Baby Products,  Gracie,  Milestones,  Parenting,  Potty Training,  Toddlers

Gracie’s Room Update

IMG_5861

Lately, we have been sending Gracie to her room when she gets really worked up. If we can’t play in water for whatever reason and I can’t get her to calm down any other way, then she has to go to her room until she stops crying. Then she can come out and play with us again. This is not a punishment. It is just to get her into a quiet place where she can calm herself down. And she usually does within about 3 minutes. It is amazing. This afternoon I sent her to her room and less then a minute later, it was quiet upstairs. I peeked down the hall to check on her, and this is what I found:

IMG_5839

She was just sitting there quietly, happily reading her books.

IMG_5843

Sometimes, she just needs some time away from everyone before the demons can leave her pretty little head. The good news is that now that her bedroom is finished, she has a pretty little place to exorcise her pretty little head!

IMG_5844

We did Gracie’s room in stages. First we painted and then we set up her toddler furniture (you can read about that here). The last step was to put in a bookshelf and toy storage something, and then to move her changing table out when she became potty trained.  We are in the process of selling our crib and so we decided to sell the changing table with the crib as a set.  Gracie isn’t done potty training yet and still uses a changing table, though.  So, we took the little mattress pad off her changing table and set it up on top of a dresser in the guest bedroom as a make-shift changing table until she no longer needs one.

We originally talked about building a bench seat under her window with toy storage, but when we put her furniture all in her room, we worried that a built-in wouldn’t leave us many options now or in the future when it came to moving furniture around. Plus, with the way her room is set up now, I really liked her table and chairs under the window.

IMG_5850

IMG_5848

Her toddler sleigh bed came from Amazon, and is made by Dream on Me. It is beautiful, but I would not recommend this brand. What you can’t see in the pictures (you can’t even really see it in person unless you know to look for it…) is that the slats on the footboard and headboard are chipped. When they packed up the pieces, the paint stuck together and so when we pulled it all out to put it together, the paint scraped away in some places. Plus, it was not easy to put together at all. Just an FYI if anyone is interested in the style. Now that it is all put together and the paint has been touched up, though, it is a very sturdy bed and Gracie loves it. My mom made the drapes and matching duvet cover out of fabric we found online. It is gorgeous in person! Even more than the pictures show.

(Note:  I’m still trying to figure out what to do above Gracie’s bed.  I’m very close to turning it into a huge fabric bulletin board to hold pictures and artwork.  I’ll keep you posted.)

The only thing not yet in the room is a five-drawer chest of drawers that belonged to my dad.  It was one of the things of his I wanted after he died.  My mom and I are going to paint it white this summer and put new hardware on it.  It will go in Gracie’s room to the left of her bed and hold a little lamp.

IMG_5849

For her bookshelf and toy storage, we found one piece at Ikea to do it all. And I love it! I have always wanted to use one of their big storage bookshelves. I really want one of the 4×4 bookshelves in this same style, but her bedroom is too small. I might try one in our master bedroom, though, since this little one worked so well in Gracie’s room. The bookshelf was $70 and then we paid $4.99 for each of the storage bins. The bins are fabric and very light, but they are this suede-type material that gives the appearance of them being more expensive. I really love them.

IMG_5851

IMG_5857

I hung her butterfly mobile over it, and I’m debating about what to do above the bookshelf. I’m thinking either white letters to spell her name or just leave it blank. I kind of like the blank wall right now since there is so much else going on with the mobile and all the trinkets on the tabletop. I’ll have to keep thinking about that one.

I love everything that is on top of her bookshelf now, too. We didn’t have any place to put keepsakes in her room, and this tabletop has given us just the perfect place.

IMG_5858

This lamb was in Gracie’s bassinet when she was a baby. And the little Precious Moments figurine was in Chris’s sister, Annie’s, room when she was growing up. Annie gave it to Gracie for her first birthday. I figure we’ll hold it until Annie has kids of her own one day. Until then, I love that it is part of Gracie’s room. I also have keepsake books that hold special meaning to us. Normally, this little collection of books includes a set of three books that were mine when I was a baby, but Gracie loves those and she was reading them when I took this picture so they aren’t shown here.

IMG_5861

My favorite, though, is this bunny lamp. My mom made it for my nursery when I was a baby. It was in my bedroom from the time I was a baby until I left for college. I can’t tell you how much I love that it now sits in Gracie’s room.

IMG_5860

Besides the bins under the bookshelf which hold an obscene amount of toys, we are also using Gracie’s closet for toy storage.

IMG_5862

We have things she can’t play with on the top shelf, and then her clothes and shoes, of course. Her clothes hamper is also in her closet now, instead of sitting in a corner of her room. But we decided to use the bottom shelf for toys instead of clothes. I keep larger toys that would take up a lot of space in her room if we left them out in the bottom of the closet. We park her grocery cart and baby stroller there at the moment.

IMG_5863

On the shelf itself are toy storage bins that both the kids use to sort and collect small toys. I have one for her tea sets (she has three; we drink a lot of tea…), one of little figurines and small dolls, and one for her Mrs. Potato Head and all its pieces. She and Bean both are really good about only taking out one bin at a time, and that helps keep those bins organized and cleaned out.

IMG_5866

So, that’s Gracie’s big girl room. I really love it, but Gracie loves it most of all. It is the perfect, quiet retreat for her when she needs some space to herself, but it is also the central playground these days when she and Bean are playing together, too. I love a cute, functional room!

10 Comments

  • Lori @ I Can Grow People

    We have same Ikea bookcase storage thing in Porter’s room–we added it when he got his twin bed at 2.5. Porter wasn’t totally potty trained at the time and we ended up putting his changing pad right up on that shelf. Worked well for us. We just rearranged his room a few weeks back and flipped the bookcase vertically, putting stuff he doesn’t use often in the top cubbies. It is a great unit! Gracie’s room is just lovely!

  • Laura @ Casa del Hansen

    Love it! We have the same bookshelf in our son’s room, but originally opted for the IKEA baskets for toys in it – turns out to not be our brightest idea, because they are sharp and they are now shedding little wood pieces. Where did you find the $4.99 fabric bins? (are they IKEA too and I just missed them?)

  • Kate @ Love and Kate

    LOVE!! No, really. I love every. little. thing. It’s just a beautiful room and with so many wonderfully personal touches! Thank you so much for the info on some of the furniture too! I’m thinking the Ikea storage shelves will be great in my daughter’s room. (I’m a copycat.) Great job, Katie! So happy Gracie loves it!

  • Jen @ Ginger Guide

    We do the same with Sullivan when he’s worked up. He gets pissy for a minute or so then just hangs out. It really makes all the difference.

    Gracie’s room looks so great! Love the fabric board idea for above her bed. That would be so fun!

  • Casey

    I LOVE that you showed us where all the toys are stashed! I hate to see pictures of kid spaces and toys are completely M.I.A. Toy storage is the biggest problem we have in our house (but we have no storage space since our house was built in 1890) so I’m always looking for new ideas! Love her big girl room!!

  • Sarah P

    We love those IKEA shelves and have several sets in our house (living room, play area, office, 2 kids rooms). Since we have a separate play area, I use the bins in the bottom spaces of the shelves in the kids bedrooms for clothes. THis way they are easy access and no one has to worry about pinched fingers in a dresser. For baby girl, we just secured her changing table pad to the top of the shelf, so we didn’t need any other furniture besides her crib in her little room. We use the top shelves for books and diapering stuff. Those shelves are awesome!

  • Tabs

    A-DOR-ABLE!!!

    Someday when we finally get a house of our own, will you please please come and help me decorate?

Leave a Reply to Sarah P Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *