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KIDS SPACES

BEDROOMS, KIDS SPACES

How to Design a Room Your Kids Will Actually Love

create-a-perfect-kids-bedroom

Modern kid’s bedrooms are so much more than places where they go to sleep in their tiny bunk beds. Today, kids can get actual small havens where they can relax, learn and follow their interests. But how can you design a good bedroom without any previous experience? Here are some tips that will guarantee your kid will end up with a bedroom of their dreams. 

Opt for wallpaper

All kids change their minds super-fast: they might be into blue today, into pink next year and into black in two years. In order to avoid repainting their room every year (paint is messy and contains a lot of toxins) you can opt for practical wallpapers. Modern wallpaper comes in all designs, patterns and colors imaginable, so you can completely customize your kid’s room. The best part? Once they get tired of the design, you can just tear the wallpaper down and replace them with something new. 

Choose open shelves

Kids are very proud of their possessions, especially when it comes to cool toys, cute dolls and sports trophies. So, don’t hide these prized items in cabinets and toy chests! Instead, install some open shelving and allow your kids to display their treasures. This type of storage will also keep everything at arm’s reach at all times and there will be no forgotten toys at the bottom of the toy box. 

Include their interests

You might be dreaming of a modern Scandinavian coastal bedroom for your kid, but your little one probably has different plans. Make sure to include their interests in the design if you want to create a bedroom that will actually be used by your kids. For instance, if you have a really girly girl in the family, check out some kid vanities and fill them with kid-friendly makeup. If you don’t know where to start shopping, check out this Borncute guide and look into some reviews and recommendations. On the other hand, athletic boys and girls will love some sporting gear and memorabilia. No matter what they love, make sure it finds a spot in their room. 

Choose the right flooring

Young kids love to roll around on the floor, use it for reading and drawing and even take a nap on the ground. For all these reasons, you need to provide your child with warm and soft flooring. There are great rugs that can be washed and vacuumed easily and provide so much softness, comfort and beauty. 

Add some study space

Even if your kids are still too young for school, time flies and they will start first grade before you even know. Actually, no matter how old your kids are, they need quiet, comfortable and ergonomic space where they can read, draw, color and do homework. Luckily, a good study space doesn’t require a lot of space: a small desk with a quality chair and a good light source plus some storage are all a child needs. 

Let kids made some decisions

No matter how chaotic your little ones are, they can actually make some great choices that will help everyone be more satisfied with the design outcome. If you don’t want to let them pick the bed (you know they will choose something cute but totally impractical) you can allow them to choose between polka dot and striped bedding, red or blue carpets and canvas or wicker laundry baskets. This will make kids feel super proud and grownup and it will cost you absolutely nothing. 

 If you let your kids make a few décor decisions while you handle the technical parts, you’ll design a bedroom that will be their little private piece of heaven. A well-designed kid’s bedroom will grow with your child and always stay their favorite place in the world.

SHOP KIDS’ BEDROOM PIECES…

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BEDROOMS, HOME DECOR, KIDS SPACES

Boys Bedroom Update

boys-bedroom-update

Last fall, my son announced that his bedroom needed an update! I was a bit surprised to hear this from my 8 year old … (and honestly wished he had brought this up over the summer when I would have had time to actually make this transformation) but he was tired of sharing a bedroom with his younger brother and that was something I understood completely (my middle son is a bit of a handful..)

Boys Bedroom Update

So what did I do to give my son a more ‘grown up’ bedroom on a tight timeline and smaller budget.  Well this room was a nursery for my youngest boy, so we had to purchase a new bed for my eldest.  I wanted an industrial look for his room and I found this bed on amazon

 

 

I wanted to get him a full size bed and mattress (thinking long term) and I needed something that wasn’t too bulky since he is in the smallest bedroom of the house.  This was perfect and the price is great, too!

The next part of the boys bedroom update was bedding – again I wanted something simple and something that would grow with him.  I found a great white and navy stripe 3 piece set – with a quilted detail. I love how simple and classic the bedding is and mixing it with star Wars or Pokemon sheets is so easy and it brings his personality into the space.

