Happy new year my friends! One of my 2018 house goals was to convert our boys’ nursery into their big boy room. They will be four in March, so we were well overdue for big beds, but the thought of having two three-year olds with late-night roaming freedom combined with a baby who wasn’t sleeping well had me hold off longer than normal. Plus, I think they would have stayed in the comfort of their cribs forever had we let them!
Four thoughts I had going into this project:
1.) I needed to makeover their space in a big way with as little disruption to their sleep routines and environment as possible (easier said than done!). To do this, I took off work for several days so that I could get a lot done without having to rely on the evenings when they’d need their room the most. On the days when I was doing the smellier stuff (like the floors), they slept on their crib mattresses in our room. But overall, I tried to get them back into their room every night.
2.) I wanted to use a mix of what we already had (like some of the art, the DIY growth chart, and the blue vintage dresser I love) with all-new furniture/decor that could age up with them and last us a long time. Although I loved their nursery and all of its sentimental value, I was ready for a change. Although the boys probably couldn’t care less—ha!
3.) I wanted to go straight to twin beds vs. the step change to a toddler bed or a crib conversion. Mainly because twin beds just looked better in my vision and Aaron and I wanted the ability to lay down with them if we needed to. I have been known to sleep in a crib with Nixon from time to time!
4.) My budget was $1500. I’ll give you all the details on where we netted out with that!
THE BEFORE
Here’s where we started, a room that had barely changed since I pulled it together in 2015.
THE AFTER
THE BEFORE AND AFTER SIDE BY SIDE!
A FEW HIGHLIGHTS
We painted the floors, which you can see a little better in the photo below. We used all Sherwin Williams… the paint color is Samovar Silver in their Porch & Floor finish formula. We’ll ultimately get the floors in here redone to match the rest of the house, but until then, this is a fun little in between stage. Plus I’ve always wanted to paint an interior room’s floor… my first time turned out pretty well! The walls, trim and fireplace were painted as well.
I wanted a built-in platform bunk vibe, but I also knew I wasn’t going to be to build anything in a reasonable amount of time that would still look good. So I set out to find twin bed frames that had little-to-no sides, would fit snugly along one wall to give it that built-in bunk look, plus space for storage underneath. That is a very complicated order, I know. I bought two of these Addison Daybeds in Natural from the Novogratz collection at Walmart. Installing these in the room was fraught with anxiety because I knew I would only have a fraction of an inch to spare once both beds were along one wall. It worked. Phew.
I needed white, cordless, pull-down flat roman shades with 100% blackout liner that didn’t cost $800+. Because that was about the going rate when I sent it out for quotes! For two shades my boys might destroy? Nope, absolutely not. I found these Blinds.com Classic Roman Shades in Rio Winter White Fabric w/ Cordless and Blackout liner and they have been great. I love the cordless feature. (And I couldn’t do curtains because of the placement of the beds underneath the windows.)
Safety, safety, safety. We implemented all sorts of safety precautions in here. We added Window Guards that prevent the window to be opened more than 2-3 inches. The dresser has been equipped with No-Tip Furniture Straps. I used Museum Putty on the backs of all the frames to ensure they wouldn’t bounce off the walls. And finally, we use Toddler Monitor to make sure we’re notified if the boys leave their room.
We had to do a bit of brainstorming on how to re-route the floor vent, as the bed situation completely covered up the only heat and A/C source in the room. We used some HVAC supplies (like a vent tube and a boot, plus lots of tape) to re-route it through one of the cubby holes. I break down this DIY in detail in my Instagram highlights!
The gallery wall was super fun to put together and everything there is stuff I’ve been collecting over the years. The little onesies are their NICU Easter outfits and I LOVE having them on display. There is no special secret to how those are mounted. Just pressed flat on white paper in a normal frame.
SOURCES & COST – Total was $1819.15 (Budget was $1500)
(2) Twin Mattresses – $200
(2) Novogratz Twin Bed Frames – $395.02
Safety & Mattress Protection – $166.23
Mattress Protectors
Window Guards
Museum Putty
No-Tip Furniture Straps
Toddler Foam Bumpers (not shown)
(6) Twin Sheet Sets – $104.51
Pottery Barn Kids Emily & Merritt Organic Bunny Sheet Set x 2
Walmart Better Homes & Gardens Sheet Set x 2
Macy’s Whim by Martha Stewart Sheet Set in Empire State x2
Toddler Monitor – $76.32 (I received an influencer discount)
Blinds.com Classic Roman Shades in Rio Winter White Fabric w/ Cordless and Blackout liner – $382.07
Paint and Supplies – $150
(7) 13″ Square Knit Baskets with Leather Handles – $120
(3) Leather Towel Hooks – $45 (No longer available—from Harp Design Co. in Waco, TX)
(20) Michael’s Belmont Picture Frames for Gallery Wall – $180 (Make sure you buy these during the 70% off frames sale! They are excellent quality)
The boys absolutely love this space. I’ve let them completely decide how they’d like to use the baskets underneath their respective beds. Teller generally has books and little treasures he does not want his brothers to find, while Nixon prefers to store blankets, pillows and other things his mom crowds his bed with. It’s so cute to see them climb up on these beds and how the arrange their spaces overall. They transitioned to a new bedtime routine fairly easily (although if a nap is included, we’re all up until 10:30! argh) and just generally love hanging out in their rooms.
I’m not too worried about the budget thing. I continued to be schooled on how much things escalate when you need two of everything! Yes, I went over but this happened over such a long period of time that I could cash flow accordingly.
If you want more of a play by play of the project and see it slowly transform from the “Before” to the “After” I have it all saved on my Instagram highlights. I think you can access those videos directly here.
Before I know it, I’m going to have to go through this again with Otto’s nursery, but let it be on record that his bug paper is going nowhere!
xo,
emily
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