*WARNING* Lots of photos!
When you find out you’re pregnant, beyond wanting to know the gender and hear the heartbeat and all that good stuff, you start buying things. Things you need, things you don’t need. One thing I was so excited to do was decorate my daughter’s nursery (you know, that place with a crib that she never once slept in). Here was our original design. It was sweet and calming, slightly girly, but not too girly.
Well, the crib was recalled, so we ditched that, and when Lydia was about 15 months old, we got her a toddler bed. This was the original arrangement with the new bed.
We got her some girly bedding (she picked it out).
And we bought decals to match.
Then we switched things around a bit and came up with this room arrangement after realizing creepy people could look in her window and see her sleeping (on the rare occasion that she actually slept in her bed). The bed is off to the right.
This arrangement actually lasted us a while, until we decided to move Bryce into Lydia’s room. That’s when we took out the toddler bed, and bought at Mattress Sizes Canada a full-sized mattress on the floor in April of this year, we made sure to go on websites like Raise and find the available coupons first.
With the kids’ birthdays quickly approaching, I realized we needed to clear out some things and rearrange the room to make space for the kids’ new toys. I’m calling this “Phase 1” of our latest makeover.
I removed the glider that my husband has been nagging me to remove forever. I also moved a cabinet to the garage to use for my craft supplies and brought in some colorful bins to sort their toys. Gotta love the disaster that often occurs when I take on cleaning projects!
So here’s how this looked organized.
This arrangement worked, but we decided the kids needed some real beds. We found the Kura bed at IKEA for just $99 and had to have it. Here’s what the bed looks like, straight out of the box. Snore…
I began by selecting a gender-neutral fabric that coordinated with the green in the room. I wanted something that connected with nature, but also child-friendly (without looking like baby nursery fabric). I found this Robert Kauffman fabric at a local fabric store and bought two yards to cover the two panels on the bed that could be seen.
I placed a layer of low-pile quilt batting (I think that’s what it’s called) on the panel, covered with this fabric, and used craft glue to hold it all in place.
In retrospect, I should’ve adhered it to the blue side of the panel so the white faced inward, but I attached it to the white side.
We constructed the bed by following the manufacturer’s directions.
And painted it white.
We flipped the bed upside-down to create bunk beds.
We were afraid Lydia could roll out of the bed, so we added a tent.
We rearranged the play area a bit to include that hanging toy holder and to make it so Bryce couldn’t climb on the furniture to get on the top bunk.
I also added some shelves above the dollhouse to display items (that are mostly breakable) and hung this year’s birthday photo.
And I think their room is complete. The kids LOVE it! Lydia called it her “garden bedroom” (hence the title of the blog post). What do you think of the transformation??
I love this! It’s very cute and quite inspired. That fabric is adorable!
Thank you so much! I’m so glad they like their “new” room 🙂
It looks awesome. REALLY A-W-E-S-O-M-E!
Thank you!
You flipped the bed around? Genius! I don’t think I can do bunk beds. There would always be a fight about who sleeps at the top.
If you go to IKEA, they have the same bed set up both ways. When it’s a regular bed, they have curtains around it, hanging from the top of the frame. They also have it set up like a loft with toys underneath it. Love the versatility!
come help me with my house…please………..
oh, and I love it!
Thanks, Deanna! It was so fun to decorate.
Beautiful! I love it, inspiring! Now I want to make over Felix’s room!
Thank you! I definitely pulled some inspiration from Pinterest – so many good ideas there 🙂
You’re so smart to flip the bed!! Brilliant idea! I love it. Love the fabric and colors. I’m sure your beautiful children are really enjoying it. 🙂
Thank you so much, Adee! They absolutely love their new room…and they’re actually doing a better job keeping it organized than before.
Still in love with the new room! Great functional ideas and it looks fantastic too!
Thanks, Bonnie!!
the room is very cute, i love the bed. I ve been eyeing on this bed for a while =) Where do you get the tent if you dont mind me asking ? I only saw the blue one at ikea
I actually got it at IKEA – the blue tents were the old style, the green tents are the new style.
What kind of paint did you use to paint the pine?
I did about 3 coats of a semi-gloss interior paint that I got at Home Depot. I still have a few spots that need to be touched up, but it worked quite well overall. Thanks for asking! 🙂
I am going to purchase this bed within the next month. I have looked, and researched all i could but your post really spoke to me. Probably because your children are similar in age to mine. So, I would really like your advice/opinion. Does your youngest try to climb it all the time? Will the top fit a standard twin mattress or do I need a specific ikea one? Lastly, is it difficult to make the top bed each day? Thanks so much in advance for your wisdom.
My youngest does climb to the top, but so far so good! It’s really low, maybe 4 feet tall, so even if he did fall, he most likely would not get injured. The bottom should fit a standard mattress, but for the top, I would use the Ikea mattress because it is lightweight and thin. That way, there’s still a rim around the bed so your child can’t roll out. If you had a thicker mattress, it may cause accidents. As for making the bed, since it’s under the tent, we kinda just throw the blanket on and call it a day 😉 Nobody can really see inside.
Did you have to prime the wood before painting? Also, once you covered the panels with batting and fabric, was the install tricky? We currently have the bed for my older daughter and would like to transform it as my younger is ready to move into the bottom. Thanks!
Hi, Hallee! I got a semi-gloss primer & paint in one. The install was not tricky at all after batting and fabric. Just make sure the batting does not go all the way to the edge. Good luck modifying it! It’s such a fun project 🙂
Lovely, consider using slats for your bottom mattress. I have read that mattresses need to have air flow around them in order to be safe for the person breathing in the chemicals that can build up without air flow. Again, lovely work. 🙂
This looks so great! Is the pine “raw”? (Did it require any sanding?) Or just your primer/paint? Thanks for the info!!
Yes, it is raw, but it didn’t require any sanding. Thanks for the feedback!
I love what you did to the bed and the room. Question: where is the rainbow lamp from?
It is called Rainbow in my Room. Here’s a link: Uncle Milton – Rainbow In My Room
Hi. Which size foam mattress did you buy from Ikea? I have a new 5 1/2 spring mattress I just bought and wanted to put it up top, but didn’t know if that would work. It’s a cheaper mattress, but well made so I hate to buy a new one.
I bought the IKEA twin size mattress. I’m not sure if it is a standard twin or a custom twin. My concerns with using a different mattress would be: Does the mattress sit well in the bed frame so the child can’t roll out – and – is it too heavy for the wooden slats?
Hi Carrie! I googled “Kura Hacks” and this post was in the results! We’ve been thinking about this bed for our son and your idea of covering the panels with fabric is fantastic. I think it just sealed the deal. Thanks! Hope to see you soon!
Which mattress(es) did you use for this bed? Can’t seem to find one that isn’t too thin.
I think its a bit to much green… (I’m sorry for my bad English, i’m Dutch). And why you paint the bed WHITE!? Terrible. But the important thing is that the kids like it.