Monday, March 14, 2011

Styling the Girls' Bunk Beds

Natalie and Michaela Byrd became roomies back in September, and it has taken me until now to remember to share some more about how I've begun to beautify their new bunk beds.

The main road block to my sharing was that their room resembled a FEMA disaster zone for some time, and I was way too embarrassed to show you pictures of the destruction. You might have thought we let a pack of baby wolverines loose in there!

After some decluttering and primping over the weekend, I decided to show you guys the beginning stages of their room.

The room the girls share was Michaela Byrd's, and the window treatments (I'll show you another day) were a really pretty color combo of purples, blue, yellow, and green. When I saw twin bedding sets in Target (on sale!) that coordinated with our Waverly fabric to a "T," I just knew I had to snatch them up.
Add IKEA Lamps to Girls' Bunk Beds, from Serenity Now


Of course, before I could snap any pictures, I had to fix the blankets. And to fix the blankets nicely enough for photos, I had to pull the bed out. (Have you ever tried making a top bunk? It is close to impossible. Fyi, those ugly blue things are their music boxes, which they refuse to part with.)

This is what greeted me:

A newborn sized clog (?!), clothing tags, MY old stuffed animal, doll clothes, books, and lots of dust.

And that was just the beginning. Because I am easily distracted, I forgot all about taking pictures of the bunk beds and just started chucking stuff into piles left and right.

There were enough books under the bed to retrofit a small library, and I filled two trash bags with just junk. See?


Why, yes, that is a child-size golf club sticking out of that bag. Because no girls' room would be complete without a plastic putter that is bent in half.

I won't even speak of the bookshelves or dresser because I am still so traumatized. When I recovered sufficiently from the shock, I was ready to take some more photographs of the bedding.

The room stays pretty chilly because the pull-down attic stairs are in there, so I layered the end of each bed with a blanket.

Natalie's was a gift from my aunt. I love items with a personal touch or family history:


Michaela Byrd's was a Salvation Army find that matched the purple in the bedding perfectly. (It was cleaned very very well before we put it to use) I hate that someone "threw it out", but I love that we have something so pretty!


There's not much going on up on the walls yet, but I did score some fab lighting on my last IKEA Shopping Trip. The wall lamps are a muted apple green, and they coordinate so nicely! I think they were $16 a pop.

Michaela Byrd sleeps on the bottom bunk, so T screwed hers right into the bed frame:
Lamps for Girls' Bunk Bed Set, Screw into the frame! from Serenity Now


There was plenty of room on the top bunk, so Natalie's went into the dry wall.
IKEA Lamps for Girls' Bunk Bed Set, rom Serenity Now


Hers is a particular life saver because she likes waking up at the crack of dawn, and was waking her sister up out of boredom. Now she knows she can grab a book and flip her light on until the rest of the house begins to stir.

They think their lights are the coolest!
Lamps for Girls' Bunk Bed Set, Screw into the frame! from Serenity Now


























I think we're off to a decent start now that I've done some decluttering. We have a long way to go, but the girls are enjoying the roommate life.

And lest you think I am some cold mother who forces her children to live a lonely, stuffed animal-less existence, I can assure you otherwise. The children and their menageries happily coexist here...without any wolverines.























I hope you'll join me on Tuesday for the next session in my series on Blog Commenting.

If you enjoyed this post or found it helpful, I hope you'll click your "Pin It" button to add this post to Pinterest, or a +1 for Google+. And I always appreciate your kind comments!

*Linking to Leslie's Purge Party at Goodbye, House! Hello, Home! and Sarah's Before and After Party at  Thrifty Decor Chick.

38 comments:

  1. Your girlies' bunkbeds are so cute! I know exactly what you mean about making the top bunk too...no fun at all! I love those little lamps. My boys would love some like that so they could read in bed:)

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  2. i was so excited when i saw you posted about bunk beds because i can never figure out how to make the girls' bunk beds look neat-that top bunk is impossible! it's my least favorite chore in the house now and we have 2 sets of bunks! how did you get the comforter to look so neat on both bunks-ours never look that good-are your comforters thinner ones? i need to start my younger girls' room so thanks for the ideas-love those lamps and the colors you chose.

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  3. and by the way, my 5 and 7 yr olds' room looks just like you described your girls' room! somedays i just shake my head and walk back out :)

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  4. Your daughter's room is adorable. I think the accumulation of jumk is just part of the deal with the little kids. My 3 and 5 year old share a room and the most amazing (horrid) things pile up in there.

    I would also like to give a huge AMEN to the comment about how difficult it is to make bunk beds. It is ridiculous. I've found I can only buy extra large twin sheets to even attempt to accomplish the job. When can I make the boys start doing this?

    Cute room!

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  5. how sweet, i love bunk beds, wish my boys would go for it, too (and i could get my craft room back, ha)

    I've just awarded you a Stylish Blogger badge, check out my blog for details, thanks!

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  6. Your daughters look so sweet nestled in their beds! I kept looking at the bedspreads thinking I had seen them somewhere before....and then I realized my oldest daughter has the quilt version! I'm glad you rescued the purple blanket!

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  7. how beautiful! Love the bed linens and blankets and your girls are adorable, too!!

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  8. Making the bed in my son's room is one of my least favorite things to do around here as he has bunk beds too. On his even the bottom bunk is a nightmare because the mattress sits down into the frame. I have to drag the whole thing out to change the sheets. Some very ugly words have been heard around here when I have to do that chore. And I actually have to do it today...UGH!!!

    But, on a much happier note, I love your girls' beds! That bedding is adorable. And the lamps are very cool. My kids would love those, especially my son as he likes to wake up before anyone else and read. That lamp would be perfect.

