TODDLER'S WHIMSICAL BEDROOM MAKEOVER

If you have been following along on the blog for a while now, I’d like to say a great big THANK YOU!! I am so very appreciative for your support over the last eleven months. You guys are really what keeps me going! If you go WAY back, you might remember this post, which I wrote back in September, where I shared the inspiration, initial plans and the process around making over the lovely and sophisticated Violet’s bedroom. In case you missed it (although you really should click the link;) here’s the executive summary.

The lovely rooms above served as our jumping off point for the design. They are modern, playful, bright, and cozy and feminine without being too “girly”. All Violet wanted was a place to sleep, read, and play and she wanted it to have lots of animals (did I mention that she’s 3?). No problem, V. I’m with you. I, too, would like more animals in my life / bedroom.

Our goals were to give Violet a fun space with room to explore and to design the room with enough versatility to grow as she does. We were also on a tight budget because these guys were about to have two kids in daycare so we were aiming to redo this room for less than two grand. That might sound like a lot of money, but trust me, it adds up quickly when you’re redecorating the entire room and need to buy everything including window treatments, paint, light fixtures, bedding….Ikea and Target were our BFFs for this project, guys.

And in case you have been waiting in suspense since September (or since you clicked the link in the intro) to see which design plan we went with (that post was a cliffhanger!), here it is, friends:

Whereas Violet’s primary focus was on animals and play space, Violet’s parents were focused on storage and keeping things organized. To that end, we included a few different options for storage peppered around the room including baskets, wall shelves, and bins. The key is that it’s all still within reach, which not only facilitates play and clean up for Violet, but also for mom and dad. It’s easy to tidy the room quickly just by corralling toys and books into bins and baskets.

You can see in the before photo below that Violet had a pretty big storage unit that took up an entire wall and it had lots of doors and drawers (personally, I’m not a fan of storage with lots of compartments or drawers because stuff tends to hide in there and then you never actually use it). It took up a lot of real estate in the small 10′ x 12′ room and didn’t encourage play or clean up because everything was closed off and kind of hard to reach.

We sold the large storage unit to make space for a new toddler bed, a nightstand with lots of room for books and toy bins, and a cozy reading nook. Feast your eyes on Violet’s new happy room full of animals and storage!

We also ditched the curtains (see the before photo below) for these linen cordless blackout shades and painted the room Benjamin Moore Gray Owl with Super White trim. We also swapped out that ceiling fan below for a white ceiling fan that had a more modern and clean look.

To give Violet a space to color, paint, do puzzles, etc. we created an “activity zone” in one corner of the room by adding table and chairs and wall shelves to store craft supplies. Here’s a little more before and after eye candy:

The plan is to ultimately get a larger craft table and maybe an easel in this space so we left some room to grow in this corner, which is why it feels a little empty right now.

Aaaaand another view from across the room:

This room makes me so happy and it was so much fun designing this space! Thanks Holli, Gray, and Violet for the opportunity to makeover Violet’s room and invade your privacy to take “before” photos at 7:30 am.

Links are below so you can get the look! I’d love to hear what you think and what questions you have in the comments 🙂 Have a great weekend, everyone!

All “after” photos by Jamal Harris.

TODDLER'S WHIMSICAL BEDROOM MAKEOVER

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