From nursery to big girl room

We sat down with designers and lovely gals from 2Birds Design, Andi Wheelband and Renée Gammon about some great ways to transform a small nursery into a stylish and functional girl’s bedroom.  Andi and Renée offer some easy solutions and DIY projects that you can even try yourself.

2Birds Design: Andi Wheelband and Renée Gammon

2Birds Design was hired to design a “big girl’s bedroom” as part of a birthday surprise for Valerie,  who would be turning 3 years old. The task: maximize the limited square footage/space of the room, provide storage and offer a built-in bed solution.

Andi and Renée met the challenge with open arms and, as part of their design, they wanted to create a fun and interactive space so that Valerie was excited about transitioning into her new room. Custom platform bed systems are very expensive, so 2Birds decided on a custom designed storage bed (using IKEA cabinets!). This modular cabinet system provides a ton of storage in a consolidated area to allow for more open space and flexibility with furniture placement as storage and function over time.

The platform is built using basic plywood. It is in IKEA material, and added wood stair treads as well as a removable safety guard. 2Birds also decided to use a custom match, textured floor paint and basic foam floor tiles in pink (which you can purchase from department and hardware stores) for an anti-slip surface up to the bed. Navy, grey and yellow work with varying shades of pink and pattern play to create a fun space that will grow with Valerie.

We chose the colour scheme because we wanted something playful but that would grow with Valerie over the years. I instantly fell in love with the grey, pink, navy and yellow ikat fabric used on our large accent pillow and pulled our colour scheme from there.

Instead of overloading the room with extremely feminine tones, warm grey walls and a striking navy wall create an almost neutral backdrop for our layers of pink tones. A subtle light pink on the ceiling adds further interest, with pops of yellow and navy in the accent pillows adds to the fun but ‘not-too-young’ palette.

We kept the main pieces, like the frame of the platform bed and cabinets, area rug and bookcase white, so that the colour palette can be tweaked down the line by switching out the accessories. Even the pink cabinet doors can be switched out for another fun colour that IKEA offers.

We found the perfect drapery hardware, white sheers and deep fuchsia curtains at Walmart for an amazing price. We had them hemmed at a drycleaners for next to nothing ($10 a curtain panel) but these can also be easily hemmed with scissors, a neat fold and an iron on adhesive tape.

The floral tiebacks were a fun DIY and one of my favorite pieces in the room. I loved the idea of pulling in more of the navy and found the perfect navy and white polka dot floral hair clip at the accessory store Ardene. The overall size wasn’t quite large enough though so I used a glue gun to attach the navy flower to a slightly larger white flower. A white button finished off the centre, and I then glued the blossoms to a 2 inch wide piece of white fabric I had already hemmed using the above mentioned iron on adhesive tape. A small piece of velcro tape was all it took to hold the tie back together.

Valerie is quite crafty, so the small table and stool set was a great, inexpensive solution from IKEA. Made in a durable and washable material and in our perfect pinks, this purchase was a no brainer.

The bookshelf, pink and white boxes and pink polka dot bedding were all snagged from Target weeks before they were officially closed.

The pink princess canvas is also from Target, and sits beside the butterfly framed artwork from IKEA, and framed pieces of Valerie’s artwork.

Room to play

The rad cover was custom made by the contractor using pine boards we painted white, and geometric screen panels in the same pattern as our yellow accent pillow fabric.

The chandelier is available at West Elm and is made of capiz shells. I love the lightness of it against the pink ceiling and the pearlescent shells cast a beautiful reflection when lit.

2Birds Design: Andi Wheelband and Renée Gammon

Two Birds Design is comprised of principle designers, Renée Gammon and Andi Wheelband. With over 10 years experience working in award-winning design firms across Ontario,  a partnership was formed to create  a boutique interior design business. 2Birds specializes in creating unique and livable spaces while providing dedicated and personalized service, unrivaled by larger design firms.

With a focus on exceptional quality, creative thinking and attention to detail, 2Birds ensures each project is handled with integrity and precision, from the initial planning stages through to construction and implementation. Rather than working in a “signature style” they develop each design based on the unique personality and lifestyle of our client. The first step to a well-designed space is carefully considered space planning. Without it even the most beautiful rooms can feel cluttered, cramped and uncomfortable.

 2BirdsDesign