Since we moved to our current house nearly two years ago, I haven't really messed around with the bedroom layouts. Beatrix had her bedroom with her toys in it. Byron and I used the third bedroom as an office/craft/guest room. But for awhile now, I'd been feeling an itch to rearrange, move stuff around, and make it work for what we truly needed. I am in love with idea of stretching the usefulness of a home. This is the biggest house I've ever lived in and it isn't big by modern (American) standards -- 1400 square feet! We have the space we need to live contently, but there aren't a lot of extra rooms to play around with. At its current function, our house is pulling its fair share of weight as a school/home.
Yet the two back bedrooms rooms, we felt weren't really used to their greatest potential. And those two rooms totaled a decent amount of square footage. Bea's original bedroom was quite large about 200 square feet while the third bedroom (office/craft room) was a bit smaller. However, Bea's big bedroom was the most underused space in the house. She rarely played in it (except during quiet time). Seriously, what 4 year old wants to be in their bedroom playing alone while their family is elsewhere? She plays where ever we are busy working - and for us that's in the kitchen, living room, or the yard. I enjoyed having an office/craft room, but it was smallish in size, and difficult to use during daytime hours because if I tried to work in it, Bea naturally wanted to do the same, but the room was not layed out in a way that included her. (How unMontessori of me!)and I couldn't visualize adding some of her things to the space and having the room flow nicely.
So we moved her bedroom to the the office/craft room. It's a smaller and brighter space which makes it very cozy and happy. She loves it! Her only request was that she wanted her new bedroom to inherit the lambskin rug that was already in there. Deal! And we made her former bedroom into our project room. Her new bedroom layout is simple (and a little Goodnight Moon-ish in my opinion). In her bedroom, she has her bed, her chest of drawers, and just a few toys and books that she can enjoy looking at and playing with during quiet time.
The room isn't quiet done. There are curtain rods without curtains because I'm still undecided if I want to cover her window with panels. Curtain panels seem so much because there are so many windows and I do love the uncluttered, bright look, but I also don't want the room to feel too feel plain. Right now, the windows have solar shades for privacy.
Also, we are using one of her little chairs as a night stand to hold her books. One day, a proper nightstand will enter our world. And maybe a shelving unit of some sort. Something like this. And as much as I adore her petite trundle bed, I know a day will come that she will outgrow it. At that point, we'd like to invest in bunk beds (the kind that has a full bed on bottom). That would be useful for when my mom or other visitors stay with us. Bunk beds would help to maximize the amount of sleeping space we have to offer and to make our home more welcoming. Let's face it, no one gets excited over the air mattress option.
Making this Beatrix's bedroom has also inspired me to spruce up her view! Currently, all of those gorgeous windows overlook to a very sad corner of our yard. By the way, do you know how much I disdain wooden privacy fences? Bleh...Oh, that's a whole other conversation. However, I do hope to build some flower beds along the said disdainful fence over the summer. I'm sure a perrenial garden overflowing with turk's hat, echinacea, black eye susans, lantana, etc. might help to fix my attitude about our perfectly functional (ugly) fence line. On the bright side, she said that she loves having her bed tucked under the windows, because now she can watch the chickens so much easier than before. And chicken watching is obviously very important.
Our project room now homes the majority of her playthings, my work desk, my sewing maching and chest of fabrics, and her reading nook. Now we can work and play together and still be in the same place. There's plenty of room for both of us in here. As she gets older, I want to continue to tweak this space to make sure it holds creative appeal to her. I envision this space to evolve into our homeschooling room at some point. I'm thinking that I'd like to make a creative writing/art space as well as shelves that hold learning materials that she is currently using. I'm not trying too hard to make those spaces now, because those materials are also available in our living room and on the screen porch classroom and it feels redundant to duplicate what we already have there.
Rearranging the rooms was so much fun! Both spaces feel fresh and cheerful and are serving our needs more appropriately than before. I'm also finding myself reinspired to photograph these rooms. I love capturing little corners and objects that I'd long overlooked before.
