RENTAL HOUSE: OUR TWIN GIRLS' SHARED ROOM!

Well, here we are…the second room reveal of the rental house!!! If you caught the before photo in last week’s post of this space, you’ll remember that one twin wasn’t too thrilled about moving into that room. I’m happy to report that with a little re-decoration, both girls now love this space!

SHOP THE LOOK…

What started with a super basic room (and still is) has turned into a pretty and fresh space for my sweet girlies to make their own memories in. As with so many before and afters, a fresh coat of paint was a big help. I hesitated in sharing this room because the beds didn’t feel right. We have had these Ikea wood beds for a while now, waiting until we move into a permanent house where we could transition the girls into bigger, more substantial beds. It didn’t seem worth buying interim ones for this rental house, so we just painted them white and kept them as is. The pictures in the frames have been swapped out a few times, but the girls love these forest animals, so this is where we’ve landed for now.

After a full coat of paint, then adding a wall of wallpaper, the focus turned to finding enough space for a little storage. This dresser is more traditional than my typical style, but it was the exact fit for a functional side table and clothes keeper between the beds. I just love how the simple round mirror pulls the big wall together. The sweetest little lamb and bunny are from Cuddle + Kind, one of my favourite Canadian companies, who donate 10 meals to kids in need for every doll purchased.

You might have spotted these bookshelves before in the post about how to style your kids’ shelves. I still love the simplicity of these white metal shelves and recommend them for storing books and pretty things anywhere in your house.

In this next photo, you can see the window side of the room. This is South facing and lets in a lot of light! While I typically wouldn’t add custom shades to a rental, it was an absolute need to have blackout for this window. I just LOVE how these turned out and really feel that this fabric gives the space a little bit of a special feel. They are from Tonic Living, who were a joy to work with. You can also find the rug here.

The wood dollhouse is on my gift list each year and has been a firm favourite with our girls for a few years now. It is a big hit with play dates and I’m always amazed by how long our two girls play with it independently. The hooks are old from Anthropologie and the purses are from a trip to Australia. Above right are my sweet girls who I am so lucky to have been able to decorate this room for! Credit for this image goes to my patient husband who took the kids out of the house during quarantine so that I could shoot the room and then came back and snapped this photo for us.

In case anyone thought that their room looks like this all the time, please know that a styled shoot is just that! The second they walked in the door, the girls were up and jumping on their beds as usual and soon enough, the trinkets will be back on their dresser and shelves. After all, pretty spaces become even more beautiful when they are lived in and loved.

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FAMILY FRIENDLY LIVING ROOM

MODERN BASEMENT PLAYROOM

RENTAL HOUSE: XAVIER’S ROOM

CLASSIC BLUE AND WHITE KIDS' MODERN PLAYROOM REVEAL

Our first reveal of 2020 is here and I am incredibly excited to share this amazing children’s playroom with you! This space ticks ALL the boxes for fun, playful and functional too. While we are not massive trend followers over here, I can say that this playroom is sporting ‘Classic Blue’, the Pantone colour of the year. Chance? Absolutely - this room has been in the works for quite some time.

Let’s rewind a little. My client enlisted me to re-imagine her basement into a bright, colourful and fun play space for her two children, aged 2 and 4. At the beginning of this project, this space felt dark, dated and full of potential. Pretty much my favourite kind of project.

While there was some storage in the space, it wasn’t functional and the kids weren’t able to access toys in an organized way, so functional storage was a key goal for the room. When we found this Pottery Barn unit, it ticked all the boxes for a lot of storage, including opened and closed storage for ease of access and the ability to hide a lot too. The Pehr bins are perfect little buckets for smaller toy collections, such as mini cars or wood blocks. You’ve seen this play table in our Baker playroom project too, and it is one of the best on the market if you are looking for a play table that can grow with your kiddos. I love the under table carts for Lego storage, and they are on castors so they can easily pull out. Bonus!

SHOP THE LOOK…

The library nook is my absolute favourite feature of this room. This family are avid readers and own an incredible collection of hundreds of children’s books that any little one could only dream of. I love knowing that though the collection is already large, these incredible built-in bookshelves gives plenty of room for the kids’ (and adults!) book collection to continue to grow. We specifically designed the slanted book ledge so that seasonal books could be displayed, providing a special spot for regular rotation of favourites. The giant floor pillows from Natti Natti provide the perfect cozy soft spot to curl up and read!

