As you may know, this mama-to-be is in full on nesting mode, but it can be tricky with adoption from foster care. There are so many unknowns when it comes to setting up a room for our kids. We don't know what gender they will be, when exactly we'll have a placement, what their likes and dislikes will be, or even what exact age they will be when we meet them. Many of those things are just like giving birth to a newborn, but there are definitely some extra unknowns in our situation. When thinking about their bedrooms, here are some things I do know:
- We are adopting two siblings between the ages of Birth-6 years old.
- They could be here anytime after we're certified in a couple months.
- We need a flexible arrangement. For now we're keeping the queen bed in the room. Depending on our needs, we'll either keep it for an older child, put on a bed rail or swap it out for a crib if we get a little one, or even replace it with two twins or bunk beds if our kids can share.
- They might be able to share a room if they're the same gender/close enough in age. If so, we get to keep an extra bedroom for guests. We have a full-sized bed in the other room already, and it's closer to being ready for kids if we need it. I will do a few minor things in there to make sure it's welcoming, but we've cleared it out of any unnecessary things, and it's ready to go otherwise.
- Things will get infinitely more crazy when kids get here, so having a gender-neutral and flexible, but ready and welcoming space is a priority.
This week I'm tackling this project, so the room is empty, the paint is purchased, and I'm off! I created the mood board above to put all my inspiration in one place, organize my thoughts, and see how it looked together. Here's what I'm thinking:
1. A deep gray on the walls. I chose Sherwin Williams Peppercorn .The room gets a lot of natural light, so I think balanced with white and pops of color, this will be perfectly cozy without being too dark.
2. Some sort of white textured quilt as a base layer for the bed. I know, I know, but it can be bleached.
3. We already have this gray quilt to layer, and I just love it.
4. My mom is crocheting blankets for each of the kids, so they'll have their own special blankets waiting on their beds. This yellow chevron one is finished, and she's working on a very similar one in red for the other kiddo.
5. This AKERGYLLEN pillow from IKEA would make for a great pop of color on the bed. Yes?
6. The blinds in this room are broken, so we're replacing them with white wood blinds I think, and framing the window with these red velvety light blocking curtains from Target.
7. We purchased this HEMNES dresser from IKEA. It's waiting to be put together after the room is painted. We already have the smaller version with just three drawers, and love it. So this is going to the bigger room, and we moved the smaller one to the smaller room.
8. There will definitely be a book spot in the room using these RIBBA picture ledges from IKEA.
9. A bright LACK table makes a great addition to any kid space. Great for playing cars, cooking fake food feasts, or art projects. The possibilities are endless for $12.99
10. Already purchased this set of three bicycle canvases from Target for under the three mini windows in the room. They let great light through, and we've decided to just keep the blinds off of them all together.
11. Loved how this geometric mountain art (also from Target) brought in so many colors in a modern way, so it jumped in my cart along with the bike art.
12. A colorful lamp, or a fun nightlight like this one is a must in a kids' room.
13. Flexible storage solutions in the form of a few baskets to toss stuff in are essential in my book. Why not make them bold and beautiful, like these striped ones?
14. I fell in love with the sentiment of this sign, and need to have something that says this in that room! It's such a sweet reminder and promise.
15. Obsessed with these whimsical chihuahua hooks designed by fellow bloggers from Young House Love for Target! I want two to hang at kid level, for easy hanging up of their own things.
16. This sweet turtle will be waiting for one of our little ones. It was a gift from my aunt. When we told her we were adopting she sent a special stuffed animal for each child. It's her tradition to give all her nieces/nephews, and great nieces/nephews a stuffed animal to correspond to a nickname. It was such a supportive, thoughtful thing to send and our kids are already so loved.
17. I must make some pom pom garland, cause I think it's the happiest of all the garlands and adds some necessary whimsy!
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm heading to tackle some painting and start getting an actual space ready for actual kids. Eeek! So excited to share some before and after photos in a post next week hopefully. Stay tuned!
**Thank you so much for all your love and support. We need it, and are looking so forward to meeting our kids! I'll be keeping everyone updated via the blog since I'm sure I will run out of time along the way to individually share details with everyone. If you'd like to follow along for what's sure to be an interesting story, make sure to sign up for all the latest posts by just entering your email address and hitting subscribe in the upper right corner of the blog.**
