We've been very busy the last few days trying to redo the girls' room. It's not quite finished yet, but it's on the way.
We had the usual problems of not enough space, too many toys and books that aren't in use, access to toys and books, etc., as well as our newer problem of places to keep Princess Pea's 'big girl' things where Sweet Pea can't get into them (e.g., all her thousands of tiny hair clips and bits of Playmobil!). Plus up until now, all of Sweet Pea's clothes were stored in the hall closet, as there wasn't any space in the wardrobe or dresser for her things.
First we got rid of the old wardrobe and dresser. Actually, we just got rid of the wardrobe because when we moved them out of the bedroom into the hallway as a temporary storage solution, we discovered that the dresser fit quite nicely in the hall, where we had planned to buy a cabinet! So we kept that. It's now in the hallway, and we added a couple of framed paintings by Princess Pea. Looks quite good I think! And it turned out to be just the perfect place to put some of the dining chairs that are always kicking around (with the kids' chairs at the table, we just have too many chairs now but nowhere to store the extras).
Then we bought a new wardrobe/dresser/shelving unit thingy from IKEA. I think it's pretty cute, and I like the green as it matches their other things. We had someone come to help with the assembly, as it's quite impossible for us to do it ourselves while watching a baby and a preschooler. Especially the baby, who makes a mad dash towards screwdrivers whenever she can.
I wanted to make sure the shelves were placed at the right height so that we had a space for 'oversized' books - you know, the ones that don't fit upright on a regular bookshelf and you have to turn them on their sides instead. I don't know why, but that irritates me. So we found our biggest book and used that as the guide for shelf placement.
I also wanted to make sure that the wardrobe rails were hung at an appropriate height for the size of their clothes, so I found the longest dress of Princess Pea's I could, and used that as my guide. I considered hanging Sweet Pea's lower and then adjusting it as she grows, but I decided to hang it at the same height and just use the space below for storing some of the bigger bulky things, like the travel cot.
I still plan to get some nice boxes for on top and for the shelves inside the wardrobes.
After that was all taken care of, I had to rearrange the rest of the furniture to fit it all back in. The other things we need in there are Princess Pea's toddler bed, Sweet Pea's crib, the toy tray storage thingy, and the chair. This proved difficult because of the awkward placement and design of our heaters, as well as the need to be able to open the door out to the balcony (which is where I hang all the laundry in warmer seasons, so it's a high-traffic area). I decided finally to put the chair in front of the side of the door that we don't usually open, and I think it works really well. I love sitting there snuggling Sweet Pea just before bedtime!
I thought it might be nice for the girls to have their beds next to each other. This also works well because now they can share the mobiles (Princess Pea has been lamenting the loss of her mobile since we used the stand for Sweet Pea's mobile instead.)
We also had a little bookshelf that was doubling as a night table for Princess Pea. But instead, I decided to turn it into a 'reading corner' by adding a cushion on top, and placing it by the window across from the end of the tray storage, where her wooden ABCs are posted. I love this little corner! I put down a couple of foam squares to make an imprompt area rug, but will look out for something better.
The only thing I really don't like now is that we don't have a suitable night table, and are currently using the dress-up box, which is ugly. Will have to figure out what to do about that. It does have quite a handy top that flips open half at a time, so it's possible to access its contents without moving everything off of the top. But the plastic tub is ugly. Will keep an eye open for something nicer.
I still have to add some more poppies around Princess Pea's bed, and finish putting all their things on the shelves, but it's more or less done now.
I think it's now my favourite room in the house. :-)
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