Transitioning Daphne's Nursery to a 'Big Kid' Bedroom
THE FARMHOUSE
Remember Daphne’s nursery? The space we did for the One Room Challenge back in 2018 with the amazing free Craiglist bed? Well it’s been over a year since Daphne stopped using her crib (her brothers taught her to climb out of it 🙄). So she’s been splitting her sleeping time between the full-size bed in her room, the crib mattress we have set up in her brothers bedroom, and a sleeping bag on the floor of our bedroom. Yeah, we’re definitely still in the ‘do what works’ phase for sleeping. But one thing was certain, we no longer needed a crib (😭🥳😊).
So after a few tears on my part, we took down Daphne’s crib (ummmm a full year after she stopped using it). Then we rearranged her room to function better for our big little threenager. Let me show you around…
The full-size bed in Daphne’s room has always been a show stopper. Sometimes the Craigslist gods smile down on me! It was listed for free and I couldn’t not grab it! (a little more about that story here). Anywho, when we transitioned Wilder and Brooks out of their cribs at about 2 years old, we liked to have a bed in their room to offer them the option of the crib or the bed. It worked pretty well and we thought we’d do the same thing with Daphne. But before we could get there, she was climbing out of her crib (or I should say, she was being taught to climb out of her crib). So the bed didn’t get a lot of use until suddenly it did.
The other big design element in Daphne’s room are the curtains. They’re actually just IKEA curtains that I DIY pinch-pleated (I shared the tutorial here - it’s still one of the most popular posts I’ve ever published).
Daphne’s crib used to be in her large, door-less closet (we called it the ‘crib nook’). We wallpapered the space in an animal graphic print (since discontinued) and it’s just so fun. When we took out the crib, we moved her dresser in and we’ll eventually add a hanging rod. But at least for now, the dresser has plenty of space for all of Daphne’s clothes.
You may also have noticed that Daphne’s glider is gone. We made her a glider from an IKEA chair but took that down to the living room last month. So I replaced it with something I knew Daphne would enjoy more…a teepee. I know teepee’s feel a little overdone these days, but honestly, they’re just so fun for the kids. This teepee is a gathering spot for all three of our kiddos when they want to play or hide away.
Moving the dresser left us with a big empty wall, so I added the alphabet gallery wall to the space. These baby animal letter prints came from etsy a few years ago and we had them hanging in the entry for awhile. Then they were bagged up and forgotten for a couple of years. I was pretty happy to find that I still had every single letter when I pulled them out again.
So that’s Daphne’s room. Honestly, If I were to start Daphne’s room all over again, I’d do it a bit differently. There would still be pink (her favorite color), but maybe a little less feminine. I’d add lots of dinosaurs and animals and a spot to tuck in her beloved baby doll for naps. I’d add hooks to hang up her super hero capes as well as her tutus. That’s Daphne. But her room is plenty nice just as it is and she doesn’t seem to be missing a thing.
I’m sure Daphne will eventually want to be in charge of decorating her own room. In fact this might be the last kids bedroom I ever get to decorate. My kids all have strong opinions about…well, everything… and I expect they’ll ask for autonomy over their rooms soon enough. Have you encouraged your kids to decorate their own rooms? How did that go!?
Sources
wall color: BM simply white
Vintage cane bed frame (similar here, here, here and vintage here)
schoolhouse light (in old brass)
wallpaper (discontinued - similar patterns here and here)
alphabet letters + clip boards
