BOLD BLUE, WHITE AND WOOD SHARED BOYS BEDROOM

A new shared boys bedroom reveal is finally here! Welcome to our newest project: a bold blue and white shared kids room with just a touch of natural wood. I love how this fun pattern-filled kid space turned out. This family home is a modern dream, full of amazingly unique features and enough room in here to have two twin beds along a beautiful wall of giant windows peering out into a lush backyard. You will also see that an air conditioning unit is on the main wall and although many online photos don’t show this, I wanted you to see the real look at how to design around this common household item.

The bold patterned blue and white wallpaper covers three of the four walls, adding so much impact to these high ceilings and large windows.

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One of the most interesting parts of designing this room was the slanted wall and has to be seen in person to really understand the effect. I’m not sure why this wall was designed this way but we decided to paint it to match the wallpaper on the other walls as wallpapering it would have caused the design to be slanted too! I actually love how well we could match the paint to the paper and I feel like the bold blue wall tones the amount of light in the space a little and brings in a sense of cozy to this large room.

The boys are big Star Wars fans and we decided to bring this into the space in subtle ways. We included a nod to Star Wars with this R2-D2 lamp and custom Etsy art above the wood dresser, as well as the adorable pillows too. Having a small bookshelf next to each bed allows ready to grab books for bedtime and an easy spot to put them back too! We loved working with this client and hope the boys enjoy their bedroom for many years to come.

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HOW TO CREATE A SIMPLE GALLERY WALL ABOVE A DRESSER

It may be a bold statement but we truly believe that artwork is what brings a space to life! A real match for a room is when the artwork reflects the little one who lives there and these prints add a fun punch of personality to Xavier’s room. Hanging artwork can be tricky so today we are going to show you how!

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STEP #1.

Start by choosing artwork that blends in colour and theme to the rest of the space. With artwork for a simple gallery wall, choose 3 good size prints and frame them to fill the width of the dresser.

STEP #2.

Get the spacing right. See below for our guide to spacing. Ensure that the first print is hung 4-6” above the top of the dresser. The group of 3 should be thought of as 1 entire art piece. Measure the centre of the trio to be about 57-60” from the ground.

STEP #3.

Space the frames close enough together so that they look like they belong. For this trio, the frames are 3.5” apart; 2-3” is a good guideline. You can use painters tape to rough out the frames on the wall to give you an idea of how they will look before hanging them.

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RENTAL HOUSE: XAVIER'S NEUTRAL BUNK ROOM REVEAL!

ONE ROOM IS FINALLY DONE and that means it’s time for a room reveal! No surprise that the first completed space is a kids room, because let’s be honest, designing children’s rooms are the most fun of all.

Welcome to our rental home…and my sweet boy, Xavier’s bunk room! This Oeuf bunk bed has been on my list of favourites for what feels like forever and it was the very first piece purchased for his room. There are so many arguments for and against bunk beds, but having had one as a child, I only have the best of memories. Needless to say, the bunk bed made the transition from his old room to this one a dream! He truly loves it just as much as I do.

SHOP THE ROOM…

While I wanted this space to feel playful (Xavier plays in his top bunk ALL.THE.TIME), I really feel that for my own kids’ rooms I like them to also feel calm and restful (cue for more sleep please!). With Xavier in Grade 1 this year, it made sense to give him a little desk where he could do quiet activities or a spot to sit and draw.

The wallpaper is by Livette’s Wallpaper and is a removable paper of better quality than any other removable wallpaper I’ve used or seen. It has the best texture, almost like a nice piece of fabric. It is also created using non-toxic materials and inks while also being waterproof and washable! What’s not to love about all of that?! This is the linen colour and pattern is ‘Brushstroke Watercolour’ and I highly, HIGHLY recommend it. Just order a sample and you’ll see what I mean with the quality!

The house shaped chalk board is super cute and Xavier drew this amazing robot himself! The desk is from IKEA and stools are these wooden stools from the play table we used with our children’s playhouse a few years ago. They are now painted white. We love how versatile the magnetic wall sorter (on the left wall above) is and Xavier loves to change up what he keeps in here regularly.

