lended to more displays of plants. Again, I find that creating distinct spaces within a classroom makes the overall feel so warm.

And just for your viewing pleasure, a close-up of the hanging plant and brick border backsplash, as mentioned earlier. This trailing fern was one of my favorite plants from the makeover – it is all-the-things of quaint and fancy!

The calendar is classy all over with the natural wood and marble backgrounds, and the hexagon numbers bring in that boho vibe. Tip: stickie clips are PERFECT for displaying the dates on the calendar, and make it oh-so-easy to update the calendar every month.

I implemented elements of the Designer Accents throughout the room. Each piece is so unique, and is great for filling in spaces, or add finishing touches. Here I used the boho hoop hung with a black and white ribbon, as a door accessory!

The alphabet line was displayed above the stunning black cabinets but felt a little “unfinished” next to the bold statement the cabinets made. So I decided to line it with the fringe border, and place a greenery door topper on either end, making it the perfect topper for the sophisticated cabinets.

More encouraging and inspiration messaging coming at you with the Simply Boho 8.5″x11″ posters. When I created these, I had my daughters in mind. What messaging would I want them surrounded by? What would I want to remind them of during their days at school? Each poster is unique in design, so you can mix ‘n match your favorites to create a beautiful display of wall art! Or use throughout the room to fill spaces.

Beauty in the intricate details. Textures given with the plants and pillows. Lovely and timeless terracotta. A mix of real and faux plants. Inspirational messaging woven throughout. Ferns in hanging macrame ready to kiss the sun as it peaks through the classroom windows. The warm hues. And signature statement pieces of sophistication.

This really was such a fun project for me and I loved every minute! Thanks for reading along and I hope you feel inspired!

XOXO,

Melanie