Toddler Room DIY

Five years ago, my husband and I bought a charming 1960's single-storey home in a part of town commonly referred to as the faculty ghetto of Carbondale.

Coming from an upbringing in India, where we didn't so much as put a nail into a wall, without first calling for a carpenter, it never ceases to amaze me how handy and knowledgeable we have become over the years, as we systematically remodeled, renovated and reworked every room in the house, to better reflect our personalities and design aesthetic.

Our latest DIY project is hopefully our last for a long while.

It is one I am particularly proud of. We accomplished it in under a month, with a lot of advance planning and trips to Lowes, The Home Improvement Warehouse and True Value Hardware. Help for the more specialized parts of the project like moving electric sockets and installing drywall, came from our excellent handyman, Ray, who we paid by the hour.

The three-pronged problem:

• Big guest bedroom which lies vacant most of the year. 
• Small nursery, my toddler has outgrown. 
• More closet space desired in master bedroom. 

The solution:

• Break the wall between the guest and master bedroom and push it back two feet.
• Build an additional closet running the length of one entire wall in the master, without sacrificing any real estate.
• Build another closet on the other side of the wall.
• A coat of new paint, decorative molding, a new ceiling fan and new furniture in red and white transforms the previously dark, blue guest bedroom into a bright, sunny toddler room!
• The nursery becomes the admittedly smallish guest bedroom. 

We figure guests are few and far between and can sleep in the old nursery!

Why let so much space lie vacant most of the year when our little furball of energy can use it everyday to advantage?

Here is how the project went down: 

The scariest part of the project was breaking the wall!

We painted one wall in Little Miss M.'s room blaze orange.

The other walls we painted a muted lemony shade.

Her crib converted into a full size bed.

We picked up the mattress from Sam's Club, and the rest of the furniture from IKEA.

I particularly love the Expedit - the big white cubed square that takes up most of an entire wall.

It gives me plenty of organizing space for most of my toddler's playthings.

Vinyl Art on the walls came from assorted places, including Pier 1.

Tell me what you think!