For about 2 months we thought our newest little was going to be a boy! Perfect! No need to change much in Finns room! We will just need to find a way to add a toddler bed in his tiny closet sized bedroom.. already we were going to have to be creative. But then SURPRISE! Baby is actually a girl!! Now we started wondering HOW are we going to fit everyone in their own spaces that feel made for them?
I started creating mood boards and eventually drew out this full mock up design. Gender neutral with a touch of girly!
I wanted to reuse most of what we already had, add girly touches but also let Finn feel like he had his own side to things. It was tricky but, thanks to AMAZING companies that I’ll link at the end, we ended up with the perfect shared space with style and function!
I’ll start with a few before! These photos aren’t great since I was taking them on my phone at night but you get the idea! I started with having the husband switch out the light and then I painted the walls ultra white by Vaspar and making the trim accent wall. I would suggest doing this earlier in your pregnancy because it got hard to breathe bending all the way down to nail in the trimming haha!
Imagine the walls were gray before.. I couldn’t find a true before photo! We took the door off the closet and put the dresser in there. I figured I won’t be rocking the new, possibly crying, baby in the same room as Finn sleeping so we took the rocking chair out. It’s currently sitting in our kitchen.. trying to decide if it’ll be added to the living room or if we will make space in our tiny ”master“ room to keep it there. But that’s for later.
After getting the walls all white, they were ready for creating! First, I’ll show the process of the mural! I measured the space the crib would cover so I don’t waste my time on details that would never show. I picked mainly neutrals so I could carry the colors throughout the room and hopefully keep it pretty neutral for Finn’s sake hah! Then, after I fixed the holes in the wall from shelves and things hanging up before, I drew out a rough composition of where I want certain flowers and plants. Then I used a tiny brush to get to work! I labeled each plant a color so it would remain balanced and once everything was painting, I covered up eraser marks and mistakes with white paint and this is what we ended up with!
As I painted, I realized I could the basket wall I had been dying for above the mural! I had baskets in my basement for at least year and the big one reminded me of a sun/flower so I added it in with coordinating baskets.
Now the details! I’ll show the things we made ourselves! Below are some paintings I did with the same sample paints I got from Lowe’s that I used to paint baby girls mural. I have been saving the wood packaging that comes with “Melissa and Doug” brand stamps and toys for years waiting for inspiration to strike! I’m so excited with the way these turned out! The girl is above baby girl’s bed and the other 3 are above Finn’s!
Next was the toddler bed! I knew I wanted to start with an actual toddler bed for sizing and for sturdy slates. I scoured FB marketplace for 2 weeks before I found a free one! It was broken but I was going to cut it down anyways! I cut off all excess parts that wasn’t apart of the bottom frame and measured how much wood to buy. I got a solid piece of maple (with compressed wood in the middle.. trying to keep it cheeeap) for less than $40! I had the guy at Lowe’s cut it down for me which I ended up cutting 7” across the top to keep it even more low profile. I designed and cut out the legs in the front and kept the back mostly there, just cut the edges in so it isn’t too bulky. Then I sanded everything down and rounded all edges and corners for safety!
And then I got wood and dowels that matched the color for the toy shelf\changing table. I knew I needed a play area but my husbands only request was a changing table! So I came up with this! i wanted it to feel open, mcm and light. Using the dowels kept it open but it also was not super sturdy so we screwed it into the wall. I used eye hooks to screw into each dowel for the shelves to rest on like pegs. Then I screwed up through the eyelet into the shelf to keep them stationary! It turned out too perfect! Check out the whole room below!! I will include links to the companies that were used in the making of this room! ALL worth a look!
Fawn and Forest: CUTEST Babyletto CRIB
Fawn and Forest: CRIB MATTRESS
Project Nursery: Reva Changing Table
Project Nursery: “Welcome” Sign
Project Nursery: Modern Wall Hanging Above Crib
Heart Felt Creations: Buffalo Head
Miracle Baby Decor: Llama Mobile
Starry Knight Design: Baby Shoes
Cuddle and Kind: Knitted Dolls Chitrani Official: Wood Rainbow Willow Way Crochet: Crochet Bear and Rainbow Bonnet
Wildbird Co: Mini Sling
Rug USA: Pink Rug Modo Lighting: Sputnik Light