    Jennifer

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  9. The bunkbeds look great, Amanda! Their bedding is so cute--good job on scoring it at Target. And the apple-green lights are awesome.

    We had bunk beds at our house for many years; we finally took them down just last year. For the final five years of their time with us, the top bunk belonged just to stuffed animals, who would move aside whenever Lee had an overnight guest. Only then would that bunk get anything other than a fitted sheet. Yes, indeed making the top bunk is a pain!

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  10. I could not agree more about naking the bed on the top bunk. UGH! My son sleeps on the top bunk and it's a pain in the neck to make that bed!

    Love the girls bedding. Gotta love Target! Those lights you found are toooo cute! Love the green!

    As far as the mess behind the bed goes, I hate to think what's behind my son's bed. I'm sure it's far worse since I haven't pulled the bed out in MONTHS!

    Thanks for sharing. It's looking GREAT!

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  11. So cute, I love that bedding! Target is the greatest :)

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  12. Your girls are adorable, Amanda, as are their bunkbeds. Love the bedding and both blankets at the ends work beautifully!

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  13. The colors of the bedding are so pretty, love each blankets too! I know how it is too when you move a side of the bed and you find an entire "lost & found" department out there!!!

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  14. We did bunk beds for years with my 2 middle girls (all grown up now!) They also had lamps on their beds for lots of quiet time reading!
    As far as making the top bunk goes, try to keep it as simple as possible and delegate to the child sleeping up there as soon as they are able!
    Very cute!
    Bernice

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  15. This post made me laugh to know I'm not alone :). How is it that so much stuff accumulates under kids' beds? It is frightening and kind of awe-inspiring :). It looks gorgeous in your girls' room now!

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  16. Their beds are so cute! That bedding is adorable...yay for Target!
    Craig gets to help Skippy change the sheets on his loft bed, and since it's higher than my head and I hardly see it, I don't complain anymore about the results.

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  17. So cute! They look so cute sitting on their little beds reading, love it!

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  18. Amanda, I really enjoyed reading this post! Their beds are adorable! I love those lamps; they really are super fun. Also, I don't think those music boxes are ugly at all. I actually thought they were baskets at first and I felt that the blue really brought out the blue in their bed spreads. It was very aesthetically pleasing to me!

    And I LOVE the picture of the two of them reading. :)

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  19. How cute are their little beds!! Man I wish I had a reading lamp when I was little!!! I would've loved that! Well done mom!

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  20. I love the bedding that you found for the beds. It looks girly but not baby and should work for a long time. The reading lights are really neat. They kind of remind me of being in college and studying in my loft bed. I will admit that I probably would just pull the covers up on the top bunk and call it good.

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  21. I love that their linens are so matchy! Cute!

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  22. Great post! So happy you find completely random items in your childrens' rooms too ;) We could start a support group!
    The pics of the girls reading in their beds are just precious! And I love the lamps.

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  23. I LOVE the girls room!! My baby girl has similar colors in hers. I would love to have another little girl one day so they can share a room like this. Such special memories!!

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  24. the bedding is so pretty! That purple blanket was a great thrift store find, I love it. The green lamps are great too :)

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  25. Oh, I LOVE your girls' bunk beds!! Those IKEA lamps are great, too We are in the market for bunk beds for our two girls, and yours are exactly the style/color we are looking for. Where did you get them? ((Please don't tell me Pottery Barn, because we can't afford Pottery Barn beds! Ahhh...they are all so gorgeous, but with a family of nine children... way out of our price range! LOL))

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  26. Oh, Amanda!
    It's all beautiful! The bedding, the afghans, the lights, the reading redheads with painted fingernails and nekked feet!
    I love it all!
    My girls had bunk beads when they were little, and I almost cried remembering the sweetness of that time-sharing a room. *sniff, sniff*.
    Thank you for coming to my party!
    I am so enjoying seeing joy and peace come to all our homes as we focus on what is really important, the lives in the home.
    Blessings and hugs!
    ~me

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  27. I love seeing the little gals reading their books. Makes my heart melt.

    And I love the bedding. So pretty and girly.

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  28. I always tell you this but I'm sure you don't tire of hearing it...your girls are SO darn cute! I just love seeing them reading their books. Adorable! The bedding is super cute and I *love* the lights. Love them! My kids had bunk beds for a BRIEF period of time. I hated making the top bunk. The time was so brief because the set of bunks we had just weren't sturdy and therefore not safe. Plus I hated making the top bunk so much. haha

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  29. Sooo cute, Amanda! I am loving the green with the purple, and I am not usually a purple kind of girl. I love the little touch of family history as well :)

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  30. I am so glad I came across this post. We are looking at bunkbeds for our girls (didn't consider the making up part). Where did you get yours? It looks like they come apart and can be twin beds.

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  31. Love the purple and the lamps too!

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  32. There is something so sweet about siblings sharing a room. I love this! My favorite are the lamps. I want them.

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  33. i LOVE the lamps! So cute! I share your pain with making up the top bunk....

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  34. Heading to Ikea for those lamps....love the beds. TFS. Bug Hugs.

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  35. ADORABLE! I LOVE your blog!!
    I would LOVE to have you link up to my PARTY! WHASSUP WEDNESDAY!!

    And I have a party button you can grab and put on your blog so your friends can come too:)




    *ENTER LINKY PAR-TAY Here! *

    xoxokara

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  36. Very cute! My twin girls share a room with bunk beds, and that top bunk is a booger. They insist on sleeping on the top, so we started having them sleep on top of everything and just using a bunch of blankets to sleep under. In the morning we don't have to do anything but fix the pillows and fold a couple of blankets. Much easier!

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  37. Where did you find the girl's bunks? They are the cutest I have seen, and I have been looking for a while. Love your blog!

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