“I love using practical items like this calendar block to teach little ones every day concepts such as the days and months of the year.”

I knew we wanted a good size dresser and one that could last from now until his teen years (if not first apartment!) and this solid dresser is well built and holds a lot. I was trying to decide between a mirror or art and since there wasn’t a lot of space on the other walls for art, it made sense to put a little gallery wall above the dresser for fun here. The sweet sun print is by Emzi Art Shop, the robot print can be found here and the ‘Let the Good Times Roll’ print is from Minted. We decided to put a nightlight bulb in the concrete lamp on the dresser to use for night time but when Xavier gets a little older, we will likely put a wall sconce on the wall next to his bed. So far this solution has worked well so that when it’s time for lights out, he doesn’t just flick the light back on again.

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One thing that has added so much softness (and blocks out nearly all the outdoor light!) is the roman shade from Tonic Living. This shade was custom made for the space and is a snug fit on a very basic window. I decided on an inside mount but could have just as easily gone for an outside mount on this wall too. It adds so much softness to the room and the colour (Tuscany Linen, Oatmeal Slub) is the perfect neutral.

You know how much I love a good book wall and this area with the acrylic shelves creates a pretty cool vignette where you can rotate books just like art. The rug adds a cozy place on the floor to play and is soft underfoot for a wool rug. The knitted snake was handmade by Nana and is a firm fave that we treasure.

From the hallway, you have this view of the room and I think it’s one of my favourite views! I love catching glimpses of Xavier sitting at his desk or reading a book on his giant floor pillow from Natti Natti which is handmade in Brooklyn, New York.

The gorgeous bed linens are 100% linen and from new Canadian brand Dreams Jumper. You can also spot our favourite Cuddle and Kind dolls and Keva building planks.

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Although this home is an interim rental for our family, I hope the memories that we make in here will last forever.

*Thank you to many of the brands listed in this post for their collaboration in this project.

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EMIL: A NATURE LOVERS TODDLER BOY ROOM REVEAL

I am SO EXCITED to reveal our newest little boy's room...a nature inspired space for sweet Emil! This room was created for a full-service client here in Vancouver and was designed with one of Emil's key interests in mind, the outdoors. With this project, our client wanted a toddler room created in their newly purchased home for her 2 year old son. What little boy wouldn't adore peering up at that tree while drifting off to sleep?!

When I first met Emil's mom, she had so many great ideas for the room, including a floor to ceiling mural of a tree, this incredible light and a loft bed. The room didn't have super high ceilings, so we sourced this gorgeous bed that would fit the room while still giving Emil the sense of a loft bed or truer to what we were going for, tree house. 

I LOVE the bed and thankfully it was a universal hit, as Emil and both of his parents loved it too. It's just such a cute, fun space to climb into, peek out of, and to feel cozy in for reading books or night time sleep. 

The tree mural was truly a labour of love created by Vancouver-based artist Kim Hunter, who has created murals all over the city and in various parts throughout Canada. Kim helped in choosing a similar tree to the ones that Emil can see from his windows and added layers of colours to tie in with the wood of the bed and colour of the rug.  

We found this super cute nightlight from Studio Zoethout on Etsy and it is just beautifully made adding such a sweet and playful accessory that Emil can easily turn on and off himself. I am truly in love with the lamp and stool, from Stray Dog Designs.

This dresser is a key piece that will take Emil through his childhood years and well into his teens. The room was accessorized with cute wooden figures of animals and lots of books for Emil to access himself.

We chose these art prints, which were created by Amy Hamilton, who is a Canadian graphic designer and illustrator. The prints are beautiful quality and tie in perfectly with the outdoor theme. I really wanted to create a sense of playfulness in Emil's toddler boy room, while keeping in mind that he will grow with this space too. 

When the room was fully complete, our little client was over the moon with what had been created. He literally leapt in and out of the bed, explored the toys and books and relaxed on the soft rug underfoot. 

Photos by Rebecca Dadson