It's a Jungle Out There

We have lived in so many places over the last couple of years, and I've redesigned things so many times, there is always a part of me that tries to carry a certain memory from one place to another. I've always been a very sentimental person, and this is the way it translates to home decor I suppose. We saw it happen with Emily's birdy room (oh how I miss that perfect little room!) and we are about to see it happen with Adam's nautical room, although that is more because there was simply nothing else that seems to work so well for him right now than anything else.

I had some stickers from Emily's first room still lying around. No, not the bird room, her previous room!

I knew they'd come in handy someday, and lo and behold, I was setting up the play room last week (we've divided the huge living room into two parts - living room and play area), and it occurred to me that they might just be perfect for the job.

Take some boring old IKEA Trofast storage...

...and add colourful jungle wall stickers...!

And I think I was right.

The kids adore them, and every time I look at them, I remember setting up that first nursery, heavily pregnant and clueless. It feels like a metaphorical nod to 2010.


(Despite the huge amount of IKEA-bought toys in the pictures, this post is not sponsored by IKEA. They're just great toys!)

Not the Liquor Cabinet

(Thanks Audrey!)

I found the missing "spirit" in the end. Well, a while ago now. I think what helped was Emily's raw excitement about everything. At almost 3, it's the first Christmas that truly has any meaning to her. She's been preparing for the season for weeks at school, has been busy crafting and even made a crib! It's hard not to pick up on at least some of that enthusiasm.

One of my favourite Rochester-bought decorations. Always guarantees a smile.

The balustrades had to be babyproofed with perspex when we moved in as the gaps between the uprights

were too wide and the first thing Emily ever did upstairs was almost walk straight through them.

Despite this, I managed some basic decoration along the staircase.

Bunting made by my Rochester neighbour Maria! She'll be pleased to see this ;)

Emily's Christmas card to Mummy and Daddy, and pine cone decoration,

along with our little crib that she visits on a regular basis.

The crib she made at school. 

My original angel. I have several more Christmas angels but this one has a very special place in my heart.

Emily's gulbiena.

"I put in a seed and I watered it and it grew!"

We'll make a gardener out of her yet.

Our version of the elf on the shelf. Until a few weeks ago, I had no idea what was so special about the Elf,

then some twitter friends enlightened me. I had always planned to have something in the house acting as

Santa's messenger. Emily has named him Pat.

I am thrilled that I found a "matching" stocking for Adam.

And this ebay personalised purchase is another thing I'm thrilled about!

The larger of our TWO Christmas trees! The old UK-bought one is on the upstairs landing,

just outside Emily's bedroom. It is specifically hers and Adam's tree, whereas this one is

Mummy's and Daddy's because she's not allowed to touch the decorations.

Adam's First Christmas tree decoration, thanks to HollyBerry Boutique once again!

(This is Emily's First Christmas decoration)

Yesterday I decided to risk it and while both kids were napping, I hid all the presents under the tree.

I say "hid" because the tree is so big, they are literally hidden under there.

The kids don't often use that room, so I wonder how long it'll take Emily to notice they're there!

So yes. Christmas spirit: check!

The Rainbow Room (Emily's Room)

I think it's about time I let you into this room....

Welcome to Emily's (huge) Rainbow Room!

She adores her "hiding place"

There was a very different plan originally meant for this room that involved completely different furniture.

Then we realised that the room this big wardrobe was meant to go into wasn't high enough to home it,

but we didn't want to get rid of it (it's huge and too good by way of storage to lose out on!) so Emily's room

adopted it, and before it was even all in place, we already knew it looked way better than the furniture that

was originally intended for her room. As Emily would say, "We got lucky there!"

She loves her room and will show it off to anyone she can convince to come upstairs with her.

Her Bedtime Brigade

Dolly sleeps in her own cot at the foot of Emily's bed

And then, a while after I took these photos, we finally had THE chandelier installed.

Not everyone was convinced it would work. My mother thought it might be too much for the room.

I think it completes it. The pictures don't even begin to do it justice.

