We separated the kids into their own rooms last spring when Alistair's noise making was interfering with Marielle's sleep. They both sleep much better now, but I joke it was his way of getting his bigger boy room as soon as he could, since the room we had them in was destined to be hers.
Like their shared nursery, I didn't have an overarching design mission in mind, though I certainly have a look that I tend to gravitate to and just buy (sometimes too many) things I like and they all end up all kind of going together. I like and went with natural, happy, Indian/int'l, beachy/nautical/preppy, etc., with a focus on art and textiles. No kiddie kitsch or themes, nothing branded, nothing that hurts your eyes to look at, no sets or otherwise too matchy matchy or anything completely impractical. I tend to like higher end things (who doesn't, right?), but honestly the amount that some people spend on what is decidedly a temporary room is in my opinion completely ridiculous. If my journey to a mom of two taught me anything it is the beauty of simplicity and voluntarily scaling back.
The twins' nursery/Mari's room is 11x10, and while that is on the smallish side for even a secondary bedroom, once we removed the second crib it opened it up, a lot. We've since added a wardrobe, since I got sick of dealing with having all of her hang up clothes in his closet across the hall, and wasn't in the mood for a demo into the guest closet. I've rearranged the furniture several times (as I tend to do), but the jr. high line up is where I settled since there were so many doors and drawers to accommodate it was just easier (and now everything is bolted to the walls, so there is no changing of minds).
I replaced the ticking stripe (which I love way too much) curtains from Land of Nod with the previous ones we had custom made in India (her room was previously our den, though I'd always planned for it to be a kid's room), since she liked to pull on them since they went to the floor. These are short as I'd always planned window seats under our very large and low windows in both the kids' rooms (hers will come later). She doesn't mess with these, though she loves to stand and look out the window.
The curtains' raised garland pattern
This recliner/glider is crazy comfy
The "new" old map of Bermuda
The wardrobe knobs
A wider shot
The rugs
The hall to List's room, from the chair you can see the map... :)
Her garland, chair, and round pillow are from LON. The wardrobe and throw are from IKEA, and I replaced the original knobs with bunnies from Anthropologie (where her fabric "m" is also from). The wardrobe art are gifts from her cousins and friends. The berber wool carpet is Karastan (one of several remnants from our stair recarpet), which was previously in our office, where the wool roundie ended up. The new striped rug is from Williams-Sonoma Home. The map of Bermuda is from our trip in '09 (love that place) and needed a home when I put up a white board calendar in the kitchen. I feel bad that her map is so puny, given the mural we ended up putting in his room, but these will be well traveled children regardless.
Alistair's room was always meant to be a nursery, back when we thought we'd have one baby at a time. I thought it perfect for this since it is so tiny, only 10x9 (and that's rounding up!). Back when we first moved in and the whole house had white walls and beige carpet like a boring rental (ugh!), one of the very first things we did was paint it "Lamb" (back when Martha had colors at SW) and then got custom silk curtains made in India. I didn't feel like repainting and it works, so that is what it still is. There are a dozen names for the curtain color, I call it persimmon. While it is a challenge to do curtains for a new house that is not yet fully decorated, I figured orange, while not usually one of my faves, is one of the colors that could segway either to girl (w/pink) or boy (w/blue). I was going for a complementary Aegean blue here, until the cushion conundrum introduced the navy.
The map is the most recent addition and looks like it was made for the room (it fits the length perfectly). I have loved studying maps since I can remember, and given the kids' multicultural heritage, I figured with this they can see where their parents/families are from (it even has Nasik, India on it, where DH was born and his family now lives. :) ).
I thought this little room needed a statement piece and this fit the bill. DH is not so secretly hoping it earns at least one of them a place in the geography bee and I'm sure it'll be one thing we replicate in our next house. I was not looking forward to installing it when I realized it was like wallpaper (it is three huge slightly overlapping panels), but it didn't end up being that bad to put up (just prep/wash, tape, prime and paste up). DH and I spent one (long) evening after they went to bed getting it up, with List in a PNP in the guest room next door.
I know these chairs are popular nursery items, but DH and I didn't end up finding it very comfortable (maybe because we are so tall, I don't know).
The closet
Over the dresser
More art from the nursery
His executive map mural is from
National Geographic (now half off!) and the rug was in the twins' nursery and is from Dash & Albert. His room also has an IKEA Malm four drawer dresser (his in birch, hers in ivory), and an Expedit shelf (the window seat) with their baskets. The closet curtains (from several yrs ago, replacing giant old doors that were coming off their hinges and were therefore a hazard) are also IKEA, I just trimmed off the tab tops and used the enclosed hem tape to shorten up the top. The window seat cushions are from Company Kids. The monogrammed pillow we had already is from L.L. Bean and the "a" from Anthro. His garland (now half off as well) and chair are also from LON. All other sources are listed
in their shared nursery post.
