A Whimsical + Modern Girls’ Shared Bedroom Reveal | One Room Challenge – Week 8

It’s final reveal time! It feels like we started on this redecorating adventure as part of the 2020 One Room Challenge ages ago. We were able to accomplish everything on our project list, and other than hanging a few plants and displaying some family photographs I’m happy to say our daughters’ shared bedroom is finished!

If you’re visiting for the first time, here’s a look back at our initial plan for the room and some of the DIY projects we undertook during this challenge.

WEEK 1: A Shared Girls’ Bedroom Makeover — The Plan

WEEK 2: DIY Twin House Headboards

WEEK 3: DIY $60 Corner Bookcase

WEEK 4: Easy DIY Built-In Closet Shelving

WEEK 5/6: A Simple IKEA Rast Nightstand Makeover

WEEK 7: A Children’s Rolltop Desk Makeover

THE CHALLENGE

Transform a small builder-grade bedroom into a fun and colorful retreat for our two daughters, ages 3 and 6. The limited amount of wall space really forced us to get creative in utilizing every square inch of the room.

The Final Reveal

Our first task was to figure out what to do with the huge, blank wall that sat behind their beds. We started by building custom headboards to add a bit of character to their otherwise very minimalist bed frames from IKEA. Our daughters helped select their new bedding: pink linen quilts paired with colorful floral sheets from Crate and Kids.

We made over a vintage children’s rolltop desk to give our daughters a dedicated place for writing and drawing in their bedroom. Each has their own desk drawer for special notebooks and journals. Our oldest recently expressed an interest in learning more about how plants and trees grow, so we added a small plant propagation station here so she can work on propagating houseplants to gift friends and family. #childledlearningisthebest

In order to make room for their desk, we had to find a new place to display books. For just $60 dollars we were able to build a narrow bookcase to squeeze into a previously unused corner of their bedroom. This gives the girls a space for chapter books and other knick-knacks and odds and ends they may wish to display in the coming years.

We also moved one of their IKEA FLISAT book racks over to the wall by our youngest daughter’s bed. Artwork from Emily Winfield Martin coordinates perfectly with the main colors in the room. Each of our daughters was able to select some of their favorite prints to display.

We also updated an old IKEA nightstand for the girls to share. Then we painted a large yellow sun centered on the wall behind their beds to help anchor the space. My oldest loves making and displaying garlands to decorate so we searched through our felt stash and were able to make a bow garland to hang in the corner. It’s a super simple craft project for kids since it only requires cutting strips of felt and tying overhand knots.

Since we had limited wall space we opted to create a minimal self-care station for our daughters behind their bedroom door. To do so we simply repurposed an accordion wall rack and a small acrylic mirror that we hadn’t found a place for since moving into our home. (If you’ve been following our Montessori-inspired family for awhile, you’ll recognize both these items used to be in the girls’ playroom and I’m glad we were finally able to find a spot for them!)

A small bag holds their hairbrush and comb as well as a few small hair accessories. The accordion rack gives them a designated place to hang their purses. We also chose to display our 2020 Weather Tree here. Last year we recorded daily weather conditions on our tree, but this year we’re simply using it as a daily outdoor habit tracker.

We also built a small peg rail with shelf for the wall space between their closet door and entry door. We attached a small letter bin on top since both our daughters enjoy receiving cards and handwritten notes. They love to check their own ‘mailbox’ each morning to see if they’ve received anything special.

In our initial One Room Challenge post I mentioned we would need to figure out a new lighting solution in our daughters’ bedroom to help alleviate fears of the dark. We ended up purchasing Philips Hue Play LED Bar Lights and mounting them behind the new headboards we built for our daughters. The lights were a bit of a splurge item, but since we had already begun investing in the Philips Hue products in our entertainment room they ended up making the most sense for us. We’ve only had them for about a month in this room, but so far they’re working out really well as a nightlight solution for our family.

We also swapped out their old ceiling light fixture for a pendant lamp. It was the ONE item on the project list that was procrastinated until the very end because Eric had to crawl into the attic to add a board between our ceiling joists to ensure a secure attachment and it’s like 120 degrees up there right now. But we got it done! And it was worth it because the girls think it’s such a cool light. Although when it first arrived they tried to convince us it’d be a much cooler toy than an actual light, but thankfully we were able to persuade them otherwise. 😉

And, finally, the closet. We’re lucky because their small bedroom actually has a nice sized closet. Wall-mounted clothing racks and hanging pocket organizers make their clothes easily accessible to them. We installed built-in shelving in the corner of the closet and swapped the builder-grade wire shelf along the top with a floating shelf. Once the wire shelf was removed we were able to mount IKEA’s SKADIS pegboards above each of the girls’ clothing racks. This gives them a place to keep their jewelry neatly organized.

THE ‘BEFORE’

Here’s a quick look back at the room when we started the One Room Challenge —

THE ‘AFTER’

And here’s what it looks like now —

And that’s it! We actually managed to complete our first One Room Challenge! Yay! I really hope we’re able to participate in the next one since it was a lot of fun. But, truth be told, it was a bit stressful for us as well since we tend to start on a project in one room and then move to a different room for another project, etc. etc. So I’m glad we were able to stick with it until the end and, most of all, so pleased that we were able to deliver exactly what our daughters wanted: a bright and colorful bedroom that’s ‘cozy and happy’ as our 6-year-old requested.

If you haven’t yet, please don’t forget to visit the One Room Challenge blog to view everyone else’s final room reveals. I’m always amazed by the room transformations and inspired by the other designers who participate. Plus, I love discovering all the cool DIY projects that are featured throughout the challenge!

Here’s a little more information about the items we used as part of the 2020 One Room Challenge: A Whimsical + Modern Girls’ Shared Bedroom Makeover.

DISCLOSURE: THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS AT NO COST TO YOU. THIS MEANS I MAY RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION IF YOU MAKE A PURCHASE USING THESE LINKS.

PAINT COLORS

WALL PAINT: Benjamin Moore ‘Pale Oak’

ACCENT PAINT: Benjamin Moore ‘Banana Yellow’

FURNITURE PAINT: Sherwin-Williams ‘Snowbound’

TEXTILES

BEDDING: Crate and Kids’ Linen Pink Quilt + Organic Dutch Floral Sheets

AREA RUG: Beige Handwoven Cotton Casual Solid Rug

ACCENT RUGS: IKEA TOTLUND Rug

FURNITURE

TWIN BEDS: IKEA UTAKER Stackable Bed

HEADBOARDS: DIY Twin House Headboards

BOOKCASE: DIY $60 Corner Bookcase

NIGHTSTAND: Thrifty IKEA Rast Makeover

DESK: A Children’s Rolltop Desk Makeover

CLOSET

CLOTHING RACKS: DIY $15 Clothing Rack with Shelf

CLOSET SHELVING: Easy DIY Built-In Floating Closet Shelves

PEGBOARD: IKEA SKADIS Pegboard

wall DecOr

PICTURES: Prints by Emily Winfield Martin, both here and here

MIRROR: 12″ x 24″ Acrylic Mirror Sheet with DIY Wood Frame

ACCORDION WALL RACK: Fox Run Expanding Wall Rack

PEG RACK: (DIY Tutorial Coming Soon)

lighting

Pendant Light: Basketweave Bamboo Pendant Shade

Accent Lighting: Philips Hue Play Lights