Violet's Bedroom Update

As Violet recently turned two we decided it would be a nice idea to update her room. With the last blog post on the kids rooms being so popular, I thought it would be nice to share any updates we do to them. I know you're probably thinking why are we making over her room as it's already so great as it is... but we thought a few updates were needed, including the transition to a bed. The main things we did were to replace her cot with a toddler bed and take down the old bulky wardrobe and replace it with a less imposing clothes rail. Ashlyn Gibson - interior stylist, author of Creative Family Home and Creative Children's Spaces and owner of Olive Loves Alfie, then came and helped make over the rest of Violet's room. The benefits of having friends with styling skills! I love it and Violet also loves it!! Thanks for helping us Ashlyn, please do check out her books and feed for a whole heap of creative interior inspiration.

You can see some before and after pics below of the biggest changes I mentioned - the cot to the toddler bed (which is the Rafa toddler bed, available at Olive Loves Alfie). The bed is a lovely playful feature to add to the room, perfect for creative and imaginary play with it's wheels it can transform into anything your child wishes it to be! It can also be easily moved around the room, as I'm sure her room will be constantly evolving it may be moved elsewhere soon! The sides are high at the top so you don't need to worry about them rolling over the side. It's a big step and this fun and practical bed made it really easy for the big transition from the safety of a cot.

The old bulky grey Ikea wardrobe was replaced with this little wooden clothes rail from Little Bird by Jools at Mothercare, currently on offer with £25 off. It has really helped open out the room and I love the mid century look of it back with the playful yellow rail. It's so nice to display her clothes like this on colourful hangars mixed back with wooden ones (all Ikea). The picture above the rail is a limited edition screenprint by Chris Haughton from The Print Club London. It really helps pop the colours of her clothes and adds another playful touch with the bunny.

As you may know I'm a big fan of colour so Ashlyn helped me continue that by creating a colourful gallery wall. It was really good to finally get some of her prints we've collected in frames and hung up. It's a really simple and effective way to decorate a large wall space and can evolve and grow over time, adding as your little one gets older. See the bottom of this post for the picture credits. Ashlyn also suggests using the little ledges that are created by the pictures to rest small ornaments and decorative bits on. A colourful embroidered bed cover that my parents bought back from Mexico, a string of knitted pom poms and neon heart garland all add warmth and rainbow colours to the room. Ashlyn suggests any unique trinkets, homewares and unusual finds you can bring back from your travels will help make the room more unique. She also recommends colour grouping little displays of books and toys together as a really nice way to tell a story.

Storage is also very important. It needs to be accessible for kids and also easy for kids to tidy up. Little boxes and baskets always work well and look nice. The Play & Go storage bag is ingenious with its drawstring ties it can hang on the door or on a hook filled with toys or can be put on the floor as a lovely playmat. Ashlyn suggested using her dolls cot as a nice way to hold some books as well - so think outside the box when it comes to storage and display!

Using clothing as a display feature on a cool hanger like these girl face ones is a great way to showcase some of your favourite pieces of kids clothes which you can change daily or weekly. Here Violet's new Mini Rodini dress becomes a work of art on her new little reading nook. This little corner is now a great place to hide away or sit and read.

Picture ledges (we will be adding one more lower down) make for accessible book shelves for little hands. Also a really nice way to chop and change, displaying favourite books and artwork.

Finally small touches like fresh flowers or things foraged on your little adventures together will help make the room feel greener and fresher. A simple 90p bunch of daffodils will transform the room.