The three of them are pretty much the biggest personalities you ever did meet. It's fitting that their rooms are reflections of that. When I made Javi's nursery I surprised myself by picking out such happy colors, and Keilana's room, although neutral in the background, was full of hot pink and saturated turquoise. Their shared room at the apartment had started to follow that trend even though we were only there for seven months. And their shared room here at Amherst is more of the same - slowly morphing into a bright and happy place that is a reflection of them.
You've seen the wall o' mountains that we added to their room last summer. Now, with the addition of some fire engine red bunkbeds, the big pieces in the room are falling into place.
Lover had been jonesing to get the kids bunkbeds for a while. I was resistant for two reasons - one, safety, and two, have you ever tried to make a top bunk bed? It's like a horrible, sweaty workout that no one wanted to happen. But Lover successfully wore me down, I mean, convinced me, that space wise it made sense and the kids would love it. Plus he promised to always be the one that changes the sheets on that top bunk. :)
We are kinda the champions of buying second hand, but after months of looking for a nice metal set of bunkbeds and coming up emptyhanded, we finally started looking for new options. In the end, we purchased the Eclipse Twin over Full set from Walmart. I begged, pleaded and batted my eyelashes to get the red ones. I had my heart set on colorful beds for this room, and I successfully argued that the difference in price was less than the cost to us of painting them ourselves.
So we purchased them and had them shipped to the store to save on shipping costs. The short version of this story is that ordering site-to-store from Walmart is an exercise in patience. Prepare to spend a lot of time waiting. Like, a lot. :) But, all is well that ends well, and eventually we were on our way home.
Assembly was straightforward and the construction of these beds is really good. This is something I was concerned about because I have little adventure seekers for children who think that it is a good idea to climb and jump and invent terrifying games where you jump off of the top bunk onto the mattress below and give mom a heart attack. :) So yes, it's all very solid. Which is a good thing, because this happens on a daily basis around here.
[embed]https://goo.gl/photos/pt5Timxw1tV3NkXp7[/embed]
Our fun canvas painting ended up on the smaller wall, and the kids love seeing themselves up there. Although they have informed me that there needs to be a picture of Declan up there with them. The curtains are just simple blackout curtains, also from Walmart, on IKEA rods. The lamp is a $6 one from IKEA, and it's not the first one we've had in here. We need to put an overhead light in here so that the floor lamp can go somewhere else and live a happy and safe life.
[embed]https://goo.gl/photos/R1XnaejftE7C1HbM9[/embed]
[embed]https://goo.gl/photos/kMH7iJ2bfHUcs4sE6[/embed]
My mom makes each of the kids a quilt and they are spectacular. I love them so much. Javi's is a pennant quilt, and Keilana's is a pattern that I found on Pinterest. The quilts are such a labor of love, especially since I tend to pick out difficult patterns with zillions of little triangles and then say "mom, will you make this?" Mom just brought Declan's quilt a few weeks ago and it's really beautiful. I help here and there, but the majority of the work is all mom.
[embed]https://goo.gl/photos/swyhvQsqWStYyyP49[/embed]
[embed]https://goo.gl/photos/NfkEbA2LM3gyPkQs6[/embed]
You may be cute, but you'll never be KK with adorable pigtails, sitting on a handmade quilt cute. We keep the kids room pretty sparse since it "seems" to help them sleep better without all of the distraction of toys and such. And it helps me keep my sanity since an uncluttered room cleans up much faster than a room full of a bunch of stuff. There are still a few little details I want to add in here, but I'm trying to let that happen organically over time.
[embed]https://goo.gl/photos/D4b6bVG1EdBVCtzw5[/embed]
[embed]https://goo.gl/photos/XaYJLXB9BrmD7ENcA[/embed]
[embed]https://goo.gl/photos/9QjhHBFUhZoWDSD48[/embed]
One of the ways we keep life simple is we don't make beds. At least, not in the traditional sense. I spread out their quilts for these pictures, but in reality we just put the kids in cozy footie pajamas and cover them in their quilts at night. In the morning we fold up the quilts and put them next to their pillows. It's simple and easy, and it eliminates a lot of unnecessary stress these days. Who knows, maybe that will change in the future, or maybe they will grow up and tell their friends about how they never got to have a "real bed" with sheets and proper comforters. :)
Either way, the kids' room is turning out to be a really fun and happy space. They love playing in there and they even occasionally do some sleeping in there. Here's to more sleeping!
