Shared girls' bedroom transformation with reading nook
This transformation has been a long time coming as I first started work on the girls’ shared bedroom over three years ago now - so just a note to any parents out there beating themselves up for slow progress within their own homes, it really is a long and exhausting process. You’ll get there in the end I promise!
Ironically enough by the time we could afford to finish the room (with new carpets and skirting recently,) the paint work is actually looking a little tired now and probably could do with a fresh paint but c’est la vie, we will just enjoy it as it is for a little while longer.
Our girls’ bedroom is a great size but has a few limitations due to the presence of four windows (meaning bunk beds are not an option as there is no wall space) and a few built in cupboard areas which are fantastic for storage but also limit the layout a little. Whilst still young, they don’t need heaps of clothes storage and so I decided to turn one of the cupboards in to a reading nook with curtains to provide a little space for quiet and privacy.
The reading nook
I have kept the hanging rail up as it supports the book shelf above and if, when necessary, they need hanging space for their clothes, I can just turn it back into a wardrobe relatively quickly.
Both wardrobes when we moved in had warped orange pine doors so we paid a carpenter to replaces the doors on the cupboard we were keeping, and I just removed them for the reading nook, installing shelves for books, painting it green and adding wallpaper to zone the space. I made the curtains from bed linen sheets and used wooden beads and string to make the curtain ties.
You can read more about how I created the reading nook in this old blog post here.
Wallpaper, Blackthorn Autumn by Morris & Co, Wallpaper Direct; Lamp shade, Dolkie by La Redoute, Carpet, Primo Textures in Pale Linen by Cormar; Paint (green), Cley by Fenwick and Tilbrook; Paint (walls), Threadneedle by Mylands.
The rest of the bedroom
The rest of the bedroom features some beautiful vintage beds with slightly taller legs which is really important if you want to add storage underneath. We currently have a mixture of midi and large crates from This Modern Life which house a huge Duplo, Playmobil and Barbie collection.
The vintage school desk with a hardwearing melamine top is perfect for the kids who use and abuse it no end but thankfully I have been able to clean off most marks so far. As they get older I will be on the look out for something similar as they will need their own desks for homework I feel.
For a while they had a bookcase in the room for all their chapter books (as they’ve moved on from the picture books kept in the reading nook. But with a view to declutter a little, we did a big book swap, passing on most of the picture books to their brother and filling up the reading nook with their chapter books as well as utilising our larger bookcase on the stairs.
The beside tables are a ply locker style which are a hand me down from our bedroom. I’m not sure they quite go with all the vintage furniture but they provide great storage, and crucially for a bedside table, aren’t open and have a door so we can hide all the knick knacks that kids like to squirrel away.
The new carpets have been the icing on the cake as the old ones (and dark skirting board in particular) were really dragging down the scheme despite how lovely the walls and other details were. We went for a family friendly carpet made from polypropylene which means it’s easily washable and a must in kids’ rooms in my opinion! As they get older I’m expecting the stains will evolve from pen marks and play stamps to nail varnish and foundation!
As ever despite saying the room is finished, I do still have hopes to make curtains for this space one day. I think it will warm up the room and help it to feel cosier as the white black out blinds are giving hospital room rather than restful girls’ room however with four pairs to make, I’m waiting for a quieter season (does that ever happen) to embark on such a time consuming project.
Vintage desk, Blue Ticking; Chair, Dunelm; Vintage bed, eBay; Crates, This Modern Life; Plug Socket, Schneider Lisse at Screwfix; Paint (cupboards), Bloomsbury by Mylands.
Other budget friendly ways I’ve changed the bedroom are painting the dark upvc windows to match the wall colours, painting the radiator, changing the switch plates and plug sockets and moving the lampshades by using extended cords and hooks to easily centre the lighting without the need for an electrician.
Resource List
If you’d like to see an extensive list of where everything is from, click on the image below.