I'm determined to not grow out of this house and to make it work for us for the long haul! When I think back to my childhood or when I consider the size of homes my mom and Byron's parents grew up in with many more people, I'm sure we have just enough space for our family.
Oh, Nichole. What beautifully, calm spaces you have arranged for Beatrix. You have made such a wonderful invitation for imaginative play, creativity, and restful sleep...the warmth of the wood, soft but cheerful color, sunlight, natural materials...full of loveliness. ~heather
Posted by: wordplayhouse® | May 21, 2013 at 01:38 PM
It looks so lovely! I am inspired by the open clean uncluttered view of everything. We're starting over here and while the house was added onto, the original bedrooms are quite small. I'm doing my best to keep the little kids shared room uncluttered and a space for rest..... Bea's room has given me some lovely ideas!
Posted by: Stephinie | May 21, 2013 at 02:10 PM
I just discovered your blog. :)
What a beautiful home! Ours, like yours is set up for everyone in the family. We have four kids and home school- so our house is set up as such. Our son who is 6 never plays in his upstairs room. It has become very simple, with just a bed, bureau, and shelf. All his favorite things are downstairs where we all tend to be.
Again, I love your decor- so sunny and bright!
Take care,
Melanie
Posted by: MamaAshGrove | May 21, 2013 at 04:47 PM
Absolutely gorgeous. I love how light and spacious it is! That is one lucky gal.
Posted by: Carla | May 21, 2013 at 05:16 PM
Amazing...really, so amazing. Who would not want to live and work and learn in these gorgeous spaces?! And, oh...those windows!!! Love.
Posted by: Megan | May 21, 2013 at 06:02 PM
her new room looks so sweet and inviting~ I love the color of the walls. and Claire has the same book on her bedside table (On the Banks of Plum Creek)!
I always enjoy a good rearranging~ are those little wall book shelves something you made or did you buy those somewhere? I love them- something like that would be perfect for Claire's room......
xoxo
Posted by: amanda (sweetpotatoclaire) | May 21, 2013 at 06:49 PM
That is truly beautiful! I envy the natural light. Thank you so much for sharing.
Posted by: Rachel | May 22, 2013 at 02:43 AM
Your spaces are so pretty!
I'm struggling with our to dress our sash windows, I put curtains up and they block so much light I take them down again.
What are solar shades? I've not heard that term in the UK.
Posted by: mamaUK | May 22, 2013 at 12:07 PM
Oh, and I wanted to say, I love her trundle bed.
We're looking to have beds handmade for the girls and I would love something low to the ground like your trundle bed.
Posted by: mamaUK | May 22, 2013 at 12:09 PM
Thanks so much Heather! There's a (small) part of me that often feels like I limit too much of what comes into our home, so it's nice to know that from the outside looking in, it feels inviting and warm. Thank you for visiting!!
Posted by: Nichole | May 22, 2013 at 09:16 PM
Oh Stephinie, you are an old hat to all of this! I'm sure your new home will look incredibly lovely in no time. I shared a bedroom with my mom and younger bro until I was 10 and then with my younger bro until high school. And my brothers all shared one room together as well. I remember that I had one shelf during my childhood years that had my things on it -- that's it. And my brothers each had a trunk that had their personal belongings. We had community/family toys in the living room book case. My mom was a master at using space wisely and not accumulating too much stuff. The old adage "a place for everything and everything in its place" says it all, doesn't it? :)
Posted by: Nichole | May 22, 2013 at 09:24 PM
Hi Melanie,
It's nice to meet you! Thank you for stopping by. I grew up in a big family and we shared bedrooms the entire time. I remember we had very few toys (but enough) . Our bedrooms were sleeping quarters and most of our things that we played with were often kept in the living room bookshelf. And my daughter's play habits are just the same, naturally. I think less is always more when it comes to stuff -- especially toys!
Posted by: Nichole | May 22, 2013 at 09:28 PM
Thank you Carla! I'm glad you enjoyed the tour! I feel incredibly grateful for this gig of mine!
Posted by: Nichole | May 22, 2013 at 09:31 PM
Aw...Thanks Megan. Really. Thank you. I like it, but I don't ever assume that other's will. To me, it's just home.