From this angle, you can just see the scale of the library nook and also how impactful the dotted removable wallpaper is! We knew we wanted something that made this huge wall stand out and the gold polka dots do just that. I love how the classic blue and white rug provides so much pattern too.

The artwork chosen for the entire room is the children’s own. The client was so excited to showcase her own children’s art and I loved this idea too! These two canvases were the same size so we paired them above the Oeuf toy storage, which is the ideal piece if you love having open storage for little ones.

SHOP THE LOOK…

I love seeing all sides of a space and so I thought I’d share these views too. In the shot above, you can see the sweet little fireplace set inside the teepee. You can see that the rug provides an underfoot layer for little feet at both the low play table and the higher one. The custom ottomans you can see a peek of on the left here were made by Tonic Living.

Looking the other way, there is a gallery wall of children’s art as well as a giant whiteboard, which has proved to be popular on playdates with friends.

Leaving you with this view of the storage area as it leads into the book nook. What an absolute dream play space!

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XAVIER’S ROOM

BAKER PLAYROOM

MILES ROOM

RENTAL HOUSE: XAVIER'S NEUTRAL BUNK ROOM REVEAL!

ONE ROOM IS FINALLY DONE and that means it’s time for a room reveal! No surprise that the first completed space is a kids room, because let’s be honest, designing children’s rooms are the most fun of all.

Welcome to our rental home…and my sweet boy, Xavier’s bunk room! This Oeuf bunk bed has been on my list of favourites for what feels like forever and it was the very first piece purchased for his room. There are so many arguments for and against bunk beds, but having had one as a child, I only have the best of memories. Needless to say, the bunk bed made the transition from his old room to this one a dream! He truly loves it just as much as I do.

SHOP THE ROOM…

While I wanted this space to feel playful (Xavier plays in his top bunk ALL.THE.TIME), I really feel that for my own kids’ rooms I like them to also feel calm and restful (cue for more sleep please!). With Xavier in Grade 1 this year, it made sense to give him a little desk where he could do quiet activities or a spot to sit and draw.

The wallpaper is by Livette’s Wallpaper and is a removable paper of better quality than any other removable wallpaper I’ve used or seen. It has the best texture, almost like a nice piece of fabric. It is also created using non-toxic materials and inks while also being waterproof and washable! What’s not to love about all of that?! This is the linen colour and pattern is ‘Brushstroke Watercolour’ and I highly, HIGHLY recommend it. Just order a sample and you’ll see what I mean with the quality!

The house shaped chalk board is super cute and Xavier drew this amazing robot himself! The desk is from IKEA and stools are these wooden stools from the play table we used with our children’s playhouse a few years ago. They are now painted white. We love how versatile the magnetic wall sorter (on the left wall above) is and Xavier loves to change up what he keeps in here regularly.

“I love using practical items like this calendar block to teach little ones every day concepts such as the days and months of the year.”

I knew we wanted a good size dresser and one that could last from now until his teen years (if not first apartment!) and this solid dresser is well built and holds a lot. I was trying to decide between a mirror or art and since there wasn’t a lot of space on the other walls for art, it made sense to put a little gallery wall above the dresser for fun here. The sweet sun print is by Emzi Art Shop, the robot print can be found here and the ‘Let the Good Times Roll’ print is from Minted. We decided to put a nightlight bulb in the concrete lamp on the dresser to use for night time but when Xavier gets a little older, we will likely put a wall sconce on the wall next to his bed. So far this solution has worked well so that when it’s time for lights out, he doesn’t just flick the light back on again.

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One thing that has added so much softness (and blocks out nearly all the outdoor light!) is the roman shade from Tonic Living. This shade was custom made for the space and is a snug fit on a very basic window. I decided on an inside mount but could have just as easily gone for an outside mount on this wall too. It adds so much softness to the room and the colour (Tuscany Linen, Oatmeal Slub) is the perfect neutral.

You know how much I love a good book wall and this area with the acrylic shelves creates a pretty cool vignette where you can rotate books just like art. The rug adds a cozy place on the floor to play and is soft underfoot for a wool rug. The knitted snake was handmade by Nana and is a firm fave that we treasure.

From the hallway, you have this view of the room and I think it’s one of my favourite views! I love catching glimpses of Xavier sitting at his desk or reading a book on his giant floor pillow from Natti Natti which is handmade in Brooklyn, New York.

