Post by Joni of Lay Baby Lay

I am so excited to share this room we put together with The Land of Nod for the guest room at my girls’ Nana’s house. We talked with her about doing a little room redo, since she raised two boys, and has now found herself to be a grandmother of three little girls. We spend a good bit of time at their house, and so we began planning a space that would be light, bright, and imaginative, while also meaningful to their family and also hopefully something that will last quite awhile. Of course, Nana and GDaddy’s is already special, but it was fun to tailor something especially for them and the girls. Today, I’m sharing a few tips on how to successfully put together a kids room at Grandma’s house that hopefully the grandparents and kids alike will love and enjoy.

Here is the style board we started with. My goal was to lighten things up, but to use pieces that would transition well over the years.

First, here is a little before and after. Please know I snapped the before pic as we were leaving one weekend, so the girls’ bags are on the beds, and so this is not a completely accurate representation of the before; hopefully, though you can get a sense of how the space changed.

To start with, we went with a lighter paint color to make the room feel more spacious. Irish Mint by Benjamin Moore is the new color, and it is so happy and calming! I think such a bright color wasn’t something Nana would normally choose, but I’m glad she went out on a limb with me to try something different. I think it’s good to keep in mind that paint colors are such an easy thing to change! It’s never permanent, and it’s always a fun and easy way to refresh a space. We also went with the neutral Walk Softly Rug, which gives the space a little more sophistication and balances out the splashes of pink here and there. It’s also so comfy, like walking on a cloud!

Mint Twin Larkin Bed / Geo Throw Pillow / Pinstripe Pillow / Shy Little Kitten Quilt / Swiss Dot Sheets

Another great thing to keep in mind when putting together a kids room at Grandma’s house is choosing furniture that will grow as the children grow. I love these twin Larkin beds, and while they do look more juvenile when paired with pink bedding and such, they will look grown up and sophisticated when used with some more simple, solid bedding in the future. The campaign furniture also has a timeless feel, and these beautiful pieces will be applicable even when the girls are teenagers and beyond, or when the grandparents have more grown up guests.

White Campaign Dresser / Wood Rock Lamp / Mint Metalwork Bookshelf / Yellow Lattice Bin

I also paired the campaign dresser with a vintage round mirror for an eclectic feel, and I can see these details easily lasting years without feeling dated.

Campaign Nightstand / Heart Nightlight

To make this space feel extra special, I included several photos of the boys when they were little. I pored over Nana’s albums and selected a few that I thought were sweet and that would work well. They are just little snapshots and small slices of childhood but I love how they are such sweet captures of casual, everyday moments. I printed them out large scale, and they have turned into works of art. I also love including little mementos and pieces from their growing up; those books on the nightstand were their grandaddy’s as well as those vintage books over the headboards. I also adore that sweet little heart nightlight! It’s the perfect glow.

Bon Voyage Suitcase Set

I also love that astronaut statue Chip got at space camp one year, and that little horse from one of his playsets. Several of he and his brother’s childhood toys are scattered throughout the room.

Saggy Baggy Elephant Banner / Hemisphere Floor Lamp / Alto Bookcase / Gold Domino Lounge Chairs / Ruched Throw Pillows

Nana also has a really great book collection that the girls always love delving into, and she spends lots of time reading to them, so I wanted to make certain there was plenty of book storage. Between the alto bookcase, the mint metalwork bookcase, and the campaign nightstand, there is ample space for a library, and we added the domino lounge chairs for the girls to comfortably browse. I also love how all the books so sweetly tie into the Little Golden Books bedding!

I also included this little masterpiece by Brigette; it’s the perfect punch of color, and a sweet little handmade piece in the room. This plus the photos of the boys and the childhood mementos add some nostalgia to the room and make it feel special. I love helping the girls feel connected to their heritage and where they came from; it’s so sweet to share stories of our childhood and their grandparents!

Here is one more before and after. I really love the built in desk and shelves!

The girls are perfectly smitten with the room and I think Nana is really happy with it, too. I’m so glad she trusted me enough to let me put this together, and especially thankful to The Land of Nod for working with us on creating the perfect kids room at Grandma’s house.

