A “Bland” Bedroom Gets a Charming Makeover That Doubles the Storage (and Triples the Color!)
Even kids’ rooms can contain design ideas for adults, from fresh color inspiration to smart bedroom organizing methods to steal. This bedroom for a 3-year-old girl is no exception, what with its built-in corner bed with tons of storage and cool scalloped detail around the trim.
The DIY-packed “after” was created by mom and DIYer Cristen Perks Sloan (@cristenperks) during the Spring 2024 One Room Challenge. “Outside of a coat of paint, I don’t believe it had been updated since the home was built in 1996,” Cristen says of her daughter’s bedroom.
She didn’t like how “bland” and lacking in storage it was, but she did love the good light in the room and ceiling angles, thanks to the bedroom being on the second floor. Cristen decided to embrace those fun angles and create a custom bed and a window seat that would both address the storage issues.
The bedroom project consisted of 2 big builds and smaller DIYs.
“I started by demolishing the existing desk and removing all the trim so that drywall repairs could happen all at once,” Cristen explains. Next came the frame for the window seat, followed by the drawers.
Cristen built a second set of drawers for the bed and created a frame for that with 2×4, “ensuring that everything was safely secured into the studs,” she adds. “With the frame in place I wrapped it with hardboard and then added a face frame for the front of the bed.”
Cristen looked at lots of built-in beds online for inspiration, and she says her own design went through many iterations. Her partner, Noah Perks-Sloan, helped with the electrical for the added sconce.
Vibrant colors add personality to the “bland” bedroom.
The only stipulation from Cristen’s daughter for the room: It needed to be pink. “I thought working with a 3-year-old as a client was going to be a nightmare, but it was actually a lot of fun,” Cristen says. “I used that as a starting point for the design.”
Cristen painted the bed with Magnolia’s Pink Lemonade and the bench with Magnolia’s Plum Suede. The ceiling and trim are Benjamin Moore’s Treasure Trove (a sunny yellow color), and the walls are Benjamin Moore’s Simply White.
There are even more bold colors in the room, thanks to new artwork and new bedding.
The scallops soften the other angles in the room.
Some of Cristen’s other favorite details in the room revamp are the table and chairs, which were Cristen’s when she was little, and the scalloped detail (also painted with Benjamin Moore’s Treasure Trove) along the trim. “I feel like the painted scallops are the perfect way to soften up a space that is full of so many hard angles,” she says.
Mostly, she loves how much her daughter loves the room — and the newfound storage.
“The additional storage makes tidying toys and lovies so much easier,” Cristen says. “The room is surprisingly energizing and cozy at the same time. I love how proud of her room my daughter is. She wants to show everyone who comes to our house.”
This project was completed for the Spring 2024 One Room Challenge, in partnership with Apartment Therapy. See even more of the One Room Challenge before and afters here.
Inspired? Submit your own project here.