My kid. That's who.
Charlie has for months slept in the guest room. He claimed the guest room one night when they were being too rambunctious and we had to separate them. He apparently loved the double bed (mine from when I was a child) and has claimed it ever since. I tried and tried to ignore the inevitable but when he said "mom, is it in my room or Cole's room" I realized it was time. Time to give up the guest room and let it be his room.
It was a little emotional for me. Partly because I was hoping a third child might join our family at some point and that would be their room. It could still happen but I decided I can't stop living our life for the "what ifs". In the meantime, we can fully utilize the spaces we have. After all, who knows what will come and I'm sure God already has a plan for that and I just don't know about it yet.
The room started like this when we bought the house:
Then we took the closet and flipped it in to the hallway so we could add a washer/dryer closet and we took the coat closet and flipped it in to this room's closet. You can see that here and here. Perhaps having something to reference for scale will help...(that's our friend Todd laughing that he can't fit in the closet)
Then through time and paint it settled in to this:
I used the curtains from the boys' room in our old house for color (which also inspired the paint color on the walls) and a mishmash of other furniture and bedding we already had. Truth be told this also turned in to our junk room. One small challenge in a smaller home is that you don't have a place to set your "stuff". You know, the Easter eggs you need to stuff or the fabric you need to use in a few days to make pillows. That kind've "stuff". So the guest room was it.
On Sunday we finally rearranged the room (it wasn't the best use of space) and I used some curtains from our old bedroom. I loved the colorful ones but they were 8 inches too short and the fabric is discontinued. So in rearranging and making the most of what we had this is what I came up with...
We also lucked out - Hobby Lobby was having a huge sale on their metal artwork which was 100% boy. We snagged a few pieces and even let Charlie pick some out. He was super excited to get Spider Man and Batman (and so was his dad).
I also bought a quilt, pillow and side rugs at Target, also on sale. The pillow shams are from Bed Bath and Beyond and incorporated all the colors in the room. I thought about buying the quilt to match but it was $130. Not something I could justify. The $20 one from Target. Much better on the 'ol purse strings! I was surprised that even the couch matched once it was all put together.
Perhaps my favorite thing is that I had extra curtains and a rod so I hung it up in front of the closet to hide the winter clothes hanging in there. It's hard to tell but the curtains are a Nate Burkus design and are a grey/brown linen sheer that is also found in the couch and pillow shams.
I still use the dresser, closet and night stands for storage. The boys get dressed in Cole's room and most of their toys fit better in there too. Charlie doesn't care. He loves that he has "his own room" even though he only really uses it for sleep. There is a basket of toys in here but they still prefer to play in the other room most of the time. Oh who am I kidding! They prefer to play with sticks, water, a large box or whatever else they can find outside most of the time!
This room should be able to grow with him yet still be a place our guests can stay and not feel like they are sleeping in Toy Land (or on bunks!). I have to admit, it's nice to have it a bit more organized and functional. In time we'll add more artwork and other personal items so that it becomes more and more "Charlie's room."
What was Cole doing during all this time you ask? He apparently was walking around with my camera when I wasn't looking...
Anyone else have kid's rooms doubling as guest rooms? How did you handle it?
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