Toddler bedroom makeover

I’ve been wanting to write up BiP’s big girl bedroom makeover for months!

We moved her into her big girls’s room on her 2nd birthday – I had a very simple brief for her room. It had to be:

  1. Child friendly (Montessori inspired) and fun
  2. Done on a budget
  3. Something she could grow into and easily modified
Find out how I went from THIS:
BiPs bedroom before
To THIS! ON a BUDGET!: 
BIPS toddler room makeover

STORAGE SOLUTION: IKEA Expedit Bookcase

how to repaint expedit-shelving-unitWe’ve had this bookcase for years – it was all scratched and was gathering dust in the corner – flip it on it’s side and suddenly you have a toddler friendly shelving unit that’s perfect for fabric boxes (available in IKEA) which were less than €3/$4) each and very cute colours! The only issue was the colour of the scratched bookcase – it was too dark.

How to repaint an IKEA Expedit Bookcase

I didn’t know it was even possible to repaint IKEA furniture until I went to the local paint shop. STEP 1 – Lightly sand every surface (a bit of a pain but don’t miss this step) STEP 2 – Using a roller apply primer (in the case of this book case I needed 2 coats) repainting expedit bookcase primer STEP 3– Paint on any paint colour you desire! I chose hot pink for BiP!

ikea expedit bookcase repainted

Fabric boxes in Pink, Green and Black were very in this season!

I was stunned at the results and BiP LOVES it!

Other bits and pieces!

Repainting the IKEA TROFAST Storage unit

I did repaint BiP’s IKEA TROFAST Storage unit – initially I spray painted and the results were horrible. I then repeated the steps I did for the EXPEDIT bookcase and it was fine.

 

I did repaint the walls as they were dark dusty lavender and MATT paint (NOT advised for a child’s room). So I went for white satin paint which was washable. Note, this took 3 coats as the walls were so dark to start with:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did eventually get to the ceiling!

For fun I decided to paint a blackboard on to BiP’s wall and use some old wall stickers to decorate it. The paint is also magnetic which is LOTS of fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bought some cheap bits and pieces from IKEA that went with the colour scheme and VOILA! A new big girl’s room!

 

BIPS toddler room makeover

The most expensive stuff was the paint but obviously saved a lot by redoing the furniture we already had!

Thank you to Mum of All Trades who pushed me to write this up and link it up to her linky on organising toys (join in HERE)!

Image Credit IKEA – rest of the images are mine!

15 thoughts on “Toddler bedroom makeover

  1. Franglaise Mummy

    I am so totally jealous! Will you come and make over my whole house please?!? I’m so uncreative and unenergetic when it comes to doing things like this, but I love what you’ve done. A whole new career for you…??

    Reply
    1. mummyinprovence Post author

      Thanks! I do love DIY – I redid my whole house, and BiP’s room has been done twice because I hated the colour I initially painted it! I also repainted 13 rooms in the apartments we have in Provence … I do enjoy it but do get pretty fed up so not sure a career change to be honest! Send me some pics and I can make suggestions! To be honest – I’d have liked to have done something really “out there” but didn’t fit with the brief!

      Reply
      1. Franglaise Mummy

        The problem we have is that we’re in rented, furnished accommodation, so for now we just have to put up with ugliness that we didn’t choose, but when we get our own place I’ll be sending you over pics!

        Reply
  2. Janine (Alternative Housewife)

    Love her cute little room! (Totally sharing on my blog!) – Does she sleep in there now? Sebastian’s bedroom is pretty much a toy catchall as he still sleeps with us. I try to keep it organized but it’s tough! It really needs to be my next project.

    Reply
    1. mummyinprovence Post author

      Thanks Janine, she’s been in her big girls bedroom since her 2nd birthday! It was her main pressie – she was so excited about it that she insisted she went to bed in her party dress, whilst wearing panties, and that was the first night she didn’t breastfeed … I have a lot of posts to write up as her big girl’s room was a huge milestone! Glad you like it! Look forward to seeing what you come up with for Sebastian – I know it’ll rock!

      Reply
  3. mum of all trades

    This is fantastic, you did a great job on it. I love the bright colours and I’m sure your daughter loves her new room. Thanks so much for linking it up!

    Reply
    1. mummyinprovence Post author

      YOu rock mama – thanks for pushing me to write this up!

      Reply
  4. jen

    You’ve done a fab job! I love the way you revamped the Ikea furniture and gave it a new lease of life. We have the Expedit bookshelf turned on it’s long end for our 8 yr old, so I know you’re going to get years of use from it.
    Hopped over from the Mum of All Trades linky 🙂

    Reply
    1. mummyinprovence Post author

      Hey Jen. great to meet you! Glad you like what I did – it was hard for me to get rid of perfectly good furniture so repurposing it was fun!

      Reply
  5. Rose

    Found myself saying “wow” after I see the transformation. I never thought about painting over furniture I buy so your post gave me inspiration to do so.

    Reply
    1. mummyinprovence Post author

      Go for it!

      Reply
  6. Georgina Fars

    You just gave me an idea about this little nook in the house. I just want my daughter to have one like this. Thanks to you.

    Reply
    1. mummyinprovence Post author

      Yay! Please let me know what you end up doing!

      Reply
  7. Reva

    Hey … its really awesome that you have done. I am feeling jealous of you that how much creative you are! I am little confused that how I will decorate my kinds bedroom and what colors I should use. I have visited at “Dooleys Furniture” last week and got some idea of decoration but I need some more amazing idea from you. I have a room of 135 squire feet. I am planning to use white furniture and pink color bed and curtain. what do you think?

    Reply
  8. Evelyn Kelly

    I am amazed to see that all this that you have done is on budget. Your baby’s room looks so beautiful. Like you, I am also a mom of a girl and I also want to decorate her room like this.

    Reply

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