Saturday, April 27, 2013

The kids' bedroom makeover: AFTER

In case you missed it:

Not quite the last of these posts, since we still need to finish the desk and closet areas, but close enough! The room is now 100% more kid and 100% less grandma styled.

Saturday we finished painting and put the bed together, but it was still too fumey to let the kids sleep in there. Instead they slept in our bed and we slept on the air mattress.

They must have been tired from vacation. Sleeping in the same bed, I pretty much expected there to be bloodshed and mayhem before they finally fell asleep -- but five minutes after I kissed them goodnight they were snuggled together and out cold.

I would have taken a picture... but I didn't want to press my luck with the camera flash.

Sunday we started putting together the furniture and this definitely caused the most excitement. As did rediscovering their toys as they put them away in the new storage spots.

But enough yakking... I know you want to see the results. So here we are:

South side of the room

BEFORE:


AFTER:


Notice my little photo-bomber? Edmonton folk, you may look at the shorts and feel jealous.

The only new piece in this photo is the large Expedit storage unit on the left. Originally I was going to go with RAST dressers, but they turned out to be tiny in real life. After staring at dressers for a while we decided to go with the Expedit for the extra toy storage. Though it does mean that every piece of furniture in this room is from IKEA. And to think I used to dislike that store.

The door to the south hall is unpainted (you can see the color difference). I have not made up my mind yet, but I think I am going to paint it in chalkboard paint eventually.

North side of the room

BEFORE:


AFTER:


This is the unfinished side of the room. We've purchased a long board that will stretch from the west wall to the closet, resting on top of the filing cabinet to form a desk. Mounted on the wall will be a magnetic board for each, a light for each, and either shelves or artwork above it. I was originally thinking shelves, but now I think it might be storage overkill. We'll see.

I also want to add some shelves in the closet to make a little book nook somewhat similar to this:

Source: babble via Johanna on Pinterest

 Mine won't be nearly as cool, but we'll see what JD's magic can whip up.

West side of the room

BEFORE:


AFTER:


I apologize for the light in this picture, but you get the general feel. I bought white curtain rods at target so that I can rehang the curtains, but I admit to being deathly afraid of drilling into the plaster walls. I just see them crumbling away in huge chunks. while JD scolds me for using the wrong kind of screw.

The window sill and radiator

BEFORE:


AFTER:


This is one of the radiator covers JD built this winter. It lets heat out really well and keeps the kids from searing themselves on the metal of the radiator. Plus, I didn't have to paint the freaking radiator! I love these covers.

East side of the room

BEFORE:



AFTER:



Here is the huuuuuge expedit that we chose instead of dressers. The top-left six cubes serve as clothes storage. Eventually we might get the attachable doors for these squares, but I am in no hurry. This way the kids can easily see and choose their own clothes in the morning. 

The kids have been very happy about their room makeover. Ian is especially excited for the desk. He had to write a vacation journal for school, and in his last entry he wrote:

"I have a new room. There is a computer on my desk."

Me: Dude, you don't have a computer.
Ian: *grins happily*
Me: ...
Me: *mumble*Must research parental controls*mumble*

I'll laugh when the dog eats his computer... not that we have a dog... yet...

*sigh* I loose to the seven-year-old again.


The colors we chose are:
  • Walls: Blue Haze (Benjamin Moore) in matte finish
  • Trim: Sherwin William's off the shelf bright white in semi-gloss finish
  • Closet: Sunwashed (Benjamin Moore) in matte finish
The remaining things to do are:
  • Add crown molding to the ceiling
  • Build the desk area
  • Build shelves and install lighting in the closet
  • Install a new light fixture on the ceiling
  • Install curtains on or around the bunk bed
  • Install reading lights on the bunk bed (may be a bad plan)
  • Hang art!
In the end I think it was definitely worth the week of vacation spent on it. It makes me happy whenever I catch a glimpse of the blue walls while walking by. I really can't wait to de-carpify the rest of the house!

Have a great weekend!


1 comment:

  1. WOW!! What a lot of work! I love the wall color you chose and the pops of red really up the fun factor!! thank you so much for sharing at the before and after party!

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