The Online Home Decorating Blog

Welcome back! 

Today we’re going to be adding furniture to our little girl’s butterfly garden bedroom.  To refresh, the item that started us down this path was this lovely bedding ensemble:

Now, we need a bed to put it on.  In the photo above, they show a white wrought iron bed, which I think is the right idea.  The fine lines of the wrought iron keep the bed feeling light and open.  This is great for small spaces, as children’s rooms tend to be.  I also like the fact that it allows you to appreciate the bedding more fully.  A bed with a solid footboard would cause you to lose a good deal of the pattern.  This is the bed we’ll be going with:

When it comes to children’s furniture, simpler is always better.  I love the clean lines of this piece.  It will transition with her, as her tastes inevitably change.  It can be so tempting, especially in girls’ rooms, to go over-the-top girlie, just because we can, but if you don’t want to be redoing this in a few years, resist the urge (and save your dollars).  Plus, just look at those glass bed-post finials…  FABULOUS!!  Those will take her from princess, to punk rock, to preppy with no problem.

Now, the nightstands:

I didn’t say we weren’t putting ANY curves in this room!  This piece is beautiful, unique, and multi-functional – everything you want in a kid’s room design.  The petite size (only 21.5″ wide) allows it to work even in tiny rooms.  Use two if your space is larger, or use the bigger size they have available.  Need closed storage?  Add baskets to the shelves (which is great for sorting papers, books, magazines, and toys anyway).  Small room?  Leave the shelves open and just add a few books or decorative pieces for color and texture.  Like the bed above, open space will make the room feel larger.

If you have kids, you have stuff, and for stuff you need storage:

I LOVE this bookcase.  Girls in particular always need space to display their personal treasures and accomplishments, but all kids need storage for books, toys, photos, music, school supplies, stuffed animals… you name it.  The great thing about bookcases is that they become whatever you need, whenever you need them to.  Look at the way the bun feet and the rounded columns tie in with the nightstands… feminine, but classic.  We’re going with a 60″, 5-shelf bookcase, which is more appropriately scaled for a small child’s room than a full 72″ height, and it’s only 31″ wide, again keeping in mind that kids’ rooms tend to be smaller. 

When I’m pressed for space, the first piece of furniture I eliminate is usually the dresser.  I find them cumbersome, they require a great deal of valuable wall space, they tend to be havens for junk we don’t know what to do with, and in most modern homes, are completely unnecessary.  I know not everyone shares that opinion, and I know that there are homes where more storage for clothing is essential, so for those spaces, this is the dresser we’ll be using:

When selecting the dresser, I was going back and forth between two options – this one, and one with a serpentine front, ring pulls on the drawers, and trumpet shaped legs.  The other one was beautiful (and over twice the price), but remember what I said about the bed?  ”When it comes to children’s rooms, simpler is ALWAYS better.”  Keep this in mind on any major investment pieces.  You WILL thank yourself later, and so will she.  With any luck, these pieces will see her not just through her youth, but through highschool, into college, and and maybe even into her first place.  How cool would this piece look with funky knobs?  With fabric or paper applied to the drawer fronts?  Painted black?  (Hint:  VERY.) 

Note:  This is a freebie for blog readers only!  The dresser does not appear in the finished room design!

We’ll finish up furniture in our next post.  Yep, there’s more, and yep, it can absolutely all fit beautifully, even in a small space!  Trust me!  :D

Until next time,

P.S.  For more fabulous kids’ room ideas, visit the Online Home Decorating kid’s room department!

Tags: Girl's Bedroom, Kids' Room, Online Home Decorating, Online Interior Design, Room Decorator Online

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