Making it Lovely

Tag: kids room

  • A Colorful Pain-in-the…

    A Colorful Pain-in-the…

    A new rug has once again entered our house. It’s cute and colorful! August likes it! Tiny Lego pieces get lost where the baby can crawl over and find/eat them or you step on them, ouch! I did not realize what a pain it would be to make sure there aren’t little tiny toys hidden, lying in wait. It’s not an impossible task but it is worth mentioning in case you’re looking for something similar. I imagine this would be a problem with most of the colorful options I was looking at, or with any heavily patterned rug.

    Colorful Rag Rug

    The bigger problem is that it’s a cheap rug, and that’s evident in the quality. Basically, it’s just a big 8×10 cotton rag rug, but even among rag rugs, quality varies. The little loops are continuously popping up and I have to tuck them back in or trim them. And of course I can’t use the vacuum’s beater brush, which may or may not be a problem in the long run. Returning a rug by mail is a pain, but the shipping both ways is free and I’m going to replace it with either this one or this one instead. The flat weave should last longer and be easier to keep clean, which is worth the hassle of swapping them out. It’s a disappointment and a minor setback, but it’s easily fixable.

    Little Loops Sticking Out in a Rag Rug

    A new desk is here too. (I sold the armchair to make room for it.) August requested red and the one I was going to order (#20 in the roundup) sold out before I grab one, so I went with one of the other options. It’s sturdy and solid and will stand up to little boy wear and tear, and the castors have locks on the front wheels. Plus, obscenely large pet cages fit beneath it, so bonus!

    Guinea Pigs Take Up a LOT of Room

    Eventually a chair and some sort of drawers/storage will go where the cage is, but August is happy to have the boy guinea pigs in his room right now and that’s the best place for them.

    The new layout with the bed in front of the windows means we couldn’t use the sconce we had again as a bedside light. I spotted the windsor task floor lamp on clearance and I bought the store’s floor model, figuring it would work well as a replacement. The cord is part of its design, but the floor switch is annoying because you have to get out of bed to turn the light on or off. A plug-in dimmer switch will solve the problem.

    Windsor Task Floor Lamp

    How’s that old “to do” list shaping up?

    To do:

    • paint the bed frame

    • upholster the headboard

    • no more bed rail

    • new rug return and replace the new rug

    • rearrange the furniture

    • repaint (maybe) (definitely)

    • add shelves above the radiator

    • more art

    • organize (and pare down) the toys

    • replace the light with a ceiling fan

  • Rugs, Rugs, Rugs, Plus Plans for August’s Room

    Rugs, Rugs, Rugs, Plus Plans for August’s Room

    Staring at those photos of August’s room while I edited them and wrote up my post last week made it increasingly evident that the gray rug in there needed to go. I rolled it up later that day while Brandon had all of the kids at the park, and I rearranged the furniture while they were gone too.

    August’s reaction could have gone two ways. Mild interest in the novelty of the new, or absolute hatred with a side of resistance to change. When he got back, I called him upstairs and told him I had a surprise for him in his room. I was met with a hug and the biggest smile. “Oh, it’s so beautiful!” Not what I expected to come out of his mouth, but I’ll take it.

    August's Room

    I took the safety rail off of the bed when I changed the room’s layout, and I’m pleased to report that August has only tumbled out of bed once since then. He was so sleepy and out of it that he didn’t even remember it the next morning. Parenting win! (The kid was fine. You gotta learn to sleep in a normal bed some time, right? And anyway, his is super low to the ground, so you know. Not too far to fall.)

    I brought in a white rug that we already owned so that there would still be a soft surface to play on (or fall out of bed onto). I feel like this is about as good as that wall color can look, and it’s not looking great. The curtains and artwork though, I like, and those are definitely staying.

    Plans for August's Room

    Rugs, rugs, rugs. Stick with what I’ve got, or…

    Fun & Coloful

    Colorful Rugs

    1. Boucherouite Rug, The Land of Nod

    2. Gypsy Stripe Woven Cotten Rug, Dash & Albert

    3. Melita Flokati Rug, Anthropologie

    4. Magical Thinking Triangle Chindi Rag Rug, Urban Outfitters

    5. Paint Palette Rug, The Land of Nod

    6. Carrousel Lattice Rug, Lulu & Georgia

    7. Delphine Rug (Ruby and Teal), Lulu & Georgia

    8. Salma Wool Shag Rug, West Elm

    hr 644

    Stick with Ivory

    Neutral (Ivory) Rugs
    Our rug has long been discontinued, but these are similar if you’re in the market.

    1. Honeycomb Textured Wool Rug, West Elm

    2. Textured Wool Rug, PB Kids

    3. Moorish Tile Rug, Pier 1

    hr 644

    Neutral & Geometric

    Neutral Geometric Rugs

    1. Woven Geo Fringe Kilim Rug (Navy), PB Kids

    2. Magical Thinking Printed Boucherouite Rug, Urban Outfitters

    3. Azi Rug, CB2

    4. Threshold™ Aztec Fleece Area Rug, Target

    5. Torres Wool Kilim (Iron), West Elm

    6. Herald Rug, Anthropologie

    7. Delaney Rug (Navy), PB Kids

    8. Oslo Wool Dhurrie Rug, CB2

    hr 644

    What do you think? Are there any other good options that I may have missed?

