Affordable Kids Room Refres

This is my daughter’s newly decorated bedroom at the cottage. We painted the walls, moved the furniture around, hung some kids’ artwork and wow, what a difference it made! 

As you can see it was desperately in need of a makeover. When we bought our cottage, we literally unpacked our bags and started enjoying it the way it was, knowing that one day we’d renovate it. We finally did it this past summer.

When decorating a child’s room, I like to stick with a modest budget, since I’ll likely be redecorating again in a few years as their needs and tastes change. The challenge in this room was the awkward opening in the wall. The previous owners used it as closet storage space and my kids used it to store their toys and stuffies. When renovating, we kept the “weird” space, but thought we’d use it more creatively.

Now, the “hole in the wall” plays double duty. It’s used as a reading nook and also as extra sleeping space when young kids come visit. A bed rail and bedding are stored in a wicker trunk across from the bed. To add playfulness to the nook, we designed a tree using wall decals. The nook has been a huge hit with all the little ones visiting us.

The room is fairly small, but it feels and looks much larger than it is, thanks to a high sloping ceiling and a large window. Changing the wall colour from cream to a crisp white also helped to open up the space.

Re-arranging the furniture was critical in this small room. I moved the bed to the other wall, making it easier to access the window and the reading nook. I also took out the room divider and white rocking chair to make room for a small end table and wicker trunk to store extra toys and bedding. 

On the wall across from the reading nook, I framed and hung some of my girls’ art pieces in inexpensive IKEA plastic frames. They add color to the room and they’re safe if they accidentally crash to the floor. Even though my girls are all grown up, they love seeing their masterpieces hanging on the wall, and so do I.