When we moved in the kiddo’s room was in desperate need of an overhaul:
That awful dark red & brown paint job and the moldy walls were soon taken care of with professional products and (about) a million coats of brilliant white.
The clean white walls really give an illusion of space!
Get the scoop & tutorials behind the kiddo’s happy hideaway at home.
My thrifty DIY munchkin room:
I painted the doors & drawers of our old, narrow but spacious kitchen buffet and it now houses everything from clothing & accessories to teddys & extra blankets! Her upcycled tent is still going strong (although I did have to replace the fabric when it lost a battle with the dog). Her bed was personalized to her taste & style with refashioned curtains & thrifty fabrics she chose herself.
The kiddo and I created quite a cozy little nest for reading, chatting & even (occasionally) sleeping! (that stuffed teddy hammock is simply a thrifted tablerunner folded in half lengthwise and hung from the corners)
The other side of her room has an upcycled shelf unit dolly house, her DIY closet and her vast collection of English & German books.
She created her own collage wall and is constantly adding new bits of artwork to her collection. My upcycled trash mirror is the perfect size for her to sing and twirl in front of.
(the curtain behind the toybox bench successfully hides the door to the attic – out of sight out of mind definitely works for keeping curious exploring to a minimum)
That DIY kitchen & upcycled toy box from 2012 are still used everyday!
Take a gander at the rest of my thrifted, vintage, DIY home right here.
Refashioning for munchkins is a fabulous way to reuse outgrown gear & introduce kiddos to the wonderful world of creative sustainability. To help you get started I’ve collected my favourite Confessions of a Refashionista upcycled toy tutorials into one convenient e-book!
Contains 13 projects with easy to follow tutorials & full colour step by step photos for everyone from first-time upcyclers to experienced Refashioners!
The Upcycled Toy Projects include:
3 snuggly stuffies
5 recycled paper activities
3 creative play DIYs
2 upcycled storage solutions
…all created from bits & bobs you already have lurking around the house!
Amazing!!! That is all I can think of to say. I want to try something like this for the boys’ room but it will be a bit harder in a rental. I am hoping to make a room that is so cool that we can use it to ease out of co-sleeping with our three year old twins.
We rent as well (buying in Berlin is strictly for the wealthy & those with a much higher income than this thrifty refashionista).
Check out the ins and outs and frustrations of trying to find a decent place to live in Berlin here: https://awesomesauceasshattery.com/2011/08/08/finding-a-home-in-berlin-germany/
and how a stroke of luck led me out of an apartment and into my current rental house: https://awesomesauceasshattery.com/2014/09/30/the-big-move-a-short-break/
A lovely room – it looks great fun! So rewarding that your daughter gets a big design input too, and her fabric choices are really lovely too (I’m partial to a geometric floral myself!)
Growing up in an unpermissive, rigid household meant having zero input in how I could decorate my room and thus I am passionate about & feel it is extremely important to allow my girlie free reign to express her creativity and hilarious personality, especially when it comes to decor and clothing 😀
From the first pictures I immediately thought how much bigger the room looks in white, even before I read that you’d written it! What a fun room to hang out in! And I really love the idea of the stuffed animal hammock. My kids don’t have wooden structures above their beds, but I could always just attach the fabric to the walls with a drill… Great ideas! Hope you are doing well, Sheri. 🙂 Lisa
It does look so much bigger doesn’t it. I almost couldn’t believe it was the same room