Finn and Cora's Shared Bedroom

We have lived in our house for nearly 4 years and this is the third change to this room as we try to work out the best way to use the space.  It was originally a shared nursery for the little two, it then became Finn's room alone with a king sized bed taking over most of the space and now, with Cora's room repurposed into an office, and us becoming more aware that neither Finn nor Cora like sleeping in a room alone, I have tried to create a unisex shared bedroom for them.

Finn is 6 and Cora will be 5 next month.  I wanted a room that gave us options, storage and space, and that could grow with them.  We are limited by the fact we are in a rented house, but we decided to go for one feature wall which could be repainted if we decide to move.  I chose a fun design from Murals Wallpaper and they gifted us the mural.  I liked this one as I could pick out different colours for accessories and it wouldn't be outgrown.  The room is small but I love how it adds colour and fun.

I bought the bunk beds and kallax unit from Ikea and Finn already had the white Ikea chest of drawers.  As well as the kallax boxes on the bottom row, I found the fun crates at The Works and loved how well the colours co-ordinated with the room.  Both children have their own set for storing their 'special things'.

We were sent the most beautiful Picca Lou Lou pompom garland from Luna and Cash and it is so incredibly soft.  I need to put some proper hooks on the wall for it.  I love the rich colours and it looks great above their bed.  They also sent a beautiful Fabelab animal cushion which matches the bright mustard on the wall and is taking it in turns between the children at the moment!

The four prints I bought from Desenio, and the wooden dolls house and make up set are preloved toys from friends who had outgrown them. The cosy corner is made up of things that were in Cora's room before, purchased from a variety of stores.  I wanted to reuse as much as we could.  

I wanted the bedding to be as easy as possible, so I bought coverless duvets that can be washed and tumble dried as they are (it might sound lazy but to me it sounds genius!).  I bought them from Fine Bedding and got the matching pillow cases (unfortunately they have to be removed from the pillows before washing).  They are wonderfully soft and they have slept well in them.

I love how their room has come together.  It is colourful and Fun and the space works well for sleep and play together.

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A Mermaid Themed Bedroom

I have been so excited about the prospect of decorating a bedroom for Cora and I decided that a mermaid theme fitted her personality and style as well as been fun to shop for! Cora loves the water and the beach and she pushes away in the pool, wanting to swim off by herself (although lacking the skills to actually do this).  The room ended up being very girly and coastal with a few mermaid accessories but I love the coastal vibes, the coral and gold and the little touches of turquoise sea.

Valspar provided us with some paint in their 'nursery colour of the year', Rabbit's Foot and I love the colour.  It works perfect as a base for this coastal room and it is so unisex on its own and I think by changing a few accessories we could create a completely different room.  The paint is washable and stain resistant (as well as coming in over 2,000 shades) which is ideal for a toddler's bedroom too!

All the walls are painted with Rabbit's Foot and I used a pure white wood paint to touch up the skirting boards which were looking very yellow! I bought some gold spots to make a feature wall behind her bed and I love how they add a bit of fun to the room.  (There is a list at the bottom of the post with where I bought everything from).

I loved the idea of having shelving with some pretty things on (these have been placed out of cora's reach) and I love how they have turned out.  The beautiful mermaid print was designed especially for Cora and the shells in the jar are ones we collected together at the beach last week.  There is a tiny jar with some sand from our favourite beach too which we found for sale in a local independent shop and it seemed like the perfect finishing touch to the shelves.

It wasn't easy finding a plain coloured cot bed duvet set but I eventually tracked this down which is perfect for the room. 

When I was looking for inspiration on pinterest I found the most beautiful room with a gorgeous wooden mermaid on the walls. I couldn't find anything quite like it but whilst searching I did come across this wooden wall hook which is now hanging on the wall for some of her jumpers.

I wanted to create a little cosy corner where Cora can sit and read books or play with her toys, and where we can snuggle up to feed in the evenings.  I have ordered a giant floor cushion to go underneath but it hasn't turned up yet.  I found three lovely cushions and a little storage basket and we already love cuddling up here with a book.

I have kept the room simple with all white furniture (plus this is what we already had) and I love the end result.  I think her room is calm, colourful and perfect for my little water loving girl.  I have listed below where I bought everything. 

The paint - Valspar Rabbits Food

The gold spots - Etsy

The shell cushion - Matalan

The mermaid doll - Little Lapins

The shelving - Ebay

The green jar - Etsy

The mermaid print on the shelves - Lois Gunn

The mermaid print on the windowsill - Etsy

The waves - Babipur

The gold letter C - Next

The gold pot - Dunelm Mill

The curtains - Look Again

The cushions -Wilkos

The storage basket - Vertbaudet

The Mermaid plaque with hooks - Ebay

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This post is in collaboration with Valspar

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A Cosy Reading Corner

Our new house is open plan downstairs which means one thing we are quite short of is corners.  One of them was chosen to be a reading corner early on though and we have finally made a little cosy space to sit and enjoy a book.

Using my book case and the kids' tidy books bookcase and a beautiful rug from Lorena Canals that we were sent to review, we made a bright and snuggly corner where the children can sit with a book or a game.

