We’ve been in our house almost two years so I thought I’d show you what the girls’ rooms looked like when we first moved in and no longer look like.
What?
If I could tell you how many posts I’ve prepared or taken pictures for then just never completed, we would be here all day. I’m overflowing with ideas and short on time, but I’m trying to follow through on some old drafts and this is one of them. So while Ellie’s and Harper’s rooms do not currently look like this, the majority of the stuff in them is still there. Whenever we have guests, people always ask where Harper’s light fixture or Ellie’s rug came from so I’m sharing all of that here as well.
When we moved from our small house in the city where the girls shared a room to our much larger home in the country, the girls got to make some design choices for their new rooms. I asked for color ideas and dream situations. Harper wanted green walls and a canopy bed. Ellie wanted purple walls and a bookcase for all her books.
My kids have low demands. I met very few of them.
Harper ended up with white walls and lots of green accents which slowly morphed into rainbow colors. I bribed her to give up the green walls (gag) in return for the most brightly colored light fixture I could find.
It worked like a charm.
At the old house, the girls had bunk beds and because we didn’t have the budget for new beds when we moved, we just split up the bunk beds giving each girl one twin bed. (We have since put the bunk beds in Harper’s room, and Ellie got a full-size bed so guests can sleep in her room when they visit and both girls can stay in Harper’s room; I’ll give a current bedroom tour in a few months…you know, right before I rearrange it again, because I like to be timely).
Ellie’s room did get purple walls, but very light purple. I really want their rooms to feel light and airy so adding anything that feels dark and heavy on the walls is a struggle for me. The gray curtains in Ellie’s room ended up blocking too much light so we took those down and replaced them with white gauzy ones pretty quickly. We try to compromise in the girls’ rooms: they get to decorate, hang up posters, and keep their little knickknacks out as long as I get to decorate first.
Seeing Ellie’s lightbox with “Hey Bub” written on it makes me laugh; she was on a months-long kick where she called everyone Bub and it was funny for a second then it quickly morphed to annoying. It has, thankfully, ended so it’s fun to see that reminder. Ellie’s rug is a big hit with everyone. It’s hard to vacuum because it’s got lots of little fabric pieces that get caught in the vacuum, but otherwise she loves it and so do I.
Both the girls have real plants in their rooms, and they love them. I added those when they were at school one day and expected protests when they got home to see them, but the opposite happened. They were both excited about the plants and have added more since. I will say, I’m not always the best about remembering to water their plants and there have been some causalities.
Once the dust settled from our move, the girls were still happy and excited with their own rooms. I completely expected them to miss sleeping in the same room and predicted the first few nights would be drama-filled. But they proved me wrong and haven’t complained one second about being split up. It’s also brought a little more peace to our home. I enjoy having the option to ask them to take a break in their rooms for some quiet time or to diffuse fights. They play really well together, but space helps with their attitudes also. (Although, I’m also a big fan of kids sharing rooms and just figuring it out. They shared a room for five years, and it worked really well. I shared a room with my sister until I was thirteen, but I think the room addition for me at thirteen was to help my family and not me. I was a handful.)
Where to get some of the things featured in Harper’s room
Cat picture: Marshall’s
Globes: vintage
Dresser: IKEA
‘Let’s Get Lost’ picture: Marshall’s
Bedding: Walmart
Bed: Walmart
Bed canopy: Amazon
Bookshelf: IKEA
Toy box: IKEA (currently unavailable)
Sheer curtains: Target
Rug: Rugs USA
Chandelier: Amazon (currently unavailable)
Rolling drawers: IKEA (currently not available in green)
Wall tassels: Walmart (in the party aisle!)
Bedside lamp: IKEA (similar)
Where to get some of the things featured in Ellie’s room
Dog picture: Marshall’s
Curtains: Target
Bed: Walmart
Duvet: IKEA
‘Hello’ pillow: Marshall’s
Cat pillow: IKEA (currently unavailable)
Bean bag: Target
Rug: Rugs USA (similar)
Unicorn lamp: Target
Nightstand: Walmart
Cat picture: Marshall’s
Dog: rescue shelter (not for sale)
Gold mirror: vintage
Dresser: IKEA
Lightbox: Walmart
Coat rack: IKEA (currently unavailable; similar style)
Wall pennant: raodside tourist stop in Utah
Llama picture: Marshall’s
Basket: Marshall’s
Bookcase: IKEA (currently unavailable)
Art easel: Amazon
Light fixture: IKEA
*DISCLOSURE: Affiliate links used.
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