Design by Erin Feasby, Photograph by Angus Fergusson for Style at Home
Kids’ Room: Inspired
(Photograph from BHG.com)
I’m holding back quite a bit on the decorating plan for the house. Though I have some specific ideas of what I want the rooms to look like, I’m working on the foundational layers of the building process first, and won’t make any major decorating moves (or purchases or projects) until after we’ve moved into the house.
But the other day my dear little boy lamented to me once again that he missed our condo. He has an impeccable memory for a three-year-old, and can be really sweet and sentimental. But I was surprised that he still felt that way. I asked him, specifically, what he missed. ”My room” he said, “I like the way my room was.”
Since we’ve been in the Pink House (the house owned by our church) I haven’t done a lot with their room. There’s a big clunky double bed in there, and an old wooden rocking chair. Plus we jammed in the change table/dresser and the crib. I did hang a few pictures on 3M command hooks, and did hang the drapes from their old room, but it still feels pretty dreary. And certainly not like home for him.
And so, with my heart strings pulled, the kids’ room made it to the top of my priority list for decorating. How wonderful it would be for that room to feel finished and homey right away when we settle in! So I’ve been pinning away and looking for the inspiration I need for their room. They’ll share a room again (though some of the adorable girls’ rooms I’ve come across have me rethinking that slightly…) and I definitely want matching twin beds. I’d love old brass beds, or painted wooden beds, but my second-hand hunting has not been fruitful as of yet, so we may end up with cheap IKEA beds and DIY upholstered headboards.
You can see some themes running through my pictures: pale neutral walls, with lots of room for displaying the colourful things kids love (books, toys, momentos). A definite vintage vibe. A sort of raw, natural feel. Eclectic art.
Speaking of eclectic art, I just found this cool vintage paint-by-numbers painting on Kijiji… I may just have to pick that one up!
A new frame and this could be a great jumping-off point for the room.
I’m getting excited - kids’ rooms are my favourite to decorate! Let the dreaming begin…
DIY Children’s Teepee
If you’ve followed this blog for any amount of time you may have caught on that I love a teepee for a kids’ space. And if you know me in real life, you may know that I love to build a good tent. Finally, this Christmas, I decided it was time. I was gonna’ sew one of these bad boys. I was pretty much terrified, but took the plunge - and was pleasantly surprised how well it came together!
I used a canvas drop cloth from Lowes and some homespun rusty red gingham I’d had laying around for the contrasting fabric. I love this tent.
The poles are dowels I cut down to 5’ at Home Depot, with some dowels slipped inside the trim around the back three panels to keep it sturdy.
I took the process slowly and figured out how to attach matching tie-backs with loops for the entrance.
The tops of the poles have holes drilled through them with some thick twine wrapped in and out and around and around to keep them together.
This gift turned out to be pretty popular.
(P.S. - I’m working on a bit of a tutorial for this. As I usually do, I poked around a number of tutorials and took a little of this idea, and a little of that, so you can certainly find all the same resources if you look around. I’ll include links to those in my next post. But stay tuned for my version…)
Sharing a Bedroom
Design by Tobi Tobin, Photograph by Patrick Cline for Lonny Mag
Sometimes I have very strong opinions about things I probably have no business having an opinion about. Like how I firmly believe in my children sharing a room… when I grew up having a room to myself all my life. (Yay for being the only girl!)
It started in the condo as a necessity - 2 babies, 2 grown-ups, 2 bedrooms. You do the math.
The nursery in our old condo.
But since we’ve moved into our temporary abode (affectionately known as “The Pink House”), and as we plan our farmhouse, there are at least three bedrooms - yet we still keep the kids together in one room.
Am I a sucker for punishment? Sometimes… namely nap time. (Though sometimes Little M naps in our bed so that they don’t spend the first hour of nap time laughing, reading, singing, and eventually crying together.) But I really do enjoy it. There’s something about having all my babies together. And they really enjoy being together. Some nights we’ve even found that Little M has climbed into Little L’s crib to sleep. Part of it is my “it’s good for kids to learn to share” mentality, and part of it is some idyllic notion I have of a Peter Pan-style nursery with all the kids sharing a room, their beds in a row.
And not to mention, once we get them a set of matching twin beds it’ll be so wonderfully symmetrical. ;)
So here are a few more shared bedrooms that I love…
Design by Sarah Richardson, photograph by Stacey Brandford for House and Home
Photograph from Restoration Hardware Baby & Child 2012
Design by Cobi Ladner, photograph by Andrew Waller for House & Home
(Design by Abby Manchesky of M. Interiors, via A Delightful Design)
Design by Kristen Buckingham via House & Home Blog
Did you grow up sharing a bedroom? What was your experience like? Any tips or advice?
