Kid rooms

I was cleaning up the kids' rooms as I was getting the house ready for Brynn's baptism lunch and decided that I should take some pictures.  They aren't usually this clean and I thought it would be fun to document what their rooms were like at this stage in their lives.

The plan was not necessarily to let all the kids have their own rooms.  I always shared a room and Justin always shared a room so we figured our kids would share their rooms and that that would be a good thing for them.  Then we moved into our house and it was either put two rooms in the basement or a family room in the basement.  If we did a family room in the basement it would have meant that we only had two bedrooms for four kids and I wanted at least three bedrooms for four kids.  So we went with two bedrooms in the basement for a total of four bedrooms for four kids...so they all got their own.  Brynn and Ivy could share and we could change Ivy's room to a play room but we have the loft so we don't necessarily need that.  Also, I like the idea of letting Ivy sleep in as long as possible until she has to start getting up and off to school so I didn't want Brynn in there disturbing her in the morning.

So, here we go.  Molly's room first.

 

I love her room because it has so much of her personality but it does have some clutter spots which drive me crazy sometimes.  I try to ignore it and embrace the tweenage life for the most part.  She had a purple room in Spanish Fork and was definitely not going to go girly this time around. She picked the brightest shade of green that she could because she said it reminded her of a soccer field.  She wanted a loft bed for a few years before Justin made one for her for Christmas in 2017.  That has been really fun for her.  My mom and dad gave her the bedspread for her birthday when she was turning 10 and that was a nice change from the pink and purple flowered bedspread she had before.  We went with gray because we thought it would not clash with the green.  We put the desk with the typewriter under her bed with the chair she got, also when she turned 10.  All those drawings are her own work.

 

 

At the foot of her bed is the pet net to store her beanie boos.  This might be going down soon-she told me she doesn't really like it anymore.  It's too baby-ish.  The paint still needs touched up in the corner but I don't even notice it anymore.

Then she has that little corner with her Harry Potter books (illustrated and a few others), the treasure chest Grandma April made for her when she turned 5, some Harry Potter drawings and quotes (quotes all copied by her with her calligraphy set), and the pin board with all sorts of pictures of her with family and friends.  I think Justin picked up that small dresser at a yard sale, or something similar.

She got my cedar chest because there was nowhere else to put it in this house and it is a functional spot for her pillows.  That windowsill is a clutter spot with pictures, the purple treasure box from Bishop Palmer when she got baptized (handmade by him), Weird but True books, Nancy Drew books, American Girl Molly books, and a few other trinkets.  The snake came from the San Diego Zoo and is a favorite stuffed animal of hers.  It finds its way into her duffel bag often when we are going somewhere.

I like the two signs that she has-the top one from Justin and me and the bottom from Grandma Kay-and her ukulele.  Her collection of soccer balls.

We found the dresser on KSL.  The picture of Jesus was a gift from Gene and April for her baptism.  The jewelry box was from my parents, her birthday dolls from April, and a picture of her and her siblings with her temple recommend in the corner of the frame.  And the full-length mirror behind the door that we bought cheap at Walmart and Justin framed.

We converted an old picture frame that we had hanging in our SF house (we outgrew it when Ivy joined our family) into a fun chalkboard/pin board and she is always changing it around and writing new quotes on it.  I always love to see what she hangs up on it.

 

Justin made her a headboard this past Christmas and it is also a spot that gets cluttered but at least there is a spot for all of that stuff and I mostly don't see it since it's not eye level from the floor.

 

Stockton's room.

 

Justin has fun helping with Stockton's room since they both love sports.  We painted his accent wall a blue color that looks really nice (in my opinion).  He has the bunk beds that Justin spent so much time on-he always picks to sleep on the bottom so the top rarely gets used.  I bought him the bottom bedspread when he graduated from his crib to a bed.  The one on top is one I found at Target or Amazon when he moved to this room and Brynn wasn't sharing with him.  He hangs his basketball hoop on the bunk bed.

 

Next to his bed is the basketball area with a John Stockton jersey that Justin bought years ago.  Justin found that shelf at the Habitat for Humanity Restore and Stockton's room seemed like a good spot for it.  Some Jazz bobbleheads, stuffed Jazz bear, John Stockton ball, and John Stockton basketball card from Justin's childhood collection.

We bought the dresser at Target when I was pregnant with him.  It's not the best quality dresser but it has actually held up suprisingly well.  One of the four feet broke, so Justin cut them all off and it just sits right on the floor.  Sometimes the second drawer gets stuck but Justin knows a trick to get it unstuck.  Above his dresser is a Jazz flag, the picture of Christ Gene and April gave him for his baptism, and a small pin board I made clear back when we lived in Logan.  His Harry Potter legos on the dresser.

He hates to have his blinds open.  That is opposite from me and drives me crazy but I resist and keep them shut for him.  He has all the Harry Potter books lined up in the windowsill with some Hazardous Tales that Grandma Kay has recently given him.  A couple of signed baseballs on the other end.  The stick in the middle of the windowsill is a stick that Stockton whittled down to look like a Harry Potter wand.

 

Justin made the baseball shelf out of some old baseballs he had collected.  More bobbleheads, "Goodnight Baseball" book, baseball cards from Justin, a picture of Stockton from when he was 2, a signed Tom Glavine baseball from Grandpa Moyes, and some leather that fell off a baseball.

Justin bought a print of the Atlanta Braves stadium, made the frame, and gave it to Stockton when he was a baby.  He put some hooks on the back of his bunk bed for his hats.

