Posted by
Jessica McLaughlin
Sunday, November 2, 2008 9:36 AM EDT
The HGTV.ca Team unanimously chose Alex's room as the Kids' Bedrooms Photo Challenge winner. The skateboard theme carries throughout the room with skateboard handles and even a skateboard shelf! Plus mom and dad had some serious storage issues to deal with. This bedroom used to be the solarium in their two-bedroom condo, so they had to get creative with storage because the room has no closet.
Congratulations to Jo-An Y. for this great entry of her son Alex's room:
Here's what Jo-An had to say about the transition from solarium to bedroom: "We enclosed the space and added a real door, but with no actual closet and not a lot of space, storage and organization became the key to making this room function as a bedroom. The room itself is approximately 9' x 10', and since we were working on a small budget we knew furniture pieces could be a problem, but we were able to find some great storage from IKEA that not only fit into our budget, but that solved most of our problems regarding toys. We chose a theme that not only suited us, but something we thought our son would love and grow into as he got older.
"We used skateboarding as our start off point. We used a real skateboard as a shelf, and mini skateboards as handles for toy bins and drawer pulls. We changed the look of his dresser by changing out the drawer pulls with actual skateboard wheels, as well as attaching the mini skateboards to wall hooks for jackets and hats. We found metal drink buckets from Home Sense that made great toy buckets for easy access to the toys our son played with on a daily basis. Although we bought a lot of standard furniture, we were able to customize it for very little money and I think we've created a room that my son loves and that we love too. It goes to show that you don't need a lot of money or a lot of space to create a great room. I hope you guys like it as much as we do!!"
Special mention goes out to Holly R. who sent in the above deliciously-girly photos of her twins Gabrielle and Kailey's bedrooms. Here's what Holly had to say about these rooms: "I am sending photos of my daughters bedrooms. They are twin five year-old girls. Gabrielle has the blue and pink room and Kailey has the purple and green room. The girls decided on the colour of their room and I found bedding, pictures and accessories to match (with their final approval, of course). I tried to choose things for their rooms that would suit them now as well as when they are older. I think, by switching up the art work and some of the accessories, the rooms can definitely stand the test of time. I chose twin beds with trundle beds so the girls would have more floor space to play and still have a spot for sleepovers. They both have closet organizers; which gives them plenty of clothes and toy storage. I wanted the girls rooms to be pretty but with a funky flair."
And finally, one brave soul decided to share her kids disaster bedrooms. After all, we did as for the horror stories too. Debora C. shares her pain: "My son’s room is VERY tiny – about 8’X 8’ with a window on one wall, a small closet on another and the doorway on the third. It really doesn’t leave much room for a bed. And there is nowhere to store anything. I put a shelf all around the room up near the ceiling, and even put a dresser in his closet. I don’t know what I’ll do when he’s older and needs more room for all his big boy stuff (he’s only five). Also, I have no sense of room design! My daughter’s room (pictured here) is not much larger, about 8’ X 10’ with, again, a very small closet and no storage space. Her clothes are all over the place – as evidenced by the photo. She also has no place to put her toys. There is only one wall where the bed can go. And even then, we have to have it away from the wall so we can close her curtains. Did I say I had no sense of style? Yuk. Perhaps I need a bigger house!"
If anyone can help Debra out, please share your advice below!