Post by Amy of This Little Miggy Stayed Home

I approached The Land of Nod last fall to help me design a room for my 2 daughters who would be sharing a room for the first time.  The main catch?  One daughter has special needs.  They happily accepted the challenge!  Designing with special needs in mind is a common concern for a lot of parents, and often one that is much more about functionality than fun.  Whether there is extra medical equipment in the room, sensory issues to take into consideration, or in my case, physical limitations to work around, special needs families often have more problems than solutions when it comes to room design.  Our daughter, who goes by Lamp on my blog, was born with limb differences on all 4 limbs and therefore she doesn’t have long arms or ‘grabbing hands’ as she says, and can’t stand or walk independently.  What she lacks in limbs she makes up for with a spitfire personality and a strong desire for independence.  Designing a room that will be accessible and foster this independence while also serving the needs of our older daughter was the challenge.  Creativity and good design can often save the day and luckily The Land of Nod has them both in spades.

District Storage Cube / Flokati Rug / Outdoors Banner / Cargo Teepee

First I connected with Tim, one of designers on the The Land of Nod’s Design Services team.  Tim was so great to work with–SUPER patient with me (coughcoughfickelcough), a great designer and his mom also has a limb difference, which probably doesn’t usually get the reaction that it did from me which was, No way!  That is so cool!  And it is.  Tim really gets what it is like to work around a physical disability and helped think up some great solutions for the room.

Going into the design process, there were three things I had already done with the room that I wanted to keep including:

1. The paint colors: the walls are a medium grey with a nude pink on the ceiling.
2. Matching Jenny Lind beds: one a vintage full size we refinished and the other is a Land of Nod toddler bed.
3. A star wallpaper hack that I DIYed on the ceiling.

I loved all three elements of the room, but I needed help creating a cohesive look and finding storage solutions to accommodate both girls.  With the stars on the ceiling as my inspiration, I pitched the idea of doing a camping/outdoorsy themed room.  Tim liked the idea and we ran with it.

I wanted to include my girls in the process, but not too much or we’d still be at square one.  Ya feel me, moms?  So I asked them if they liked the idea of having an outdoor theme and both girls loved it. Yay! Second, I asked them each to pick out three different bedding choices and we would use one of their choices for the room.  We all loved this idea since bedding feels like the most personal part of the room.  And, of course, it was still hard for them to narrow it down to just three–ha!  Then I went through the catalog and made a list of various items that I thought might work well for the room. At this point Tim asked for room dimensions, window sizes and got to work putting together a couple of different Pinterest boards for me to check out.  He actually made 3 separate boards. 3 boards ya’ll.  I told you he was patient.  We landed on the second board pretty early on and made some tweaks here and there.

The great thing about working with Tim is that he would often check with me to see if I thought a certain product would work for the girls–especially Lamp–but he also had some great ideas in terms of accessibility that I wouldn’t have thought of.  Together we aced this room.  For example, I knew that the floor book bin would be a great option since finding stylish, low-laying book storage is like finding a golden unicorn, while Tim came up with the idea of hanging the Good Hare Day Wall Mirror low next to Lamp’s bed so it would be just for her.  He also found an extension cord for the periscope lamp that has a push button on the floor.  You guys, she can now turn a light on and off all by herself!  For our family, this is just plain genius.

Periscope Floor Lamp / Fresh Cut Duvet / Gold Dot Sheet Set / White Campaign Nightstand / Well Nested Toddler Quilt / Good Hare Day Mirror

I wanted this space to be functional for two little girls of differing ages, sizes and abilities, but I also wanted it to be beautiful. And it is. Accessibility is important, but just is important is how they feel when they’re in that room. A beautiful room feels like love and love wins every time.

See more pictures and the full reveal on my blog This Little Miggy Stayed Home.

Amy writes This Little Miggy Stayed Home. She likes to blog about life, special needs, her artwork, the occasional DIY, and whatever strikes her fancy.  She also blog a lot about her family–her husband B and their three daughters.  Her daughter, blog name Lamp, was born with a condition that falls under the umbrella term of limb differences and basically means that her limbs are, you guessed it, different.  Coincidentally she was also born with extra awesome.  You can read more about our journey under Lamp Links.  About a year after Lamp was born, Amy started a series on my blog called The Special Needs Spotlight where she interview other families and individuals about their special needs situations.