{Small Spaces} A lovely little room

There are a few things that I especially love seeing in kid's spaces: vintage findings, handmade treasures and the display of children's art. And we're going to take a peek into a room that has all three! Evelyn would be bringing you for a tour of her kids' room, and I'll leave her to introduce herself: 

Hi! I'm Evelyn and I blog at The Bottomsup Blog. I never thought much about what I wanted my living space to look like, until I discovered Apartment Therapy about five years ago. My previous home was renovated in two weeks on a terribly tight budget; I picked colours, tiles, and furniture on a whim and it didn't occur to me to think about the big picture, creating a cohesive look, or what I wanted my home to represent. Thanks to Apartment Therapy and other inspirational DIY blogs and magazines like Living ETC, my new home reflects our family's aspirations towards a fun and creative life, and I'm here today to give you a room tour!

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Hi! I'm Evelyn, mom of Layla and Z--they're 6 and 1! My kids will share a room eventually, but right now the room is mostly Layla's. So come on in, and first I'd like you to met the pink side of her room:

And this is the grey side:

Permanence makes me uncomfortable, generally. I know that's not considered a strength, but I think it comes in handy when you're planning a kid's room! I have one kid who's just a couple of years away from plastering her room in boy band posters (sigh), and another who's probably weeks away from drawing all over the walls. For them, I want a room with elements that can be switched around or replaced easily, and that's what we've got.

First, the bed. You might've noticed that Layla sleeps on a mattress, on the floor. We all do, and there's a story behind this: I like wrought iron bed frames, but my husband likes wooden frames. It's hard to make the two meet, so we did what all married couples do--we avoided a tussle by not getting beds at all. It helped that we already knew baby #2 was on the way when we were planning our rooms, and we wanted to avoid those bed roll-offs as well.

Right now we're using a giant version of the Hungry Caterpillar board book as a headboard. I found it for $8 at a bargain bookstore and grabbed it! If you know the story, you'll know that all the days of the week get a mention in the book. Layla uses it to track which day she's on, and she hasn't missed a day yet:

Next to Layla's bed is her box of vintage (or vintage-looking) and handmade goodies. Well... maybe it's more like my box of goodies. My mom painted the box by the way. More of my mom's artwork coming up soon!

These dollhouses are a gift from my dad: He bought the one on the left, and made the one on the right (out of Daiso wood planks). I did the easy bit: Wallpapering!

Peering into her dollhouses makes me smile:

Over on the pink side of Layla's room is her roll-top desk; that was our only splurge for her room. Sometimes I'll arrange her knick knacks for her, but she created this display herself:

Her desk is also where I place artwork; I love pieces made by the people around us--anyone and everyone can create art, and good art at that. This was drawn and printed for her by a mom blogger friend:

Clipboards are useful for displaying artwork! I prefer to showcase one piece at a time and store the rest in ziploc bags and folders. Layla worked on this with her dad and this is her current favourite:

Her desk is also home to random stuff made by me! This one's a collage featuring her grandmother's picture:

My kids are lucky because they have one grandmother who sews, and another who paints. More of my mom's paintings:

Of course, you can't talk about a kid's room without mentioning storage. I have my IKEA Trofast boxes too, but I prefer to keep them out of sight. For storage that's out in the open, I like to use baskets:

And cardboard boxes. When you find a box like this, there's only one thing to do with it: Keep it and use it!

Finally, our life would be a lot less pretty if suitcases didn't exist:

That's it from me for today. Thanks for joining us on this room tour!

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That certainly was one room filled with lots of love! I especially liked the idea of having that giant board book as a headboard, and the use of baskets and suitcases to store things. What about you? Do you have a special small space to share? Do drop us a note!