Y’all, this was such a fun makeover to do. While not technically play spaces, the girls’ bedrooms are their main hubs and when you’re a pre-teen and beyond, I feel like your bedroom becomes your playroom. Mabel (10) and Violet (7) were darlings, letting me into their private spaces to take creative charge. Both girls were asked about their wishes for the rooms and with this in mind I got busy with what I think is my biggest makeover yet.
Mabel’s Room
Mabel’s room was all about embracing the motto “a place for everything and everything in its place”. Things were scattered in all the wrong places, and the furniture/storage that was available wasn’t being utilized. She also wanted the room to feel more like a big kid space – the decor hadn’t been updated since she was a baby. Her request was a space for her dolls and a reading nook. Here’s what we did:
- Moved out a surplus bookshelf and consolidated all her books onto the Kallax shelf (Mabel is an avid reader)
- Removed everything from the desk and organized all her writing implements and notebooks before putting it back.
- Hung a large mirror over the desk to make the room feel bigger and brighter.
- Removed the dark curtains and replaced with brighter lighter ones.
- Rearranged the layout of her dresser to open up the room more.
- Removed the cupboard door and hung curtains to make more space and create a little nook for her dolls.
- Turned the unused bottom bunk into a reading nook complete with twinkle lights, bookshelves, artworks, and new sheets and pillows.
- Hung new artworks specific to Mabel’s interests and an IKEA Dignitet line for hanging her artwork (old artwork was removed).
- Lots of organizing and cleaning.
- Still to come – a custom shelf for the top bunk for Mabel’s book and drink bottle. 🙂
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Violet’s Room
Violet’s room was in a similar place to Mabel’s in terms of the need for things to be sorted and organized. Violet is much more of a pack rat, with a love for art and the ability to see a creative use for most items that perhaps don’t need to be kept. Art is what makes her heart sing, and so the focus of the room was creating a better space for her to create + a place to read + a way to hang clothing (she has no built-ins). Here’s what we did:
- Removed a surplus bookshelf and consolidated books onto one shelf.
- Move furniture around to create a larger footprint in the room with better flow.
- Added a hanging storage rack (hand-built) to give Violet a place to hang clothes.
- Created a new wall-mounted desk using hair-pin brackets (hand-built) to replace the large dark one that was previously in the room, and hung a mirror over it to make the room feel bigger and brighter.
- Built and installed a wall-mounted easel.
- Created an art cart for all of Violet’s art supplies using an IKEA Raskog cart.
- Organized other art supplies using magazines files and plastic storage drawers.
- Hung a hammock chair to create a cozy reading nook.
- Hung new artworks specific to Violet’s interests and an IKEA Dignitet line for hanging her artwork (old artwork was removed).
- Ultimately the wooden dresser will be removed and the bookshelf moved into its place, but before this can happen Violet’s clothes need to be gone through and paired down.
- Removed the dark curtains and replaced with brighter lighter ones.
- Hung bookshelves next to Violet’s bed for the books she is reading.
- Lots of organizing and cleaning.
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