This here is invaluable help for all of you faced with transitioning your little baby girl to her very own toddler room. Victoria G., today's design novice-in-distress sent us a video of her dilemma! (See below) Victoria G.'s expanding family is pushing up into the attic rooms, which are unfortunately not exactly child-friendly. To her rescue -- and I mean RESCUE -- comes our gracious Dilemma Host, Cheryl Torrenueva, actual host of Restaurant Makeover, who uses her savvy to do all of Victoria's leg work for her. Cheryl - you ROCK!
From Victoria G.:
"We have a huge design dilemma! Our oldest daughter, Hailey, is 3 years old and currently resides in the room next to ours. We just had another baby, Olivia, who we want to move into her own room - next to ours - and move Hailey upstairs.
- The stairs are VERY steep, the rise and run were done wrong, but in order to change them we would have to take out our front door (which we don't use) and cut into the bulk head.
- The next challenge is making the bathroom kid friendly as it is a closet bathroom and there isn't much room.
- The final challenge is making the room upstairs, which is connected to another room by a long open hallway, somehow secluded and kid friendly. The future bedroom is 125" x 157" with the opening connecting the bedroom to the hallway being 79". The ceiling is slanted on a 45 with the half wall measuring 39 1/2" before the slant begins.
Other details...
- I want a twin bed for her with a nice headboard, but wall space is limited.
- Hailey has two dressers that need to fit on the long wall – 157" – because there’s no closet and storage will be an issue.
- I am also at a loss for paint colors. I’m thinking a soft yellow but with the walls being slanted I'm not sure how I should tackle the room. Do I paint the slanted part of the wall or leave that white? The ceiling isn't very big, should I paint that yellow as well or paint it white?
Victoria's Kids Room-to-be
Please help me figure out how am I suppose to make the room secluded and appropriate for a three year old, she really deserves a big girl room as she is such a good big sister and little girl."
Cheryl suggests: Victoria, this is what I see as your main challenges:
- Rebuilding the stairs
- Current layout of the bathroom
- Privacy
- How to make the bathroom and bedroom more kid-friendly
- Storage
- Colour Scheme
Wow, this is definitely a design dilemma that needs to be solved! We need Hailey to have a space that she can call her own and grow into over the next few years. First of all, we have to rework the plan...
Stairs
Please make the changes that you had suggested as it is a must for the safety of your entire family. With 2 little ones running around, you will definitely have some piece of mind.
Bathroom
Consider moving the wall in your bathroom one to two feet into your daughter’s new bedroom. This will allow you to turn the toilet so that it sits against the sink wall and you’ll have more room to maneuver. To keep the bathroom kid friendly, make sure that you have a sturdy step stool that can sit underneath a floating vanity. To give the kids a space of their own where they can store and place their belongings, build a few shelves in the niche in front of the toilet and install a narrow countertop that runs all the way from the doorway and over the toilet. Keep things fresh by painting the entire bathroom ultra white and make the rest of the small space pop with bright and colourful accessories and towels.
The New Wall
The new wall will house shelving for the bathroom, a new pocket door to provide some privacy for the bedroom, a small closet for hanging clothes and niches that can be used to store Hailey’s favourite books and toys.
The Bed
From my days on Rooms that Rock (which was HGTV’S design show for kids), I have learned that niches and daybeds were a hit for all the little princesses that I met. Lets create a wall-to-wall headboard that will be the perfect backdrop for the new day bed. To keep things kid-friendly, build a padded headboard that runs up to where the ceiling starts sloping (which is roughly 39”). Create another piece for the head of the bed and make it exactly the same width as the twin bed. This is a great kid-friendly option and you can change the fabric as she grows older. Try to mix and match fabric patterns for your accent cushions and bedding to keep things visually interesting!
Storage
Try to take advantage of every inch in the bedroom and create recessed niches where you can. If you decide to keep the dresser, centre it along the long wall and incorporate built-in shelves on either side. Paint everything white and make sure to use a washable finish for durability. You can unify all 3 pieces by installing a countertop that runs wall-to-wall, on which you can place baskets for Hailey’s toys. She’ll have no problem reaching them and once she is finished playing everything can go back into the basket and out of sight.
Colour Scheme
From the left: accent cushion fabric, CANDID-A (28430) from Designer Fabrics, Toronto; suggested headboard fabric, MEGAN-A (28429), from Designer Fabrics, Toronto.
And lastly, the colour palette is where the fun starts! If you decide to go with a soft yellow, try ICI DULUX, Soft Yellow, 58YY 88/180 and paint the entire room including the ceiling. As an alternative, you can also paint the entire space white and add the excitement with some of these modern girly fabrics, which she can enjoy for many years to come!
What do you guys think??? Cheryl is a real sport, wouldn't you say?
Got your own Design Dilemma, outdoor or otherwise? Take a photo and send it in (in jpeg format) along with your question to blog(@)hgtv(.)ca and with Design Dilemma in the subject line, and we'll do our best to get you an answer!
Previously on Design Dilemma: Carson Arthur helps with Curb Appeal
Related: