Mabel’s Big Girl Room Tour
I knew this day was coming and it’s finally here. We officially shifted Mabel from a crib to an actual bed. Besides casually crying about the fact that my baby girl is growing, it has actually been really enjoyable to see her embrace this new change. We took a few weeks beforehand to talk about it with her in anticipation of the switch and it certainly hasn’t been perfectly smooth sailing, but any opportunity to see her embrace a new sense of independence and sense of autonomy in her life and body has been a joy to witness.
When I originally put together her nursery, I was pretty conscious about making sure it didn’t feel too babyish, knowing that it would make the transition of the space into a childhood bedroom a little less involved. In fact, I’m positive that the adjustment to a new bed went relatively smoothly because the rest of the room feels about the same. I made a few adjustments to the artwork and swapped out some of the books that were no longer age-appropriate, but all the main elements of the room remain. I thought it may be interesting to share about some of the small adjustments to show you how you can easily transition a kid’s space to meet new needs as they grow.
As I mentioned, the main adjustment in this space was switching out Mabel’s crib with a regular sized bed. The bed we introduced is an affordable IKEA option made even more affordable when we purchased it from the As-Is section of the store. I love this option because it can be adjusted to three different lengths, so you can easily recreate the cozy feeling of the crib, and eventually stretch it out to a full twin size as your child grows. We set it up on the second setting, so Mabel should be able to use it like this for quite some time before we need to expand it even more. When we purchased it from the As-Is section, it came with the adjustable mattress and I purchased this adorable twin sheet set to dress it up. I also purchased a lightweight duvet and duvet cover to dress the bed with eventually, but at this point, she is still quite content using her smaller blankets for sleeping.
I’ve mentioned before how books are the one thing that I never feel guilty about buying for Mabel. I like to keep the book ledges in her room stocked up with the books we like to read so that they are easy to grab. I purchased these book ledges and painted them mustard yellow when I first set up her nursery and I still love how they add a pop of colour to the walls. I love that books can act like art - as a graphic designer, I find so much satisfaction in displaying beautifully illustrated kid books! Over the years, I have added special momentos to these ledges too, like a thrifted wicker goose, Mabel’s name blocks, and a painted canvas of a cat that I created when I was pregnant with her. When I made the updates to her room recently, I swapped out the existing piece of art (a kangaroo with a baby in her pouch) with an adorable drawing that my brother did of Mabel as a Peanuts character. I couldn’t love it more.
In this corner, I also kept the vintage mid-century modern chair that I purchased secondhand on our local buy-and-sell and a simple wall sconce hanging above it. This little area is where we like to cuddle for our bedtime story and that has not changed since the transition to the new bed.
The only other change I really made in this space was adding two more poster prints above her bed. Her crib came further up the wall, so I removed the side-by-side birthday cat print and sunrise print from the space above her crib and reconfigured them into a 2x2 grid format by adding in two more posters. I love how all the colours tie together, but the sunshine poster and typographic poster really bring a little extra bit of playfulness to her space. Using posters is one of my favourite ways to display art in a kid’s room. They are very inexpensive to print (so you feel less guilty changing them out more frequently as kids grow and their interests change), but you can also frame them in poster frames, which usually come made of plastic rather than glass. I love that she can play in here and I never have to worry about these big pieces of art getting broken or posing a hazard to her or her friends.
Mabel loves stuffed animals. I edited the characters who sat on her bed for this photo, but she easily has 18-20 who sleep in her bed with her every night. They all have names and they are all very special to her. I love that about her and see it as a huge window into her developing personality and interests. She spends the majority of her playtime caring for each and every one, whether it be by settling them in their own bed, providing them with food, or even taking their temperatures to see if they’re feeling sick. She is such a thoughtful and loving little caregiver.
One of my favourite spots in Mabel’s room has always been the little shelf above her dresser. It holds the animal barn I made as her first Christmas gift, a toy camera from her aunt and uncle, her first piggy bank, the stuffed cat I made her while pregnant, her beautiful handcrafted moccasins, and a framed photo of her with her cousins (all born within 7 weeks of each other). I didn’t adjust this special little space at all when we updated her room. It is full of special treasures that still mean just as much now as they did when I first set it up. I made the shelf myself using some art-deco inspired gold shelf brackets and a simple piece of pine board painted white. Below the shelf hangs one of my favourite pieces of artwork I purchased from an antique store many years ago. It is made of yarn in the most beautiful colours and adds the perfect vintage touch to her room.
And for a few honourable mentions. My parents gifted Mabel the big soft llama that lives on her floor as her first Christmas gift. She loves to climb around on it, but probably more so, both Curt and I love to lay our heads on it while we play with her in her room. I purchased the blackout curtains from Target a few years ago and they are so functional that I can’t bring myself to switch them out. The cream rug was a risky choice, but it wasn’t very expensive and adds the perfect amount of brightness and softness to the space. The back of her door is decorated with a yarn rainbow I made when I was pregnant and a couple of her purses (one of which my mom made using this crochet pattern). I love that there are so many special things in this space that make it so uniquely hers.
I can’t believe how much this room has already changed over the past two and a half years. It went from nothing more than a few boxes, to a nursery, to our sweet girl’s childhood bedroom and I’m sure it will only keep evolving as she continually grows and changes. I know I have said this many times already, but I feel so sentimental about occupying the front row seat to her growth. I love watching her independence flourish and interests take shape, but it’s also so hard to let go of her hand a little bit more with each new milestone. I’m sure any mom can relate - she may be growing up, but she will always be my baby.
If you’d like to see the original moodboard for this room transition, you can check it out here.
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Mabel’s Room Source Guide
Paint: Wall Colour
Furniture: Adjustable twin bed frame // Adjustable twin mattress // Mid-century modern chair (thrifted) // Ceiling light
Decor: Twin sheet set // Book ledges (painted) // Wicker goose (thrifted) // Name blocks (handmade, but similar option here) // Peanuts character art (custom and gifted) // Birthday cat poster // Sunrise poster // Sunshine combing hair poster // Cool to be kind poster // Art deco shelf brackets // Yarn covered bridge art (thrifted) // Wall Sconce (Homesense) // Area rug // Blackout curtains (similar) // Table lamp (thrifted)
