For today’s My Monday post I wanted to show you my son Zeno’s bedroom! A friend of mine in Canada asked to see it, so I’m happy to show it!
A Kid Friendly Forest
I didn’t want to do something commercial like a Disney theme or something pre-made, I really wanted my son’s room to be original, inviting and above all kid friendly. That’s not to say that I don’t like rooms with clean polished wood furniture and an “adult” feel, but, I felt that every kid deserves THEIR own space, filled with color,fun, toys and cushions!
His bedroom used to be our master bedroom, and instead of buying a new “armadio” (armoire, since in Italy there are no built-in closets, everyone buys an armoire) I just updated this simple brown one with a big blue bird (named Sebastiano) and some trees.
I just searched the web for a few fun characters, and modified them slightly, then drew free-hand on the walls, and a simple set of drawers from IKEA. On top of the armoire I put some vintage suitcases that belonged to my grandmother and some colorful storage boxes to maximize the storage space.
Over his bed I included some simple blue frames and homemade artwork with black and white inkjet printed photos that I made more playful by adding in some crayon detailing!
The Montessori Bed
I read a bunch of books when my son was born, one of them was Montessori from the Start: The Child at Home, from Birth to Age Three , which detailed the Montessori Method and how you can start at home right from birth.
I really liked the concept behind the Montessori style bed. Basically, it is a mattress placed on the floor beside a wall, so your kid can freely go to bed and get out of bed whenever they want. I didn’t start off with a Montessori bed (which is actually recommneded right from birth if you follow the Montessori Method), but I started using it when he was 1 year old. Basically I removed the mattress from his crib and placed it on a foam tiled section with some pillows around it.
HE LOVES IT!
When he’s tired he just goes to his bed and lays down, we read stories on it together and snuggle on it and when he wakes up, he just gets out of bed and either comes to find us or goes to find his toys!
Before Zeno was born I bought these foam tiles here for $79 and they were a FANTASTIC BUY, I’ve used them in various ways from since his birth. I’ll be doing a whole post dedicated to these tiles and the other Things I Love in his room for my Thursday’s Things post. I love how they fit in with the decor of his room (they come in 5 different color combinations) and are a little muted in tone as opposed to the classic alphabet tiles.
Gender Neutral
I had the idea for this room way before I knew if I was having a girl or a boy, and started to plan out the different elements when I was only 2 weeks pregnant. Thank God I started and finished early since the last trimester I couldn’t get out of bed. I knew I didn’t want a room that was only for a girl or only for a boy (aka all baby blue or all pink), since that’s just not my style. I also didn’t want to make it too “matchy matchy”, but more of an organic, changing space, that adjusts to a kids needs. I’ve rearranged it a few times since he was born, by doing small things like removing the mobile part of his MP3 Radio Mobile so that it is just a little MP3 radio that he can use by himself.
I also looked for furniture that served more than one purpose like the Hensvik shelf from IKEA that has a detachable changing table, which when removed leaves you with a nice bookshelf.
Most of his furniture is from IKEA since it is the right size for our apartment and the right colors! In his green toybox I keep toys in bins that I pull out on rotation so he doesn’t get tired of his toys, and I also change out the books and things on his shelf.
Cloth Diapers
I am a cloth diapering mom and will one day tell you in elaborate (nausiating) detail all there is to know about successfully cloth diapering.
As I’ve mentioned before, in Italy hardly anyone owns a clothesdryer! So to find a little more linedrying space in our apartment, I found a great system that attaches to the rad in his room and just used a Modular Wooden Play Yard with Gate to close it off. This way I don’t find wet cloth diapers stren around the room in the morning!
Almost all of his toys we got used from my favourite event in modena, the used toy sale (I’ve written about it here and here), like this handmade wooden rocking horse that I got for 10 euro…STEAL!
What do you think? Anyone else convert old furniture for a kid’s room by painting it? Would you be interested in seeing his room when he was a newborn? What are your favorite items from your kid’s rooms?
