11 beautiful highlights from the Little Miss Retro Classroom Makeover

Retro classroom decor inspiration with the beautiful Little Miss Retro Classroom Makeover. This makeover was designed with a twist, to create a unique space for our teacher! A stunning collision of retro and boho – where disco balls and fringe are BFF’s, and muted tones meet groovy elements. The love for the color pink stands centerstage instantly making the space calm and tranquil. And the vibes of bohemian beauty are woven throughout in the details.

SO MUCH goes into a makeover, and there are always lots of questions on HOW? or WHAT?, so today I am highlighting our most recent makeover, Little Miss Retro, in 11 steps. Hopefully this breaks down the room for you, and you can glean ideas and implement something new into your classroom!

Styling the Teacher Desk: Retro Classroom Decor Inspiration

Styling the teacher desk is always near and dear to my heart. It’s almost always my favorite part of each makeover because I know it becomes a special, personal haven for the teacher. There are some staple pieces I add to every teacher desk like a calendar desk mat, storage pieces and a beautiful lamp.

Special touches I added to LaShana’s desk included a stunning chandelier, a dreamy chair with a SGS pillow and a wax melt paired with our NEW Schoolgirl Style wax melts! I also placed a rolling cart behind her desk with labels for organization!

You can read more about the step-by-step details on how I create and style teacher desks!

How We Create a One-of-a-Kind Mural in the Classroom

This process of creating murals for makeovers is one that I absolutely LOVE. It elevates the space and instantly gives it that WOW factor, while also giving the teacher a gift completely unique to his or her classroom. I know this seems like it’s unattainable, BUT if having a mural in your room is a goal, you can do it!

For colors, I always pull from the collection itself, and have the paint shop color match for me. For this mural I used the That 70’s Floral Foundation Border! And for the new trick we tried this makeover, drum roll please, a tried-and-true projector. Natalie is one of our graphic designers and skilled at all-things-PhotoShop etc. so she created the design in the program first, then was able to hook up her computer and project the mural on the wall.

From there, she outlined the waves, then started painting. I absolutely LOVE how it turned out – a whimsical beauty!

Solve Problems with Furniture

LaShana had communicated that a big struggle in her room was the lack of storage. Her room is big and beautiful with lots of natural light, but truly ZERO built-in storage and cabinetry. My vision was to bring in LOTS of storage options.

The first solution was creating a walk-in closet using back-to-back bookshelves and I love the space it created. The outside bookshelves will be used for her classroom library, and the closet-side bookshelves act as her closet. Bolt the bookshelves together, and you have an amazing storage solution!

The other storage solution I loved were these drawer cabinets! Obviously perfect for storage, but also aesthetically pleasing. I centered them under the windows, added these beautiful pink lamps + a teacher tool box, and it became a stunning centerpiece on the window wall.

Create an Aesthetically Pleasing Room with Furniture

I always feel like classrooms are blank spaces, and how you organize the furniture is the anchor to the entire classroom. I love creating spaces within the room that make the overall feeling cozy and inviting.

One of my favorite ways to do this is with bench seats that provide storage, as well as, create nooks throughout. The frosting on the cupcake, is adding a bunch of heavenly pillows. This adds texture and color to the room, and of course the students love it!

We also added a high-top table, two expandable tables AND a heavenly velvet couch in the library, to give LaShana a blend of flexible seating and traditional seating.

Create an Inspiring Entrance to the Classroom

The entryway to a classroom is like the entryway to a home – it begins to tell the story of what you will find inside. After reading LaShana’s makeover application, and talking with her friends and principal, it became obvious, that her classroom is a community hub and a safe place for many.

I wanted the entryway to reflect this, so I had a custom sign made stating “This Must Be The Place”. Because this was a custom order, we don’t have it for sale on the shop, but we do have the UPRINT mini poster that has enlarging instructions with it. Additionally, I added three trendy daisy neon lights for a dose of vibrant fun!

Border Combinations: Retro Classroom Decor Inspiration

LaShana loves boho, and actually had a lot of Boho Rainbow pieces in her room before the makeover. So going into the week I knew I wanted to combine retro and boho. One of the ways I did that was with the border combinations because this flows throughout the room so effortlessly.