The gorgeous bed linens are 100% linen and from new Canadian brand Dreams Jumper. You can also spot our favourite Cuddle and Kind dolls and Keva building planks.

SHOP THE LOOK…

Although this home is an interim rental for our family, I hope the memories that we make in here will last forever.

*Thank you to many of the brands listed in this post for their collaboration in this project.

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BABY BOY NURSERY

MODERN BASEMENT PLAYROOM

SHARED BOYS ROOM

A BRIGHT, FRESH & MODERN BASEMENT PLAYROOM REVEAL

SHOP THE LOOK…

Starting 2019 with an exciting new project reveal…a bright, fresh and modern basement playroom and family living space!!! Can you even believe this is a basement? This room truly has EVERYTHING a family with kids could dream of; a place for the kids to play, storage for toys and a casual TV space where family and friends can relax together.

My clients have three little kids; a one year old, three year old and five year old, so wanted the space to have lots of storage for the kids’ toys and also a fun factor (have you seen the slide?)! The wall decals from Urban Walls (Riptide Watercolour in Indigo at half intensity) create SO much fun impact for a room that will transition as the children grow. The decals are perfect for now and can so easily be peeled off and changed when the time comes. They are also amazingly easy to put up!

LARGE STORAGE BASKETS

“Adding in extra large covered storage is a lifesaver when it comes to quick clean up of unsightly toys. These baskets can be moved around and will easily store anything from cozy blankets to dump trucks.”

We looked for extra large scale letters on the market but after searching and falling short, decided to have these PLAY letters custom made for the wall. Since this part of the ceiling is low, the letters give the big impact we were going for. If you’ve followed along for a while, you will know that I LOVE storage baskets (such as in Rafa + Leo’s room), especially pretty ones with lids, and the capacity of these ones is incredible. You can honestly fit large plastic toys in there!

Good storage is key for a playroom and I like using easy-to-pull-out baskets for everyday play toys like blocks, Magnatiles, even puzzles. These storage cubes are at just the right height for toddlers to be able to pull out and put back the baskets themselves, which is always a win! I love that everything in this space is fully accessible for the sweet little kiddos who call this play space home.

STORAGE BASKET

“Easy to reach storage bins help little ones easily pull out and put away toys independently, which is a win in my books!”

The other side of the space is an area where the family can snuggle, read books, watch movies and relax together. The built ins on the left hold more toys and also books and we had fun styling the shelves to look pretty as there wasn’t a need for added toy storage here. I love having the space to do this because we know all parents need a little pretty in their lives at the end of the day, am I right?! ;)

Photography by Janis Nicolay.

GET THE LOOK FOR YOUR OWN HOME…

01.// Cubebot; 02.// Pillow; 03.// Basket; 04.// Bowl; 05.// Play table; 06.// Bin; 07.// Stool; 08.// Slide; 09.// Play mat; 10.// Storage baskets.

XAVIER'S BIG BOY ROOM

This week marks a major transition for our family; all three kids have started full time school! Overnight, it feels like our youngest, Xavier, is all grown up. In reality, he’s only 5, but it seemed fitting that I share the progression of his baby nursery and how, with some subtle changes, it became his big boy room.

When I chose the wallpaper (no longer available) for this space, I wanted something neutral and sweet enough for a nursery but that could grow with him until early childhood. He still LOVES this numbers paper and has somehow managed not to use it as a colouring sheet! In a few months, we’ll be leaving this home behind and Xavier asked if we’ll be able to take his ‘wrapping paper’ aka wallpaper with him. Sadly, we won’t.

While we won’t be able to take the wallpaper, we’ll be able to take the garland that was made for this room. I love how simple a garland is on the wall and that it transitions so easily from baby to big boy room. I love adding handmade elements to the spaces I design and you can find some of my favourite garlands on Etsy.

These Cuddle and Kind dolls are one of my favourite additions. Not only adorable, this Canadian company donates 10 meals to children in need for every doll sold. I love the heart behind them and the quality is high too.

As you likely already know, I love including book walls in kids rooms. It’s a gorgeous way to display books and creates a unique piece of rotating art that kids adore. I’ve previously shared how to create a book wall in your own kids room using my favourite book ledges.

The cloud and house pillows are the same from Xavier’s nursery and the star garland works as his nightlight.