This room has proved to be one of the longest "works-in-progress" spaces I've ever wrestled with! The changes are ongoing too, as my oldest daughter has now moved to her own room and my 2-yr old son has mastered climbing out of the crib, so now has the bottom bunk. :( Naturally, this has led to some major upheaval on the sleep aspect of our lives, but hey, what's parenting without a little mayhem? Ha. (We'll miss this, right??)
Anyway, for the past two years+, this has been our set up. We have a fairly small home and this bedroom is the nearest to our own, so this is where the children have stayed. I'm happy to say it actually worked out well, despite my fears that waking babies would upset the sleep of other children in the room, but miraculously it was not a problem at all. Shock!
The bunk bed was really the key to making the most of the space, and allowing the majority of the toys to be stored outside the room. (Yes, the rest of our house has become a giant playroom). Sadly, I wish I could share the source of this beautiful bed as it was lovingly made by my very aged, but quite skilled neighbor Don (he is approaching 90!) who designed it to my specifications. It took him a while, but it was definitely worth the wait! Now to wait on a toy shelf to replace the current crib... As you might have guessed, it was highly inspired by the lovely Oliver furniture brand that makes beautiful children's pieces. I tried desperately to get one shipped to me years ago, but the shipping from Denmark was just not possible at the time, so I worked together with Don to come up with something similar. It is so well made and will last forever!
Finding bedding that would work equally well for boys and girls proved to be the most challenging. Thankfully we added Camomile London to our shop's product line after admiring it for so many years and I have been thrilled with what it has meant for this room. The blue floral print has just the right amount of feminine but is still subtle enough for a boy, I think. As my husband likes to say, "Real men like flowers!" The light blue duvet covers are H&M (I know, not very 'slow fashion' of me...but I bought them many years ago before I became passionate about more sustainable consumption!) but I've liked them a lot and plan to use them for as long as possible instead of just replacing them to something more ethically made. After all, using up what you already have is the best way to begin to live more responsibly, so I'm sticking with it for the time being.
Also, a tip! If you fold the duvet in half, it is a perfect fit to just lay on top of the bed. This not only looks great, but will save you LOADS of time trying to make the beds! Bunk bed making is ridiculously difficult, I've discovered, so this helps quite a bit, plus it's easier for kids to make it themselves. If you're wondering about a flat sheet, well just forget it. We gave up on those ages ago and life has been quite pleasant ever since!
The little secretary desk and chair were lucky vintage finds and have added a fun element for the kids. I always love watching how it charms them into having some quiet time to sit and draw - it's so inviting! The desk was originally bright red, but I made my own chalk paint and gave it a face lift. A bit of new hardware from CB2 and she was good to go.
I hope you enjoyed our little room reveal! Like I said, it is always changing and adapting to our needs, but it has been so nice to feel like it is finally "finished!"