Boys Bedroom Update – Brick Accent Wall

OK so this was the biggest transformation of this room.  Like the rest of the bedrooms in my home, they are all painted out in Benjamin Moore’s ‘Jute’ a creamy beige tone with a soothing soft warm grey undertone – but I found his room looked ‘blah’. I knew art and accessories would play an important role in adding some colour and personality into his room but I wanted more.  I had been toying with the idea of a wallpaper accent wall in my master bedroom (my husband was not a fan of that idea) so I thought it might add the missing piece in my son’s bedroom.  I wanted something subtle and again something that he wouldn’t grow out of…

Now here’s one thing you may not know about me – I love brick and especially a brick accent wall (see previous projects below)

Legendary Lofts Model Suite

QWC model suite

Timberwood Towns Sales center

Back to the ‘brick’ accent wall…

I love the texture and the gritty (in a good way) element of a brick accent wall but the cost and labour were not options for me and with the timeline to get this done not possible.  But I did find a peel and stick wallpaper option in a brick pattern – I was hesitant that it might not look great but the product wouldn’t damage the walls – so why not?!

 

The install was easy and not messy at all! I was able to get this done in a few hours and on my own (my husband isn’t a DIYer)

I LOVE it! The white and grey tones of this brick peel and stick wallpaper give the whole room a very clean and crisp look (plus is brightened up the room)

It really added a great ‘texture’ to the space or at least the appearance of texture.  I added a gallery wall with some fun art finds from my local HomeSense.

Other great finds from this Boys Bedroom Update:

I often shop for art and accessories at local stores like HomeSense and if you have ever shopped there you know that their inventory is constantly changing but these are some similar finds that you can purchase online….

Industrial table lamp

Plaid throw blanket

Star Wars Art

Baseball pillow

Whenever I decorate a child’s bedroom my goal is to keep it somewhat classic and have the ability for it to grow with the child.  I like to keep the main elements like walls and furniture adaptable to change with their interests – so having Star Wars themed bed sheets as opposed to a theme duvet or wall mural.  Diving into a theme can be costly, so I try to avoid breaking the bank! I also like to keep a calm and soothing bedroom, so I keep bolder colours off the walls and furniture and leave that to accessories.  My son loved his bedroom update and still loves this room today!

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KIDS SPACES, STORAGE + ORGANIZING

Friday Favourites : Back to School

friday-favourites-back-school

Back to school is almost here! Time to get ready for classes, new teachers, homework and more…

If you have been following my blog, you will notice that I created a homework station for my kids before the start of the school year – I feel it is so important to start off on the right foot!

Here are some of my back to school favourites:

So with little ones especially – you need to label EVERYTHING! Clothing, pencils, shoes and well everything.  These custom labels from Minted are absolutely adorable and for the older kids (who still need to keep track of their things with a little help) these chalkboard labels are perfect!

I love to capture my kids’ first day of school with a photo (and compare it to one on the last day of school – every year I am amazed at how much they grow!) I love this custom photo frame – this would be great in their bedroom or in a family gallery wall.

I’m a big fan of giving kids a work space – whether it is for reading, printing or a major project – I believe that kids benefit from having a designated space to work one that is free of distractions … if you are short on space, this desk is perfect! It has the surface space but an attached bookcase – perfect for storing school books, and supplies (baskets would be a perfect way to keep everything contained)

And don’t forget a chair – all though I don’t often like the idea of buying kids’ furniture (I just feel that they grow out of it so quickly) in certain instances – it works better.  I love adding a bold pop of colour in a kids’ space – they will find it appeals to them! This chair is fun and funky and the colour is great (works for boys and girls)

Whether you have one child or multiple children – staying organized makes the days so much easier. Between school, activities, sports, birthday parties and everything else that happens in this busy life – I like to keep track of it all in writing! Old fashioned, maybe, I still use my calendar in my phone but for me, there is something about seeing our schedule in ‘print’ form.  I love chalkboard and this chalk board decal is perfect for a homework station, kitchen (keep track of weekly meals) or a family command center.