Brynn's room.

Our bathroom leaked about a year ago and caused a huge mess in Brynn's room and with her ceiling.  It had to get completely ripped out and replaced and it's still an ongoing project.  The ceiling needs textured, the paint needs touched up, and we need to get her a new fan.

 We are pretty sure Brynn's room used to be the kitchen, way back before the current kitchen area was added on to the house.  When the old carpet was pulled up, there was linoleum under it.  Just a fun old-house tidbit.  Also, this was the room that all three kids were in before the basement was finished.  They did great all together but it was nice to be able to give them some space.  Brynn got a purple accent wall-I think it is the same purple that we had painted in the girl room in Spanish Fork (Molly's room, then Brynn's room, then back to Molly's room).  The dresser in her room was my old dresser as a girl.  The purple shelf was one we bought at Michael's and painted purple way back when we were expecting Molly.  On it is her birthday dolls, a family picture (that has since been swapped out for a baptism picture), a unicorn painting she did at a birthday party, and a mermaid sign that I still need to get a frame for.  On her dresser are the lego's she got for Christmas.

 

She got the canopy in the corner for Christmas when she was 4.  It usually houses her stuffed animals.

 

The pink side table was purchased at Target for Molly's room when we first moved into our townhome in Spanish Fork.  She got the lamp for Christmas 2017.  Justin made the name board and we hung three picture frames underneath...I rotate pictures of her in them.  Justin made the bulletin board for her for Christmas 2017 to go with the lamp.  The day bed is one of a pair from when I shared a room with Ali as a girl.  We have the other that we intend on using for Ivy when she's a little older.  I bought the bedspread for Brynn when she moved from a crib to a bed and it's held up well.  I do have a bed skirt that matches but I detest bed skirts so I don't usually bother with it.  Her pillow bed is a favorite.

The other feature I would like to add is a bookshelf for Brynn.  She has a weird corner right as you walk into her room that would be perfect for that...it's on the never-ending to-do list for Justin.

Ivy's room.

 

Ivy has the smallest room in the house.  When we moved in, she was only three months old.  We had only the two rooms for the kids but I wanted Ivy to have her own room so she wouldn't have any distractions getting to sleep/staying asleep so it was obvious to put her in the small room and the other three in the big room.  And it has been great for her.  I begged Justin to paint it pink, not just an accent wall like we usually do, but the whole room since it's small.  I thought that at least one of my girls needed a pink room.  It took him a couple of years to get around to it and when he did, I wasn't sure that I liked it.  But it's grown on me and it looks better with furniture and decorations.  Her bed is my Grandma Lue's old bed.  It's perfect for moving from crib to bed because it's so low to the ground.  All my girls have used it.  The bedspread is Molly's old one.  It's pretty beat up but it's functional and I'll buy her a new one when she's old enough to care.  Erin W. made the dream catcher for one of her girls' rooms but later changed things up and didn't have a place for it.  I took it from her and it fits great above her bed.

Justin made the white dresser and we bought those baskets when we were expecting Molly.  We keep thinking we'll get her an actual dresser but this has worked great for all of our girls.  On the dresser are her birthday dolls, a hand-me-down lamp from Molly, and some pictures.  The castle tent was a Christmas gift and took the place of the rocking chair that was previously in that corner.

 

The purple bookcase was also made by Justin when I was pregnant with Molly.  I keep thinking that I'm going to sand it down and paint it white but I probably never will and it serves its purpose just great.  I bought those butterflies at TJ Maxx along with the princess quote behind the castle and the butterfly picture above her bed.

Ivy's room may be small, but her closet is awesome.  It goes all the way under the stairs and is great for storage.  I've changed things out over the years but it currently has the doll crib and stroller back there, all the doll stuff, and the dress-up bin.  Justin built shelves for me on both sides of the closet (you can't see one side in this picture) and that helped with organization a whole bunch.  Someday we'll paint those closet doors white and that will make her room look better too.

Above her bed is the butterfly picture previously mentioned and her blessing dress, made by my mom.  It's been a tradition that I've hung the girls' blessing dresses in their rooms for a while.

Ivy doesn't have a bulletin board anywhere in her room but she loves looking at the pictures that I tape on the back of her door.  Lots and lots of fun memories for her in those pictures.

As far as keeping their rooms clean, I make them pick up every night before I tuck them in.  On Saturday's that we are home, I make them dust and vacuum as well and any de-cluttering I think they need (like dressers).  That has always been a good system for us and keeps their rooms (mostly) clean.   I try to do a big clean out/organization once a year, usually after Christmas.

I guess my philosophy with bedrooms is that I don't want to spend a lot of money but I still want to make it a fun place for them that reflects their personality and a place where they can be comfortable and are happy to call their own.  As I was taking pictures and typing this, I realized that we have never spent money on a bed-they have all been handed down or made by Justin.  (This is also true of our room.)  We do buy new mattresses.  A lot of the dressers have been handed down as well.  I am usually willing to spend a little money on a nicer bedspread so that it will last longer (I'm not a quilter or I'd try making them).  Paint is cheap so that is a fun way to make a room look nice and it's fun for the kids to pick out the color they'd like....and it's easy to change when they're ready to move on, as long as there are a few years in between. (Although our project list is long and those sorts of things get put off easily.)  I like their rooms to be coordinated but I don't worry too much about having things matching exactly.  It's mostly whatever we already have or whatever they see and like, minus a handful of things I've bought.  It has worked great for us and that is a little peek inside our house!