  • August’s Room, After Stripping the Wallpaper

    August’s Room, After Stripping the Wallpaper

    Last time I mentioned August’s room, we were starting to strip the wallpaper. That was right before a crew came out to photograph the house, so we wanted to take the peeling wallpaper off and throw a coat of paint on the walls as quickly as possible! I hate rushing to make decisions, and the color I chose is a good example of why. Blech.

    You’ve seen a couple of glimpses here and there, and today I have more to share.

    August's Room, After Stripping the Wallpaper

    The old wallpaper was cute, but August ensured its exit status by peeling a huge portion of it off. So the room is looking better now than it was, but it’s not looking great yet. More to do!

    Reading Chair in August's Room

    The rug is not staying. It looked good in the bedroom at our old house, but it doesn’t work with the wood here and I think it’s time to let it go. I mentioned before that I’m not in love with the green, and that’s still true. Once I bring in a new rug for the room, I’ll reevaluate the wall color and decide if it needs to be changed.

    August's Dresser

    August's Bed

    The toys are a mess! I picked up whatever and put it wherever so I could vacuum, and everything kind of ended up on the available horizontal surfaces. They could (and should) look a lot neater.

    Star Wars Art and August's Books and Toys

    To do:

    • paint the bed frame

    • upholster the headboard

    • no more bed rail

    • new rug

    • rearrange the furniture

    • repaint (maybe)

    • add shelves above the radiator

    • more art

    • organize (and pare down) the toys

    • replace the light with a ceiling fan

    That green looks even worse in these photos than it does in real life. Oof. I’m excited about pulling his room together though! I’m rolling up that gray rug today and getting it out of there.

    August's Room, In Progress

  • Christmas Decorations (Part 1: Upstairs)

    Christmas Decorations (Part 1: Upstairs)

    I know — it’s a little late in the game to finally be sharing our Christmas decorations! The house was photographed this year for the Christmas issue of a magazine (to come out next year, obviously), so I was focused on getting the little details right. Today I’ll share the upstairs decorations, and tomorrow the living and dining rooms.

    First, here’s Eleanor’s room.

    Eleanor's Bedroom, Decorated for Chrismas

    She picked out her little white tree last year, and she was happy to see its return. She decorated it herself (she really likes those spiky glitter ornaments), and was adamant about there being a star on top. We didn’t have one, so I bought a glittery star-shaped ornament to use and all was well. I probably wouldn’t have draped her bed with garland, but we had the magazine shoot and I was feeling a little extra pressure to really Christmas it up. E likes it, because “now her bed looks like a sleigh.”

    Eleanor's Room, Decorated for Christmas

    (And I stand by my love for all the weird deer in my house.)

    August’s room was decorated too. The little Christmas tree is usually on top of his dresser, but his room is so small and hard to photograph that I moved it over to the table (temporarily) to fit it all in one shot with the wreath and reindeer in the window. It looks really nice there — it just wouldn’t survive very long!

    Christmas Decorations in August's Room

    The library has had the silver tree for the last few years — mostly because we already own it and I figure we might as well use it. We already had the birds, and the red yarn balls are new (from IKEA). I was slightly freaking out (oh, just slightly) about there needing to be something else up there, so I invited Kathryn over for a second opinion. She suggested the white feather wreaths from west elm, and I like how they tie in to the white feather birds on the tree.

    Christmas Decorations in the Library

    The other side of the library has had those brass deer up all year. I guess that’s strange? I added some garland and ornaments, white Christmas lights, and my giant sequin disco ball ornament things.

    Christmas Decorations Upstairs in the Library

    I think of these as the ancillary decorations. The pink tree is the real star of the house, and no doubt why we were chosen for the magazine. I’ll share the downstairs photos tomorrow!

  • Planning a Mini-Makeover for Eleanor’s Room

    Planning a Mini-Makeover for Eleanor’s Room

    I’m never really one to finish a room and call it done. It’s more fun to tweak and look at my home as an ever-changing, evolving project. So I have a mini-makeover planned for Eleanor’s room, all because I was in the market for a new duvet cover for her. Her polka dot cover is cute, but we needed a backup for when it was in the wash. Details below:

    1. Painted Ponies Bedding

      This set is the one I ordered, but I’ve put together a post with a whole bunch of options for horse obsessed kiddos.

    2. Wall Dot Vases*
      I ordered mine yesterday at half off from Fab (I found them on the last day, and the sale is now over), but they can be purchased directly from Chive.

    3. Polka Dot Curtains
      We already had these on hand, from Eleanor’s nursery. Similar curtains can be found here.

    *Those wall vases will take a long time to arrive (several weeks, probably — the downfall of shopping flash sale sites).

  • Eleanor’s Bizarro World Room

    Eleanor’s Bizarro World Room

    The Land of Nod was so into the bedroom I designed for Eleanor (which they helped furnish) that they recreated the look for their new catalog. It’s on page 61.

    Our copy arrived today, and I showed it to Eleanor. “Does this look like your room?” I asked her. She looked at it, then started pointing at toys and asking to play with them upstairs. The girl really wants her mercury glass mushrooms and toy calliope, please.

    Here’s Eleanor’s room, for reference.

    Quite the resemblance, right? (Although, now that I think about it… they’re based in Chicago. I’m in Chicago. Dudes, why didn’t you just shoot here?)

    Anyway, thanks team Nod! It was neat to see the Bizarro World version in the catalog.