One of the required items on our school materials list is a water bottle that can be locked and also refilled throughout the day.  Although the glass ones are great – I just don’t think they are ideal for younger children.  This water bottle is cute (be sure to add those labels), you can lock it and refill it, too!

You need a good quality lunch bag – my personal favourite and all of my kids have this one from Pottery Barn Kids (MacKenzie collection, retro style).  You might think these are a bit pricey but they last – I am using these for 2-3 years at a time, so impressed with the quality.  there are tons of designs / colours and you can even personalized them!

 

How do you feel about back to school? Is it exciting? frantic? sad? All of the above?



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DIY, KIDS SPACES, STORAGE + ORGANIZING

$100 room challenge : week 4 -room reveal

100-room-challenge-week-4-room-reveal

Room reveal time! It is now week 4 of this amazing challenge to makeover 1 room with only $100 and I am so excited to show you the results of the room reveal.

Let’s take a look back…..

Remember my extra wide hallway space that was a dumping group for all things kid related?

…and these before photos are showing off the space after I had my kids do a bit of a clean up.  so not the best use of this space.

As my kids are getting older and 3 of the 4 are in school – they are coming home with projects and homework … the kitchen table was an OK area to do the work but my 2 older children in particular were quite distracted by the goings on in the family room with their 2 younger brothers.  So that is what motivated me to create a homework station.  This challenge popped up at the perfect time as I really wanted to have this space all set up before back to school.

Let’s take a look at the progress….

I knew this space would be perfect – we don’t need a massive ‘office’ for the kids and I wanted them to still be close by that we could check in on them and they could ask for help. This little nook space is located between my kitchen and laundry room.

It started with a total removal of everything that was in the space and everything was re-homed to a better spot in the house (baseball bats don’t need to be stored by the kitchen)

I then asked around (starting with family) to see if anyone had anything ‘hanging’ around that they wanted to get rid of — I lucked out with a desk.

The desk fits beautifully in the space and it is metal so it is easy to clean (white may not be the ideal colour for kids but if it gets really dirty and cannot be cleaned….it should be easy enough to spray paint)

I purchased the plastic 4 drawer chest at staples (it was about 1/3 of my budget but it is such an important item).  It comes with wheels so it is easy to slide in and out as my kids need items from the drawers.  I designated (using labels) one drawer per child and the top drawer is for shared items like scissors, erasers, pencil sharpener….)

I soon realized that I had some additional wall space in that nook area and that could be used for back packs! The kids back packs end up in various locations of the house and we need a system….so wall mounted hooks were need. I found some great ‘Buddy Hooks’ on Wayfair and I could have opted for something more typical but I thought these were really fun (and my kids love them, too!) That’s $20 added to my budget – so 1/2 already spent!

I wanted the space to have some colour and also demonstrate that it was a kids’ space – we have tons of kids’ art all over the house and some just stored in bins.  So I spent some time with the kids going through some of their favourites…we found some colourful canvases, a papier mache mask my son had made plus a bunch of other items…..I wanted to be able to show off all of their work but there’s isn’t enough wall space for that – so I thought about adding these clipboards to the gallery wall and this way we could switch up their art and work throughout the year!

I like to plan out my gallery walls on the floor first instead of just ‘winging’ it!

These clipboards were about $5.00 each…

See the full details of this homework station transformation…

week 1

week 2

week 3

Time for the room reveal….

I’m so happy with how this turned out! My kids are really excited, too – my daughter jumped right it to use the space as soon as I announced that it was done!

Here are the buddy hooks – in the back pack area – one hook for each child and I added a photo frame with a school photo – so they knew whose hook was whose….