...And my mother has since eaten her words ;)

I am extremely pleased with the outcome of this room, as well as with the fact that I was able to bring in elements of Emily's old bird theme room as I didn't want to leave that behind completely - we barely had eight months to enjoy that one... Here's hoping the Rainbow Room's reign is at least slightly longer!

Princess Canopy from IKEA

Alphabet stickers from JojoMamanBebe

Rainbow & clouds stickers from The Graphix Studio

Images in small frames from IKEA

Flower Nightlight from IKEA

Bookends from Sass and Belle

Blue wall colour is First Dawn by Dulux

Pirate's Life for Me (Adam's Room)

Adam never had a room until we moved into this house. When I was pregnant with Emily, I prepared and planned her room throughout the pregnancy. There was no physical room to plan this time. There were boxes to pack and houses to move. And while I had some ideas about what I wanted his room to be like once he had one, I seem to do better "matching" a theme and style to a specific room rather than just applying my ideas to any space.

It turned out that Adam's room is one of the smallest in the house. We couldn't do otherwise, but it's very conveniently located next door to our bedroom which makes wake-ups that little bit easier. So I got working. His was one of the first rooms to be completed, and there are elements of it that I wish I could change (like the wall colour turned out to be completely the wrong colour), but I'm going to just stick with it for now.

I chose a nautical theme. For some reason, it fits with the bit I know Adam so far. I think he'll like it for a few years until it's time for a rehaul. I'm not sure if it had anything to do with his godfather being very into sailing (a bit of an understatement!!), but either way, I'm very happy with it.

People who visited us in England may recognise certain things in his room. His curtains were our living room curtains in Rochester, there are two frames over his cot that once hung in our corridor, and I like that there are elements of our home in Rochester in his room because he will never know that house and somehow it feels right to give him a part of it too.

Most of his furniture was also Emily's - and was meant to remain Emily's - until a sudden change of plan when we realised that the furniture that is now in her room didn't fit in the original place we intended it to go, so we had to change everything round and luckily, it worked.

So with no further ado, I give you Adam's room.

Emily's old bookcase (which has proven extremely popular amongst many of you!)

and an adorably well-suited Melissa & Doug Pirate Puppet, given to Adam by David's cousin

From CoseCasa 

He loves his room, especially when he's sleepy. He knows Room = Sleep. Yay!

Another item from Emily's old room: her lamp. It looked a bit bland

against the white (not meant to be white) walls, so I found a navy blue ribbon

and glued two stripes to the shade and I'm much happier with it now!

Bunting and wall stickers are from JojoMamanBebe

These bookends were an ebay purchase. The plan is to put some shelves up

over the armchair eventually and have these along with a few other bits there.

This is what was going on while I took most of the pictures...

...And then she took his rabbit and all hell broke loose.

The Plan for Adam's Room

There's been plenty of talk of a new room for Emily, but what about Adam's room? He finally gets a room of his own in the new house and I've been having a blast designing it. It's a very small room in comparison to Emily's (something David is very much not pleased about), but I think we're on the right track with the design. Here's the idea...

He's getting some recycled items. His curtains will be our Rochester living room curtains (colour on the left). I love them and they're perfect for this room. And do you remember Emily's cot and bookcase from her old room in England? I think it all comes together really nicely.

Linkies:
Tidy Books Bookcase
Nautical Bunting
Life Buoy
Toy Basket
Wall Stickers
Armchair and cushion
Sleigh Cotbed
Puffer Fish Bookends

Once Again, Emily's Room

Less than a year after I showed you her last new room, and for what will not be the final time (we move again later on this year), here is Emily's new room. She loves it. It is the first time we've been able to spend hours playing in a room of hers. I read in the armchair while she colours, or we play together. She will sometimes stop and look around her and exclaim with glee, "My room!" Yup, she likes it here.

As this is a rented apartment, we have not painted the walls or hung up all her wall decorations, but they are being saved for her next room, which is approximately the same size. I do miss her pink walls though!