Playing Interior Decorator for my Twin Nieces’ Bedroom

My sister decided to begin redecorating her kids’ rooms while I was on holidays.  She phoned me the day after I got home and told me, and I was like, “Whaaaatttt?  And you didn’t even consult me yet?”  Once I moved on from being slightly offended (because decorating is my favorite), she explained that my blog inspired her (yay, I inspired someone!)  So far she had painted the rooms and bought new beds for her twin girls.  Now she wanted help decorating, and asked me to go with her to Ikea to help her pick out a few things.  Of course, I said yes!

So we spent a good chunk of the day with 7 kids in Ikea (yes, we’re crazy, 7 kids!), and we found some awesome finds.  5 of the kids started off in the play center, and my 2 youngest came with us in the store.  We wanted to look at mattresses and dressers, so we had to wind our way through the top floor of Ikea first.  This, of course, took a while.  I had to stop to feed my baby too, which wasn’t ideal.  So by the time we got downstairs it was almost time to pick up the other kids from the play center, and we still had lots to look at.  We managed okay, and the kids had fun, but by the time we left I couldn’t get out of there fast enough!  (Note to self—don’t bribe the children with ice cream after if they are good, because my 3 year old will be so focused on ice cream that he will whine the entire time and then not get it at the end anyway!)

My sister has twin girls and a boy.  The girls share a room and her son has his own room.  The twins old bunk beds got moved to her son’s room (I’ll do a post about his room sometime soon!), and the girls got new matching off-white beds in their room.The walls were green, so she freshened up the paint with a soft pink color.  The room isn’t very big, so arranging furniture was a little tricky.  Although the new beds could actually be bunk beds, she wanted the beds to be side by side, with a nightstand in between.  The only option for this arrangement was to place the beds under the window.  It made for a tight fit to get into the closet, but it works. Our Grandma’s old antique dresser/vanity went in the alcove on the other side of the room.(If you are wondering what’s taped to the drawers, my nieces labelled them!!!) My sister bought this new little dresser for clothes storage from IKEA ($99!).  It’s quite narrow, so it’s a great space saver for a small room.  She made a gallery wall with some old frames (and some new ones she purchased at Home Sense).  She’s still searching for another frame and photos to fill them, but you can get the idea.  The shelf was already attached to the wall, but it looks cute above the gallery wall. The little purple night stand might get a fresh coat of paint in a new color yet—it is pretty scratched up!  My sister updated the knobs to these cute crystal ones.I love the pink crystal lamp that she got for the room too!Some of the best deals we found at Ikea that day were on pillows and bedding.  My sister didn’t want to spend a ton of money to update her kids’ beds.  Of course, Ikea has adorable duvet covers that would have looked great.  With budget in mind, I helped her pick out some inexpensive white bedspreads ($19.99), pink pillow cases, ($7.99 for a queen 2-pack) and patterned pink cushions ($5.99!) for each bed.  The girls can use their old comforters and blankets under the new bedspread, so it was a pretty cute and budget-conscious solution for the room.  A friend had made 2 adorable quilts for the girls when they were born, and they worked great for a throw blanket to accent the end of the bed.   I think the purple in the quilts actually helps tie the color of the nightstand into the room.

When we were in Ikea, my sister decided to say loudly for others to hear, “Yep, I’m just shopping with my personal interior decorator, no biggy!”  I’m a mom and a teacher, and just a wanna-be interior decorator—but I LOVE when people enlist me to help!My sister did a great job—I think the room turned out great! (I’ll send her my design consult bill in the mail!)  I love what a difference a little paint and some new bedding can make!  IKEA adventures are the best!  I wish there was a store closer to my home, but for now it’s a fun day trip always worth doing!