Three to a Room

A few people have asked how we’re going to manage with three kiddos in our two bedroom apartment…and quite honestly, it’s something that we’ve put a lot of thought into. We weren’t sure it was going to work either, but now that it’s all come together, I kinda love it!

Here’s the view from the hall:

Matt and I talked a long time about the bed situation, and finally settled on getting the older two their own toddler beds to help save on space. (Previously, Lisa was in my old twin, and Sam was in the crib.) It’s a good thing we have small girls – I think we’ll be able to get a few years out of these before we have to get them something bigger. We sold the long dresser and matching crib set, and found an inexpensive smaller crib for the baby.

It was my brilliant idea to paint the crib white to match. However, starting that project in my 3rd trimester probably wasn’t so brilliant. After one day of spray painting and a very sore back later, Matt was assigned the job. This was a true act of love, since most DIY projects, especially if they include paint of any kind, are not really his thing.

Walking into the room, here’s the view of the crib:

I framed “The Velveteen Rabbit” – which was Matt’s as a child, and a photo of Lisa reading “Pat the Bunny” when she was one. Above the crib is a painting of Peter Rabbit on a reclaimed piece of wood – my mom bought it for me (and Lisa) after I fell in love with it while shopping together.

The chest holds roughly a million princess clothes, jewelry, and ‘fancy’ shoes.

I found a cute crib skirt and made a few more crib sheets to add to our stash. (After adding two more crib mattresses to the room, I realized I had no extra sheets! Now, kids can get sick, and I’ll have a few replacements on hand.)

I also made our baby girl her own blanket. Each of our girls seem to have a favorite one.

The back is faux-chenille, made from layers of flannel, and is super soft. And only gets softer with each wash. It took forever to make, but I loved praying for our little girl as I made it. I already have some great memories involving this blanket and I can’t wait to see her wrapped up in it this winter!

On the other side of the room are Lisa and Sam’s beds. Lined up like little hospital beds.

Lisa’s bed (with Mr. Bunny):

And Sam’s bed (with her MiMi and paci):

I found the bedding at Target on clearance for a steal (why is toddler bedding so expensive??). I also made the girls some matching sets out of some old twin sheets I had. I experimented with making the top sheets fitted at the end, so that they could pull on the sheets all they wanted without it coming untucked.
Best. Decision. Ever.
And I’ve since decided that all bedding should be made this way!

I didn’t get a great picture of the curtains, but after searching for months for fabric to make some, I finally found these at Target for about 1/2 of what I could have spent to make them myself. (Love that place!)
I did line them with blackout fabric from JoAnn’s. It’s unbelievable how much that helps both darken the room and keep the temperature more even.

Next to Samantha’s bed is her doll cradle (from when I was a girl) and Lisa’s doll bed (that her Grandpa & Grandma handed down to her after fixing it up).

I found the prints over their beds on Etsy – several of my favorite childhood novels! I can’t wait to share them with my girls one day.
Little House on the Prairie, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, & Pride & Prejudice.
 

The final wall:

We did some shuffling around the house and made this night stand our ‘changing table’. Both disposable and cloth diapers fit snuggly in it’s drawers.
The tall skinny shelf works great to keep the fan/heater out of reach – and the wipes even more out of reach! (Our girls can empty a wipes container in under a minute flat! They love them. Beg for them. They will gladly clean with them or just as gladly shred them to pieces. After experiencing that a few dozen times, we came to realization that higher storage of the wipes was a necessity. For everyone’s sanity. Aren’t you glad you know that now?)

I finally got around to making each girl her own letter - each a different pattern of blue.

Inside their closet (which is mostly used for storage of boxes), we’ve tucked our extra dresser, which has now become the girls. Each girl gets a drawer or two, and so far it’s worked out great. There’s enough hanging room for dresses, and on the opposite side we’ve hung shelving for things like pjs, socks, and ‘wonder-ware’. (And in the corner we’re able to store several bins of clothing that the next girl down the line will eventually grow into!)

So that’s been my project the past few months! Ultimately, we can’t wait until we’re in a home of our own with plenty of space. But in the meantime, we’ve found a way to make it work!