Shared Spaces

We are down to 6 weeks before our new baby girl arrives (hooray!) and my laundry list of "things to do" seems to be getting longer rather than shorter. You would think that by the third time you greet a new child, all would be well under control!! (Or at least, that is what I thought...) One thing that is nice, is the comfort of knowing exactly what I need for "essentials" ... I plan to post on that later. But the new twist, this time, is combining the older two children into one bedroom (for the safety of all) until the new baby girl is old enough to share a room with our oldest. To making things trickier, this means combining a toddler bed and boy decorations (from our 2yo) with a "big girl bed" and girl decorations (from our soon-to-be 4 yo). I have searched and searched for the perfect bedding to make the room divided, but complementary. For some reason, I was steering away from "themed" bedding this time - I didn't want elephants, etc. I also didn't want puffy comforters. Also - I needed a site that offered the toddler sized sheets/bedding AND twin sizes - which truly narrowed the field. Finally, DH said "no repainting", so I needed things that would match the current wall color. I finally found a complementary patterned set ... but the price was astronomical. Reality check!! First, my 2yo and 4yo truly don't care what is laying on their bed. Second, I don't have the budget to satisfy my apparently high-flying tastes unless I am willing to sacrifice other, more practical items. Third, this will be a short-term design challenge and I have spent FAR too much time on the search - I need a decision!! So... I am investing the budget in two new toy storage units (from Target) and 2 new cabinets that will fit tidily into the closet (from Ikea). I am re-purposing his old bumper to make cushions that will tie the two beds together. His bed will have the large quilt from his infant set that we never used (no additional cost) and her bed will have a "girly" textile that is solid colored but includes interesting details, and pillows from his bumper as well as some more "girl-friendly" pillows to tie it all together. I am going to add some of their own artwork in frames as accents and call it a day. Whew - glad to have that decision behind me!! If you are searching for ideas for shared spaces, Pottery Barn Kids had a few, and Land of Nod (high end) and Target (lower end) had the best selection of bedding. Happy hunting!