Our upcoming move is going to be a big change for everyone. But, the biggest change by far will come for our two year old daughter.
A new house, her own room, a new bed, a new school and, soon enough, a new baby brother or sister. As exciting as all of those things may be, it’s going to be tough on her. And as we’ve come to learn very quickly, toddlers are very stuck in their ways and don’t necessarily handle change as well as us adults.
Up until this point, the three of us have been cozy roomies. So, we know that we will be dealing with separation anxiety when she has her own room and wakes up alone, no immediately seeing mom or dad. One idea that we had to help ease the transition was to put extra effort into her bedroom. Make it a space that she will enjoy, a space that she will be proud of and a space that she will talk about with others. We want the first words coming out of her mouth to be something along the dramatic lines of, “Oooohhhh, look at Maw-ley’s room” when she sees it for the first time.
First task in designing our toddler’s “dream bedroom” was to come up with a list of her interests. She’s only two, so they're pretty broad. Omitting Paw Patrol and princesses, we were able to narrow it down to two things that she absolutely goes crazy for, and that mom and dad have zero problems getting on board with.
Two things that she absolutely loves are animals and being outside. Unlike Paw Patrol or princesses, I can’t see those interests disappearing anytime soon. So, we decided to harness her wild and carefree spirit and design an outdoors-themed bedroom.
While we’re happy that she loves the outdoors as much as we do, we’re also happy that we can finally dust off our photographs, paintings, decor, etc. that we’ve collected alongs our travels and in our time in Alaska. Yes, think moose antlers and red lanterns.
The game plan is to keep the colour (walls, floor, area rug, bedding) fairly neutral, and bring in the pops of colour with the decor, pillows, blankets, etc. While the room is considered a second bedroom, it does not have a window. So, when picking colours, we need to remember to keep them light and airy so that they do not make the the 10’x10’ room look smaller than it really is.
The struggle we are currently having is the furniture itself. Not only do we want the furniture to be multi-purpose (think bed and storage) for the small space, we also want it to grow with her for at least the next five years. Also keeping in mind that this space will eventually become a shared space once baby #2 comes along, maximizing closet and shelving space for clothes, toy and baby supplies storage is a must.
Stay tuned for the next few months as we get our hands dirty turning our vision into reality, and share the before and after shots (and of course Morley’s reaction) of the new space!
Have you recently designed a toddler-room? What were some must haves? And what were some things you could have left out? I’d love to hear!