The final budget…

4 drawer chest from Staples                                     $32.95

Buddy hooks                                                                         $20.00

2 clip boards                                                                         $10.00

3 wood photo frames                                                    $4.50

desk                                                                                     came from my parents

chair with pillow                                                               was already in my home just in another room

art                                                                                        already had

kids’ school photos                                                           already had

pencils, crayons – holder                                                 already had

2 file holders                                                                      $9.99 each

wall mount copper baskets                                             $20.00 (on clearance)

Total:                                                                        $107.43

So I’m slightly over budget….but the extra $7.43 I can live with for a space this useful and that looks this great!

A few more photos of the room reveal….

This new homework station is going to be really useful for us and the challenge really helped me stay on track with time and budget….I’m really looking forward to the next challenge coming up in September.


Let me know what you think of this homework station,

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DIY, KIDS SPACES, STORAGE + ORGANIZING

$100 room challenge : week 3 – homework station

100-room-challenge-week-3-homework-station

It’s week 3 of my room challenge and I have made a lot of progress and a few changes along the process… I am really seeing how useful this new space is going to be for my kids (and the whole family) and I also really happy to hear how excited the kids are, too!

Room challenge progress:

So far in this challenge, I have managed to stay on budget but I did luck into some great pieces like the desk from my parent’s old student rental.  The desk fits beautifully in the space plus it’s metal so it is durable and very easy to clean.  I also had a chair (that we used as a ‘time-out’ chair) that will be used with the desk.

I installed the buddy hooks for the back pack area – the package came with 3, so one for each child.  They were easy to install.  I installed them at a height that all of the kids can reach with ease.  The next step is for me to add some photo frames (one for each child) and hang them above their hook!

I found these wood frames at Michael’s (for $1.50 each) – the frames will be painted and then I will add their photos!

I added the wheels to the storage piece that fits perfectly under the desk and I labeled 3 of the drawers – one drawer for each child – the 4th drawer (the top drawer) is for shared items like scissors, glue sticks and more…

I wanted to add some colour to the space and the kids art pieces are perfect – it’s their space after all and they love seeing their work on display plus this fits in the budget, too!  I have some painted canvases that we did as a craft here at home and a mask my son made at school (I was looking for a place to hang this).  I figured the best way to display their pieces is in a gallery wall display.  I like to plan my gallery walls by laying and playing with the arrangement on the floor first.

These clip board I’m going to add to the gallery wall and I’m going to use them as an easy way to display assignments (any subject) that they worked hard on and that they are proud of – the clip board makes it easy to change this up regularly.  I’m hoping a third clipboard will fit….

See my progress for week 1 and week 2

Room challenge budget:

4 drawer storage piece              $32.95

Buddy Hooks                               $20.00

3 wood photo frames                  $4.50

2 clip boards                                 $10.00

Spent so far …………………………$67.45

With my remaining funds – I’m hoping to find some small storage for the desk surface for pencils and other everyday homework materials and tools.



I’m so happy to have stuck with this challenge – it’s making space of an area that is perfectly located and it is going to be a well used space and I’m really happy that my kids are excited too! check in next week for the final room reveal!!

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DIY, KIDS SPACES, STORAGE + ORGANIZING

$100 Room challenge : week 2 – homework station

100-room-challenge-week-2-homework-station

A proper homework station is something that my family really needs. It is now week 2 of the $100 Room challenge and I have made some great progress…the decluttering of my nook / hallway was pretty easy it was really just a matter of getting it done.  One of the elements that I am really loving with this challenge is the timeline – one month to complete the room is keeping me focused.

Homework station – My inspiration…

I need the homework station to have storage and work space but I have another 4 feet of wall space.  I decided just this week that – that wall space would solve another issue that I have – the school bags!  So I am going to add some hooks (1 for each child) for their school backpacks.

Here are some images that inspired me –

 

Photo credit: Becomingmartha.com

Photo credit: Craft-O-Maniac

Week 2…

I have cleared out the space and I totally lucked out – my parents had a desk from an old student rental that they sold (very quickly) so I fell into some luck with a desk.  The desk fits nicely into the space!

