Mabel’s Room Updates | Moodboard + Plans
This moment feels so bittersweet. I think this Fall we will finally be transitioning Mabel out of her crib and into an actual bed. I’ve been asking her for a while if she has wanted to make the transition and much to my delight she repeatedly says no. I think the girl likes the comfort of her little crib. But her independence has been soaring lately and I really do think she is ready. I have been trying to warm her up to the idea by involving her in making choices for her updated room, but I’m sure there will still be a period of confusion in the switch. We may end up doing the crib and bed thing for a while until the whole situation feels more settled. I always love being able to see her grow, but the markable end of an era in her life always makes me feel a little weepy.
I decided that today I would share my moodboard and plans for transitioning her nursery into her childhood bedroom. I actually still really love a lot of the elements we have in her room, so I decided to make this more of a progression and an update rather than a full overhaul. Her nursery was never designed to be exclusively baby, so I think a lot of the pieces will transition just fine, so long as we make consistent choices in colour and style with the new elements we plan to add. If you’d like to see what her nursery looks like now (for reference), you can view her room tour here.
I thought I would take the time to go over some of the plans and changes that I hope to do in this transition. I put together a moodboard so I could start ordering the items I need to make the transition and then will likely do the switch at some point this Fall. But before I get to what we are adding, here’s what we have to start with.
What’s Staying?
The short answer to this question is: pretty well everything. Many of the original design elements still work for her age and will be able to transition very easily. The wall colour is a neutral sage grey tone called Sawgrass by Behr. It is a great colour that still works well in this space. When we originally set up her nursery, we updated the flush mount light fixture and replaced the floors when we removed the upstairs carpeting a couple of winters ago. These components are still a great starting point for the other design elements.
The rug is still a great fit for the room so it will be staying. It is a woven cream wool rug that is neutral and inexpensive. I think we will keep it in her room until we can’t clean it anymore - it’s just that versatile! Her room also has a vintage mid-century modern chair that I originally found secondhand. We use the chair for reading and since many of the same colours will be carried over in the transition, the burnt orange upholstery will still work seamlessly in here.
The overall colour scheme of pinks, oranges, and yellows will also be staying. Those colours come from a lot of the accessories in the room, such as the mustard-coloured book ledges and poster artworks. Mabel seems to like these colours as much as I do and I think they are fun and playful. Down the road, she may develop her own taste and these will be easy to paint or swap to adjust as she grows.
So that brings us to the next step.
What’s Going?
This whole shift is primarily about Mabel’s transition to an actual bed, so the most obvious answer here is that her crib will be going. We found an adjustable twin bed on sale in the IKEA As-Is section a year or so ago, so that is the bed we will transition her to. Her new bed has a white frame, which will slightly change the tone of the room since her crib is currently a mid-brown wood tone. We are going to completely embrace the elimination of the wood tone and also swap out her mid-brown wood tone dresser. Her current one is old and difficult to open, so we thought it may be better to take the opportunity to also give her a dresser that she can work the drawers on herself. This whole thing is about independence, after all! We will be moving the old dresser out and replacing it with the dresser that Curt used to have in our room - a tall Brimnes IKEA dresser with four drawers.
What Are We Adding?
And now, the fun part! Other than swapping out the furniture pieces, the only thing we really need to add is updated bedding to fit a twin bed size. This was the main way I was able to involve Mabel in making the decisions around her room updates and it was so cute to hear her little opinions about the options I gave her. I started by choosing a duvet cover and made the choice for the sheets from there. Mabel helped me land on this spotted patterned duvet set (chosen very affectionately because it looked like Marshall from Paw Patrol) and I opted for a darker set of pink sheets to pair with it. I think it would be really cute to also add this playful little round mustard pillow, but this isn’t necessarily a need, so we will see how far we get on that. In a practical sense, I also selected a mattress protector, a lightweight twin duvet, and a couple of spare fitted sheets to pop on in a pinch.
With the new bed frame taking up less vertical wall space, I also decided that I want to add in two additional poster prints to fill some of the extra wall space. Poster prints are a great way to add personality to a kid’s room because they are really inexpensive (which is a low investment as their tastes change as they grow) and poster frames usually come with plastic instead of glass (which give you peace of mind in case they get damaged). I have wanted to add this Cool To Be Kind print to Mabel’s room for a long time and I think the print of the sunshine combing his hair is just so sweet as kiddo art.
Finally, I want to set Mabel up to have as much independence as she can, so I found a cute mirror at the thrift store that will be a perfect “full sized” mirror for her. I’d like to set up her hair brush and basic hygiene items near it and I grabbed this cute and inexpensive hook to hang some of her items on. I think it will make a great little getting ready station for her.
I’m excited to see what memories Mabel will make in her updated room. It has been fun to involve her in the planning process and see her little personality shine through. The next step is to order all the items I need to and then make the transition at once, ideally involving her in the process in the hopes that it will make her feel more comfortable and safe amidst the changes. I know that she finds a lot of peace and safety in her bedroom and I want to make sure that we maintain that for her as much as possible.
I’m hoping to make a video of the updates to share on our YouTube channel. I have a lot of organizing to do in her closet and her dresser, so I think it could be a pretty involved process. Be sure to subscribe to our channel over there so you can see it when I upload the video. It will be sad to say goodbye to this baby era, but I truly am grateful that I get to be this girl’s mom and see her grow with each passing month.
Note: I will link what I can from my moodboard up above. However, please know that I have not purchased all of these items yet and some are just inspiration that I am basing my choices off of. Therefore, please do not necessarily take these linked sources as a specific recommendation. I will link items that I actually use in future blog posts when I reveal the finished projects.
Moodboard Sources: Bed Frame // Dresser // Accent Chair (vintage) // Rug // Duvet Cover Set // Bed Sheets // Round Yellow Accent Pillow // Hook // Artwork (Horizon, Party Cat, Cool To Be Kind, Sunshine) // Stuffed Dog // Flush Mount Light // Wall Colour (Sawgrass by Behr) // Flooring
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