Posted by: Nichole | May 22, 2013 at 09:33 PM
Thank you, Amanda. The whole house is painted that one color. At first, I wasn't sure if we should keep it -- did it look too new construction boring. But really after we moved in, I couldn't think of a reason to change it. It works everywhere! AND it's done! We don't have to worry about paint colors or one more house project. The little shelves that hold her books are $4 spice racks from IKEA. They make perfect book shelves...
Posted by: Nichole | May 22, 2013 at 09:36 PM
Thank you so much, Rachel. Yes, it's what I love most about our house. I still can't believe how many windows we have. Natural light can make anything beautiful...
Posted by: Nichole | May 22, 2013 at 09:39 PM
The same thing happened to me. When we moved in, I covered all of our windows with curtains from IKEA (least expensive and decent prints). But our windows are so big and there are so many of them, that it made the rooms look too heavy, KWIM...So gradually, I've taken a lot down. And this year, room by room, when our budget allowed, we've installed solar shades. Some people call them honeycomb shades or cellular shades. They supposedly offer the most weather protection (help to insulate) against the drafts, offer nice privacy, and allow for light to still penetrate through. I like them because they aren't clunky or distracting and I wanted something simple that wouldn't take away from the beauty of the windows themselves...:)
So you might want to look into that option...Good luck!!
Posted by: Nichole | May 22, 2013 at 09:47 PM
Thank you! We bought it from an estate sale a couple of years back. It's been the perfect toddler bed. She's been sleeping in it since she was 18 months. Handmade beds for your girls sounds dreamy. I hope you'll post about your new house one day! I can't wait to see. I can only imagine the sweetness and charm...
Posted by: Nichole | May 22, 2013 at 09:49 PM
So, are they like blinds that roll up and pull down?
Posted by: mamaUK | May 23, 2013 at 05:43 AM
Nichole, I have a weakness for pretty photos and I just don't feel inspired to photograph my house right now. There is so much renovating to do, awful wallpaper to strip down, bare plaster in our living room. I just couldn't bare to catalogue it all right now on my blog. I hope to get there someday though!
Posted by: mamaUK | May 23, 2013 at 05:47 AM
So very true! I'm looking around in this new space and doing my best to make it clutter free..... it's amazing what one (or six) can accumulate. I think I might follow your alphabet cards idea for the little one's bedroom.... before I know it they'll be too big for such art. And it will remind me of you + Lissadell too :)
Posted by: Stephinie | May 23, 2013 at 08:43 AM
I love it, so calming. What is the empty building next to her dollhouse...intriguing...My daughter's room is my favourite room in the house as it is uncluttered too. Unfortunately I live with a man who will just not get rid of anything-pulls things out of charity bags when I pack them up...sigh...
Posted by: Rach | May 23, 2013 at 02:23 PM
I love your home's simplistic, calming and cozy warm style. Can you please share where you got your daughter's doll house, barn and the fluffy white rug? These are all things that have been on my wish list. I have no idea where to get the rug and the houses and barns similar to yours that I have found cost $300 so I think I am hoping my husband who enjoys working with wood can replicate them. I get most of my treasures at thrift stores, yard sales and consignment but sometimes you need to splurge to get exactly what you are looking for with homemade quality. What shops do you frequent? Also where do you get your bedding?
Thank you!
Posted by: Jodi | May 23, 2013 at 02:33 PM
Hi Jodi,
Thank you for your kind words. We found the dollhouse on Craigslist, but you can find a similar one on Nova Naturals in their doll play section. The barn was made by my grandfather several decades ago. It was passed down to us. The rug comes from Costco Wholesale. I made her quilt a few years back. I like palaumba toys and Nova Naturals, but mostly everything we have has been thrifted. we've been lucky to find such wonderful pieces.
Posted by: Nichole | May 23, 2013 at 06:03 PM
It's a barn. My grandfather made it many, many years ago. Yes, I love children's spaces, I think, more than (or at least just as much as) grown up spaces. ;)
Posted by: Nichole | May 23, 2013 at 06:06 PM