The above image is how the space looked before I decluttered.  I then added the desk. The desk is white and made of metal so it is going to be easy to clean.

Homework station Costs so far…

We only have $100 to spend. Coming across this desk was a huge win.  But the desk did not have any storage.  My kids definitely need storage for papers, duo tangs, books and more…I found this storage chest of drawers on staples.ca

The chest of drawers $32.95

The next item I purchased  a set of 3 buddy wall hooks  – 3 kids and 3 hooks, perfect! Plus I think these are really cute (I purchased them in white)

The wall hooks $20.00

So far I have spent half of my budget…but these are the bugger ticket items that will really make a big difference in organizing this space. I have some more funds for some decor  to make the space a bit prettier….

 


So far I’m making progress and I love that my kids are excited for their new space too,

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DIY, KIDS SPACES, STORAGE + ORGANIZING

$100 Room Makeover Challenge : Ideas for a Homework station

100-room-makeover-challenge-homework-station

This is my first time participating in the $100 Room Makeover Challenge! This amazing challenge is hosted by Erin of LemonLavenderandLaundry.com If you have not heard of this – neither had I until about 24 hours ago … so here’s what it is …

The $100 Room makeover Challenge

A bunch of bloggers take on one room in their own home and in one month’s time and with only $100 – they transform the room and share their weekly progress.  Curious to learn more and check out some of the rooms that have participated in the past? Click here

Why am I participating in this $100 Room makeover challenge?

Well, I love to try new things and I do like to challenge myself – when we decorate and stage we often are on tight budgets but I never really have the chance to make changes in my own home – you know the story of the Cobbler’s children, right? Well same goes for interior decorators and home stagers (and probably most other professionals) – we are so busy with projects outside of our own home and our own homes are a bit forgotten…

I also really need to start focusing on certain areas of my home to make them more user-friendly and functional.  As my children are getting older and bigger – our lifestyle needs are changing and so, our home needs to adapt – with this challenge I can give myself a deadline and a budget (and I get to share my progress and results with you and other bloggers – there’s the accountability).

So which ‘room’ did I choose?

Technically – the space I chose is not a room but it is a trouble area in my home that I feel I can do more with – I have this ‘nook’ area off of my kitchen and between my laundry room that is becoming an awful catch-all for random ‘stuff’….crafts, sports equipment, library books and more….I had my kids actually sort through it before I knew about this challenge so this photo actually makes the space look like less of a disaster.

I have decided to turn this space into a designated ‘homework center’ or ‘kids office space’.  My 2 older children are getting regular homework to complete and they need a space to work.  they still need help from Mom and Dad so sending them to their bedrooms isn’t the best area for homework right now – this area is close to the kitchen (so easy access to Mom and / or Dad) but also separate enough that it is quiet enough for them to focus.

 

Goals for the challenge:

  • De-clutter and find new ‘homes’ for our stuff – this area is becoming a dumping ground for all sorts of kid stuff – we do have a mudroom area and they have bedrooms so I really need to systematize that and probably get rid of some stuff
  • Find a desk and chair that will fit in this nook – this nook is only 22″ deep so I will need to find something narrow enough that it doesn’t take over but still a good size for the kids to work at (and fit a lap top computer)
  • Storage for the homework space to keep papers, pencils and other materials organized in this shared homework space (since it is a shared work space – I need some storage for the kids to keep their things but also supplies like paper, pencils, etc…)
  • Add some light (we don’t have a plug for a table lamp – so for now I may have to either add brighter bulbs to the existing overhead fixture or see if I can purchase something that will add more light)
  • Make it pretty! (I will have to get creative but I’m thinking of re-purposing some old frames and framing the kids art and/ or photos)

 


I’m excited for this challenge – it gives me a deadline to complete a project that my kids really need once school starts and I know the summer will fly by before I realize it.  Wish me luck and stay tuned and of course, let me know if you have any ideas….three more weeks to go!


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