Bunk Room Reveal.

I suppose this post was a long time coming! It seems like forever ago that I started  talking about the trials and tribulations of the bunk room. For some reason, I just didn't get around to blogging about it. Or about anything else for that matter! Just to back track a little, here is a little background on the room. 

We needed a functional room for the kids when they come up on the weekend. The room also had to be super functional to make use of the small space. We came up with a few must haves for the tiny room:

• Must fit two beds.
• Easy to keep clean and organized.
• Space for storage. This house doesn't have a linen closet or a coat closet.

Let's take a peek back at what it looked like in the beginning.

We stripped off the hideous yellow floral wallpaper, only to discover the walls were in terrible condition underneath. This led to a whole lot of plastering and then the inevitable decision to cover the walls in paintable wallpaper.

Next, Steph built out the wall and started framing for the bunk beds. 

I'll share more on this process in another post. 

 We wallpapered the walls in a paintable beadboard paper and gave it all a coat of BM Chantilly Lace.

It all started to come together from there. We are pretty happy about how it turned out and so far it's been easy to keep tidy and organized! 

The whole process of getting this room to where it is now was a challenging one. We ran into lots of problems along the way. We had just finished the big bathroom reno and perhaps we assumed this one was going to be a walk in the park. We definitely thought wrong.. although, I suppose even time has passed that we've almost forgotten:)

It's not a very big room but we certainly made use of it all. Knowing traditional bunk beds were going to take up too much room, Steph came up with the idea of  "floating" bunks. They take up very little space and provide the more modern look we wanted for the space.

There was enough space under the bottom bunk to slide a row of baskets underneath. These have been great for storing backpack on the weekend instead of having them on the floor. We also added sconces to the wall above each bed for reading in bed at night.

The bunks are of course my favorite part of the room and the ladder is no exception. Steph welded that one afternoon and it suits the bunks perfectly. A man of many talents!

The little armoire was from Ikea, years ago. I gave it a couple of coats of white trim paint and it fit perfectly in the space between the bunks and the wall. It acts as my linen closet with lots of space for towels, sheets and extra blankets. 

I put a couple of felt baskets on top that basically hold little odds and ends that I pick up.. we are a family of clutter bugs! The felt is great for pulling on and off without scratching the paint. We also cut down an Ikea floating shelf to fit and put up a few decor items.

This little sunny corner of the room holds a basket of teddies, throws and slippers. The hanging planter is an Etsy find that I absolutely adore. That door that you see is the closet door and it's actually a decent size closet (for an old house) and holds our winter jackets, extra toiletries, and other junk I can't seem to part with.

We wanted to keep the bedding simple. I like the streamlined, almost military look of the tucked-in bedding and the fact that they are somewhat easy to make. We ordered the blankets from MacAusland's Woolen Mills, here on PEI, and they are beautiful and warm. We will certainly have them forever. Of course, I had to add some fun pillows but they usually end up on the floor!

The antique gold light fixture was gifted to us from my aunt and uncle the last time we visited them in Montreal. They had been hanging on to it because it had hung in my uncle's childhood bedroom but didn't have a spot for it in their home. They said I could have it, if I promised to use it somewhere in my own home. We found the perfect spot!

There you have it! I hope you liked the tour of our little bunk room. I would like to add a cozy rug for the floor and somehow include an accent color in the room (mustard yellow) but for now, it's fine. Actually, it was officially the last untouched room in the house. Time to start all over again?

Even Beaufort likes it!

Sources:

Paint - Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace

Blankets - MacAusland's Woolen Mills (Dark Gray)

Striped Sheets, metal basket, wicker baskets - Target

Felt baskets - Walmart

Wall Sconces - Ikea

Roman shade fabric - Tonic Living

Hanging planter - The Vintage Loop

Bunk Room Update and a Giveaway!

Isn't summer grand? The weather has been fantastic so far and I feel so fortunate to be off to enjoy it all. It does to by much too quickly though! I always think that I should have all kinds of time to get projects checked off my list and to share them here but everything seems to take forever to get finished up. Always the way!

Case in point, the bunk room. Slowly but surely, it is coming together. It was a totally hideous room but now I really love it in there. It feels so clean and bright which was exactly what we were going for.

The walls were all painted Benjamin Moore's Chantilly Lace, as was the trim. Steph built the bunk beds and the ladder. They are my favorite part of the room. We ordered wool blankets from MacAusland's Woolen Mills, here in PEI, but they've had some machinery issues so we are still waiting for those to be finished. Once we have the beds all set up, I'll tell you a little more about the bunks and ladder.

The window trim was in pretty bad shape. I had replaced the window when I moved in and the frame around the inside of the window was in desperate need of some repair. A lot of caulking and plaster and it almost ready to be painted. Once that is finished, I can put up the roman shade that I had made for the room.

I did hang up a few things on the wall but things are going to kept fairly simple. I like the
tone on tone of the white frames against the white walls. The roman shade and pillows will provide the contrast.

In one corner, we were able to fit an old Ikea armoire that I'd had for years. I painted it the same white as the walls and I'm using it as a linen closet (something this old house lacks). I picked up the two grey felt baskets at Walmart for a bit more storage on top.

We also cut an Ikea floating shelf and fit it in between the walls over the cabinet. It's a little hard to see it against the white walls in the photo but soon I'll get it styled up with a few books and odds and ends to brighten up that corner.

 

Now for the GIVEAWAY!!!

All the photos in this post, as well as the photos from my Instagram account for the month of June, were taken with my handy Canon Powershot S200. It was generously provided to me by Staples Canada for the #30SummerDays challenge. It takes great photos and the best part is that it's WiFi enabled, which makes photo sharing a breeze!

To win your very own, here's what you have to do:

• Tweet or Instagram a photo with the #30SummerDays hashtag
• Come back here and leave me a comment, letting me know you did!

That's it! Easy peasy!

Contest closes on Friday, July, 25th at 12:00 AST. Good Luck! ** open to Canadian residents only**

Update on Bunk Room.

We finally made some serious project in what I like to call the "little bedroom with 99 problems". The wallpaper came off, and along with it some of the plaster, which made for lots of patching. We ended up deciding to use a paintable wallpaper to achieve a smoother finish. That decision caused a few bumps along the way.

The first paper we chose had no pattern but wasn't pre-pasted. A couple of strips went up but they were quickly taken down after fighting with too many bubbles and the thinness of the paper showed every little imperfection. Next, we chose a paintable paper with a stripe mimicking wainscoting. Not my ideal choice but better then the alternative floral pattern that was also available. It was awful to put up! It tore very easily and there were imperfections in the paper which made for a ton of waste. Thanks Walmart! 

The thing about paintable wallpaper is that, once you are finished the job of hanging it, you still have to paint it all! We tackled that over the course of two nights, using Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace. My favorite crisp white. Here is where the room stands now.

 
Next on the agenda is the trim but it's been far too nice outside the last few days to be indoors painting. It's a job for a rainy day.

Aren't the built in bunks awesome? They are Steph's brainchild and they turned out awesome. I'll do a post about them with the mattresses on, once we get the ladder made and installed. The wall lights are the Ikea Ranarp.

Still need to put up the overhead light, get something on that window and the walls! The fun part.