August Fields

boys bunk room update

i finally put the new bedding on all the bunks. 
the striped duvets are from west elm and the pillow covers are from etsy.

i still wouldn’t change a thing about these bunks.  the boys love them.

they’re roomy and the individual light is so practical.

i still stand my ground that these beds are no more difficult to make than my girl’s twin beds.

the boys have a fitted sheet and a duvet cover.  no in between sheet.  its just easier this way.
if they need an extra blanket we keep a stack in the closet.

boy bunk room

the boys bunk room!  yay!  i’ve been trying to get this post pulled together for some time now so thanks so much for your patience 🙂
can i just say.  the bunks are a total blast.  the kids love them.  often times those top bunks will have pink pillows and quilts from sleepovers with deanie and dancy.
you can see more of the building of these bunks here.
in our home we have a boy bunk room, a girl bunk room (no bunks), a nursery, and the master bedroom.  
we do have a guest room as well in the basement.  when we first were working on the floor plan we were going back and forth with who would be in what room and what if we are blessed with another baby?  
we scratched it all and went bunk room style.  it has been a very good choice for our family.
we gave the picture that i found in a magazine to the builder.  one of the finish carpenters literally sketched a plan and built them according to the picture!  
i don’t know how big the beds were in the magazine picture, but we decided to make ours to fit an extra long twin mattress.  they are nice and roomy.
for bedding i just use a fitted sheet (size twin xl) and a duvet (regular twin size).  i do not mess with a flat sheet on the bunks.  there is space around the mattress so changing the sheets is not a big deal.
the stairs are pretty narrow, with the top landing being a little deeper.  i do have a rule of no jumping off the stairs. 🙂  in the future i’d like to put a fun picture right up in the center of the back wall.
since we all love to read, incorporating book shelves all over the house was at the top of the list.  in the bunk room we added them to each of the bunks.  this is boone’s bunk.  typically he has books spilling off the shelves and tucked into the sides of the bed! 🙂  i took them off for pictures so you could see the shelves.
each bunk has it’s own light that turns on independently.  my dad sells classic cars and his showroom has a lot of period style fixtures and features.  he has push button light switches in the bathroom and i always thought they were so cool.  mr. daddy reminded me of these and thought they would be a unique feature versus a normal light switch.  
the lights do get hot but not scalding.  they’re totally safe.  they do cast a slight glow into the room at night but not enough to keep hank awake.  
we also have a rule that when it’s lights off, it’s lights off.  period.  so turning them on in the middle of the night or whatever is not an issue.
we also put an outlet in each shelf unit of each bunk for the future.  cell phones? ipods?  or whatever will be invented in the next 10 years 🙂

across the bunks we have a window seat and more bookshelves.  the 3 drawers under the window seat are operable and provide more storage!

obviously, we’re still getting settled in figuring out what decor we want so i’m keeping it empty until i find what i like 🙂

reading corner.

cd player/radio.  favorites are jonathan park and adventures in odyssey.

the right book shelf.  this has some of our audio series and boone’s chapter books.

the left shelf.  this has board books, picture books, and some beginning readers.

 the doorway to the right of the mirror is the bathroom.  this bathroom also exits into the hallway.

okay…here is one end of the bunks.  you can see how its finished off.  also, this is hank before his nap.  you can see where he keeps his books since picture books are too big for the shelf. 🙂
i snuck back in later….totally cashed out.
i hope you enjoyed the tour of the boys bunk room!  i will list sources below.  i’m sure you’ll see more of this room as we continue to decorate 🙂
bunk room sources:
color of bunk beds:  benjamin moore fieldstone  (same as the kitchen)

color of the walls:  benjamin moore winter orchard
bunk lights: access lighting
bunk light switches: van dyke restorers
bunk light switch covers: van dyke restorers
orange mirror:  ikea
striped curtains:  ikea
orange lamp: thrift store
number lamp shade: helen rawlinson
picture above the radio:  fly away by sarajane studios etsy
play nice poster: john golden etsy
i love you vase:  dollar spot target
little orange clock:  target
orange blanket on reading chair:  ikea

