My Children's Room

My children share a room so that we can use our third bedroom as an office and guest room.  In the not too distant past, we had decided that the larger of the two bedroom should be a guest room and play room for the kids.  However, we quickly discovered that this did not work very well and moved the furniture yet again.  

Our current arrangement allows us to have two "adult" rooms in the house and just one room to be filled with toys (besides the constant influx of toys in our livingroom).  I swear that toys must breed and produce more toys.  Where do they all come from!?!  

Once we relocated our children into the large bedroom, I set to work decorating it and organizing storage areas for all those afore mentioned toys!  

To follow is a run-down of all the projects that I and my husband have tackled to make our children's room the most "put-together" room in our house.  *For now.*  

The airplane shelf I built to complement my son's airplane decor.  

I recently built an airplane styled shelf to complement my son's airplane decor on his side of the room.  I have to find unique ways to blend his airplane decorations and my daughter's flowers and girlie style.  I believe we are finally blending the two together somewhat cohesively.

A place for my daughter to hang her tu-tus and other dress-up items.

 I bought three hand-painted drawer pulls last year at the Spoiled Rockin' Kids salon when I got my daughter's hair cut for the first time.  The salon sells lots of local hand made items such as hair bows, barrettes, and, obviously, drawer pulls.  I knew I could find something cute to do with the pulls.

Before Christmas, I asked my husband to route a decorative edge around a scrap piece of wood.  I then used some leftover trim paint to paint the board white.  After the paint dried, three holes were drilled so that the drawer pulls could be installed.  Ta-Da!  A perfect and adorable place to hang dress-up items that are too big or bulky to fit in the dress-up box.

Three hand painted drawer pulls installed on a painted board.

A close-up of the hand painted teapot drawer pull.

A close-up of the other hand painted drawer pull.  

My husband has always had an old framed cork board since I first met him.  It was in terrible shape from disuse and lack of attention.  I knew that if I gave it a face lift, it would make a perfect place to display my children's art.

The finished art display board.

I used some finishing nails to reattach the cork board to the frame in the places where it had come loose.  I then used the same white paint I used on the above project to put coat of white paint over the green paint that was already on the frame (after using painter's tape to protect the cork board).  After the white paint was completely dry, I took a small piece of medium grit sandpaper and lightly rubbed where I wanted the green paint to show through.  I wanted to give the paint an aged looked.

A close-up of the aged detailing in the paint. 

Before my son was born in 2009, my husband built a toddler bed for my daughter.  I just wanted to put a picture of the bed in here because I am so proud of him!  It turned out so well and very sturdy.  Instead of the typical slotted rails on the sides, my husband used a 1x12 cabinet grade board and cut an entry/exit point in the center.  The posts are just 2x4s.  The head board and foot board were constructed with panels that slid into the framing.

The bed works marvelously.  I do not have to worry about little arms or legs getting caught in between any slots in wood.  My daughter took to this bed immediately and has loved it ever since.  Even my son loves it, particularly because he can climb on and off of it very easily.

My husband's toddler bed design.  

*In the future, I will be working on a closet organizer system for toy, clothing, shoe, and book storage.  I will be using Google Sketchup to design it.*