We are storing most of their books over on their Kallax unit but I seperated the Christmas ones in an effort to start feeling festive and I have found that having a smaller selection out on display like this makes them much more likely to pick up one and have a look. 

The rug is perfect for a busy house as it it completely machine washable! We have tiled floors and I was looking for something to keep little feet and bottoms warm this winter and the rug ticks all the boxes.  It is a great size, easy care and we can pop it in the washing machine when it (inevitably) gets grubby.  All the Lorena Canal rugs are 100% cotton, made from natural dyes and socially responsible and eco-friendly.  

I think we are going to get a couple of little bean bags to make the corner even more enticing and maybe a standing lamp to go in the corner too.  I want to make it somewhere we all go for some quiet time and a story and I am loving watching the children sharing books there already.

 Thank you to Lorena Canals for sending us one of their gorgeous washable rugs.

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A Rainbow Bedroom

When we moved house we decided to move the two little ones in together and create a rainbow themed room for them.  As we are living in a rented house we kept the white walls and went with a fresh white feel to the whole room with some colourful accessories.  Finn and Cora are loving their shared rainbow room and sleeping really well in there together.

Both children have white cot beds and Cora has a new NaturalStart mattress from Harrison Spinks which combines hundreds of baby springs with luxurious natural fillings.  I bought both Finn and Cora's sheets from etsy and Finn's pillow case in part of the Little Bird bedding collection that I bought him last year.

Finn's rainbow blanket was lovingly knitted by my talented mother in law and we bought Cora's whilst on holiday a couple of years ago.  Both of their cots are cotbeds so will be turned into beds as they get bigger.

Above Finn's beds are the words 'You are my sunshine' in acrylic from Baby Abode.  They custom make acryclic and ply wall art and I love how different this looks.

Above Cora's cot I have hung some cloud bunting that I bought from Etsy. She has her two favourite dolls in her bed including her mermaid which was a birthday gift and made by Little Lapins.

I bought a white chest of drawers from ikea and I put three pictures on the top.  The first was painted by a friend for Cora for her birthday, the second was made by Lavender House Gift Company and is so beautiful.  I love the delicate details and it is something that we can keep for Cora.  The third is a print from Kirsty Mason designs and goes perfectly in their rainbow room.

On the floor I have made a comfy play area with a Little Bird rug, cushions from Mama Designs and Tiger stores and a lovely little shape sorter we were sent from Born Gifted which the children play with every day.

There are three shelves above their play area for their Grimms rainbow and bobbins from Babipur and I have put some of their Pantone books on the third, although I need to find the rest of the collection in one of the unpacked boxes.

We have kept the room simple and minimalist, giving the children more space to play and keeping the room calm to help them sleep.  In the evenings we put on their rainbow light which projects a rainbow across the room.  It is the perfect nightlight to help them fall asleep in the evenings.

I have loved decorating this rainbow room for them.

Some of these items were sent to us to include in these photos and others were purchased by me.  I have only included things that we genuinely love.

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A London Themed Kids Bedroom

London themed bedroom, London kids bedroom, London bus kids room

We spent a long time thinking about the perfect theme for the boys' bedroom as we needed to change things around and buy them bunk beds, but as it turned out they decided as soon as they saw the selection of beds.  The London bus bunk bed caught their eye so it had to be a London themed room.  

One of the walls and the ceiling recently had to be re-plastered so the room needed painting, but I went for an easy white so that we can change things around easily if we want to.  The room feels cleaner and bigger with white walls, although my super observant boys didn't actually notice a difference!

With the bed as the centre piece for the room, I used their existing chest of drawers, bookcase and dressing up chest and added accessories and little touches to bring the room together and they love the finished project.

We bought the bed from Carpetright (I didn't even know they sold beds until quite recently!) and we were sent some amazing sheets and pillow cases from B Sensible.  They are waterproof and protective but not clingy and plastic feeling and they come in a variety of shades so I chose red to match their beds.  I am definitely planning on getting some for our bed now!

I bought a duvet cover set from Dunelm Mill and then used the pillow case from this on a spare pillow to help make a cosy area by the bookcase.  The London bus cushion is from there too.

To decorate the walls, I bought a big map of the London underground (Amazon), a London print from Dunelm Mill, a clock (Amazon again) that I still haven't put up and we were sent a gorgeous print from Hello Moon which we could personalise with the boys names.  They absolutely love it and it came beautifully framed too.

The boys love snuggling up in their room and I wanted it to be a safe place for them to play away from the little two.  They have some of their older toys up here, like their Playmobil and skaletrix and we were sent some figures from Jojo maman Bebe too which make a wonderful decoration and which they love using as scenery when playing with cars.

To keep it cosy we were sent the softest throw from Room to Grow which is currently residing on Dylan's bed.  Made from merino lambswool it is lovely and warm and I know will get a lot of use (and stop them stealing mine!).

As a final touch I bought some wall stickers from Amazon and put them in their cosy corner.  I think their room looks simple and calm and they have plenty of room to play and they love the London buses and the bright reds and blues.  I hope it is a room that will grow with them.

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