I pulled borders from Simply Boho classroom theme and Little Miss Retro classroom theme, and it carried the boho-retro vibes perfectly throughout the room. The pairings usher warmth and vibrancy!

A fun finishing touch was adhering the Sunflower Frame Border from Good Vibes to the bottom of the window frames. This is one of those subtle elements that adds SO MUCH!

Use Rugs to Anchor and Create Gathering Places

I feel like when you add a rug to a nook or space, it immediately makes you take a deep breath and encourages you to take a seat. They anchor a space and make it feel homey.

For this makeover, I used our hopscotch rug that will be available for purchase SEPTEMBER 1st (this gives you plenty of time to talk with your administrators about purchase orders, so you can get one of our Schoolgirl Style Rugs into your classroom!)

And to bring in that boho, vintage vibe, I added shag rugs to the library and to her teacher desk.

Bulletin Boards for a 5th Grade Classroom

When it comes to creating bulletin boards for classroom makeovers, I really try to leave several open so the teacher can add the elements required by the school, and the bulletin board sets he/she loves and enjoy. It also depends on the grade level of the classroom.

For this makeover, it was a 5th grade classroom so we used a calendar set, a birthday set and the amazing work display. We also created a fun, new Polaroid Picture bulletin board set which personalizes a classroom so easily!

The Calming Corner – A New UPRINT Piece!

Another bulletin board set we added to our UPRINT designs is The Calming Corner. I absolutely love this set! I love supporting student emotions and supporting strong mental health amongst our students.

A calming corner (also known as a calm down corner or comfort corner) is a small, designated space located within a classroom. The purpose of a calming corner is to help support self-regulation while keeping students in the classroom if they need a break from instruction time or a group activity.

I loved combining the affirmation station with the calming corner – it’s a pairing that makes total sense and makes me smile. Adding a cozy shag chair and adorable daisy pillows made the corner feel safe, warm and inviting. I hope this little corner is a safe haven for years to come!

Create Centerpieces for Student Tables

I always think of the student tables in a classroom, like the dinner table to a home. Centerpieces add a pop of decor, while making the table feel like the gathering of besties, ready for learning!

The base of these centerpieces is always a tin can with floral foam inside. Then you get to add whatever decor makes your heart go pitter-patter! For this makeover, we used border, cut-outs, pennant banners, and greenery. Nestled next to each centerpiece I added table numbers for a simple support to classroom management. I used card holders and a touch of mavalus tape to keep them in place!

Add the Perfect Finishing Touches: Retro Classroom Decor Inspiration

The finishing touches are my favorite – they are the details that make a room unique. This is the last phase in a classroom makeover, where I get to keep adding details until it feels right and complete, a process that makes my decor-loving self just so happy! Here are my FOUR favs from this makeover!

I added the 70’s floral cut-outs throughout the room – little wildflowers of joy sprinkled throughout – and I used the card holders again + mavalus tape to keep them in place!

The disco ball planters are complete eye-candy adding pops of greenery, elements of boldness and a touch of glitter and crystal glam.

For the hanging lanterns we used the Perfect Shade of Brown, Sunset Yellow, Iced Cold Rosé, and Bubbly Rosé. We added a pop of shimmer and dazzle with mini disco balls – the way they catch and reflect light really energizes the space.

Last but not least, THE most beautiful custom stick wallpaper – lovingly named Blushing Hopscotch. Many have already inquired about this darling paper, BUT currently it is not for sale on the shop (maybe someday)! It is available as a digital border so you could definitely DIY wallpaper the back of a bookshelf or section of a wall. 

Also, shout out to the stunning Dancing Queen Statement Piece – big, beautiful disco ball cut-outs ready to dance from the ceiling!

Cheers to another makeover and retro classroom decor inspiration – making a classroom a haven for the most deserving teacher, and all the students she will welcome into the space! I hope you are inspired and can take away at least one element to add to your own classroom – making it a home away from home.

Shop my Amazon storefront for an easy way to shop all the extra goodies we added to this classroom!

XOXO,

Mel