boy bunk room – part two

the boy bunk room is taking shape!  we decided on a 4 person bunk unit.  if we ever needed more beds we could put another bed or bunk on the perpendicular wall. 🙂
below you can see the beginning stages.  mdf board was mounted to the back walls.  i had to pick out a mattress at the mattress store so the builders knew what depth the beds should be (these are fit for a 9″ deep mattress).  also, we decided on xtra long twin mattress’ since we’re dealing with boys here….and if this is their bed for life (in this house) we wanted to give them room to grow! 🙂
finished bunks before paint and fixtures! 
as you can see we designed the bed based on the one i had seen on the traditional home website.  
you can see that here. 
the kids giggled and laughed when they first saw them and immediately clamored to the top bunk. 🙂
keeping with the desire to allow reading and the joy of reading around every nook and cranny of this house we had little shelves built in (for books!) with an outlet (for alarm clocks, ipods etc.)
each unit will have a stand alone sconce as well (see below) that will allow for individual reading at night.
we’re planning on having the bunks painted in benjamin moore’s fieldstone color.
  
on the opposite wall is a window seat with bookshelves.  boone is on top of the world thinking of all the books he can have in his room now.  that little man (he’s 5) can read like it’s nobodies business! 🙂
okay….so orange has been boone’s favorite color for the past year and a half (before that it was goldenrod)  isn’t he funny?? 🙂 🙂  since it’s a pretty dominant color we’ll just be…..well….accenting with it. 🙂  
i found the lamp at goodwill for $7.00.  love it.
this fabric is amy butler and is called…..are you ready?  
august fields!!!! 
 i’ll be snatching a little bit of this up for accents on pillows or something.
thanks to my friend holly mathis for finding this line for me!
this adorable john golden print doesn’t have orange in it but when i saw my friend 
shannan at flowerpatch farmgirl had it in her little man’s room, i was smitten.
he has a shop on etsy and when i purchased my print he was having a buy one get one free sale!
the other print will be going in the playroom….but more on that at a later date 🙂
these are the sconces that will go by each bunk, on the back wall.  mr. daddy and i love the idea of being able to read at night then reaching over and turning the light off….versus having to climb out of the bunk to turn the light off.  i think this definitely promotes reading and provides good light to each individual. 🙂
lights are from here.  push button on/off switch was mr. daddy’s idea.  ðŸ™‚ 

boy bunk room – part one

image from here
when we originally had our house designed we decided on 5 bedrooms upstairs.  master plus 4 more.  
at that point we had four children.  then i was blessed with pregnancy and another baby 🙂  we shuffled various ideas around on how to ‘divide’ the kids into the planned spaces.  every time we had the conversation it was never settling.  and to tell you the truth, even when we had four children and they each had their ‘own’ space i was just………well, so so with the whole idea of them each having their own room.  
i remember wondering what it would be like to share a room growing up, as i always had my own.  my husband shared a room for all but 2 of his years at home.  and really, we need to know how to share space throughout our adult life so why not prepare our children for that?  in college you have a roommate, when you get married you have a roommate 🙂  at work, often you have to share something…space, copy machine, phone etc. 
the other issue that i always dread dealing with (even in this house) is:  when the baby is old enough how  will we RE arrange the rooms???  
so throughout the planning process, our having our fifth child, we came up with a logical solution for our family:  
Bunk Rooms!
one for the girls
one for the boys
it solved all our room dividing problems and more! 🙂  
1. the rooms will be much larger since we’re combining the spaces. allowing for more bookcases, which was always on our ‘wish list’. 
2. each room can have one large bathroom versus a smaller jack and jill style bathroom.  
3. when the little dubs is old enough he can go into the ‘boy bunk room’.  no questions.
4. Lord willing, when we have more babies, and they’re old enough to move out of the nursery, same as above….if the little munchkin is a girl she’ll join the girls in the ‘girl bunk room’ …if the little one is a boy, he’ll join the boy’s in the ‘boy bunk room’….no more agonizing decision making!
5. the bunk rooms will help prepare the children to know how to share their space! (there is plenty of room around the house if they need alone time!)
6.  another bonus… hopefully the children will continue to talk through their struggles since they won’t be able to slam their ‘own’ bedroom door shut  ðŸ™‚
amen.
i will be posting sequels to this and cover bunk choices, decor, layout, lighting etc.