Big Kid Room Makeover

The kids' room was in a sad state of affairs. Frankie had outgrown her toddler bed (which was really just her crib with one side taken off), and was in a mattress on the floor. The dog had gotten sick on the rug while we were out of town. There was no saving it, so the floor was bare. One curtain had been ripped down by the barbarians who habitate there. Sprinkle a generous helping of toys, old craft projects and half-done puzzles and you get the idea.

I finally had enough. As incentive for keeping his diaper dry at night (which he has successfully been doing! Go Dex!) we promised Dex he too could move to a big boy bed. We went to Ikea on tax free weekend (I know, it was insane, we barely made it out alive) and bought their Kura bed frame. We decided to pass on their $150 mattress for the top bunk and ordered this mattress from Walmart.com. At $75, it was well worth the extra $12 for shipping.

I love this bed from Ikea, because I feel like our guys are still a little too little for real bunk beds. This gives them all the fun of bunk beds without the 5 foot drop. The best part of bunk beds in my opinion, is the secret space, feeling like you're in your own little tent. So I set out to make that space really special.



We bought Dex the Ikea tent that attaches to the top of this bed. I took Frankie to the fabric story and she helped me pick out some fun girl-riding-an-elephant fabric. I made curtains and slid the top through a tension rod I picked up at Target. I used 3 yards of 44" wide fabric for that project.



The bed comes with a blue paneling that did not seem girly enough for Frankie, so she helped me pick out the coordinating purple unicorn fabric and I stapled it to the frame making a more girly headboard for her. I put step by step instructions at the bottom if you're interested in this project - it was really easy and only requires a staple gun. I used 1 yard of 44" fabric to do this part.



Frankie loves having her own little space!


Dex does too!


I reattached the curtain, and hung some new pictures that my sister Sarah did for the kids:





I also took the time to move a few things around in the office/craft room. We found the doors that separate the office from the playroom and I painted them and we put them up. After 3 years of living here, this space also finally feels "finished"!









It feels so good to have it "finished". For now, anyway. Until the little Barbarians who habitate this room come home from their morning out with Daddy and sprinkle it with toys again.

Here's how to make the headboard:

Materials needed:
1 yard 44" fabric
1 yard of batting (I used some leftover quilt batting)
Staple gun

Cut out the fabric and batting to fit the space, with about 1/2 inch on either side. You want the batting and the fabric to be the same size. Line them up, and iron them a little so they stick together nicely



Here's my empty bed frame:



Start at the bottom, and use the staple gun to affix the fabric and batting to the back. Start on the bottom inside. Also best to start in the middle and work out.





After you get the bottom staple on, fold the edge under on on the top, again starting in the middle and staple on the outside as close to the edge as you can





And voila! Purple unicorns to the max.



This project really only took about 30 minutes once I had everything cut out. You can do it too!