Back when I wrote my original “700 sq ft, Family of FOUR” post, I did not post any pictures of mine and KP’s bedroom or the “master” bedroom.
A) Our house has no master bedroom officially.
B) There’s not really any “space-saving tricks” in our room, and
C) Our room often ends up being the dumping ground for crap when we’re tying to keep the rest of the house picked up.
But since I’m gonna have a kid in here soon (like, actually HAVE the kid), I figured it was time to finally straighten it up and get the room in order. And hey, if it takes showcasing our room to the world in order to inspire me to action? Well, then, hey – it worked.
(click to enlarge)
PARENTS’ BEDROOM SIZE:
Width:11′
Length: 12.5′
Total Sq. Footage: 137.5 sq. feet*
*I didn’t measure the closet, but it’s probably 2’x3′ or something. It’s tiny.
If you took a look at our kids’ room already, you may have noticed that OUR room is larger than our kids’ room, and there’s going to be 3 of them in there. So why didn’t we give them the larger room? Well, if we had moved into this house with any idea that we’d one day fit THREE KIDS in this small place, we may have switched the rooms. However, we moved into this house back when we were still struggling to conceive our first…and, life.
And as we went from 0 kids to 1, and then 1 to 2, and now 2 to 3 – it just seemed easier to keep the rooms as they were already set up rather to move everything around.
Bedroom Set
OMG guys, can you believe it? We actually have a matching, non-Ikea bedroom set in our room! Like for real, REAL furniture! Lol. We bought it once, on some sale from Ashley Furniture or Living Spaces or some place.
Other Items Pictured:
Dyson Air Multiplier Table Fan (pricey, but AMAZING. We got on a groupon deal once) – because no central air in our bedroom.
Storage Hutch
This BRUSALI storage hutch is our ONLY Ikea furniture in the entire room! Originally I kept my hope chest at the end of the bed (the only piece of furniture that made that first cross-country drive from TX to CA with me after college). Or along the now-purple wall. But then we wanted more small storage space in our room, so we bought this. Eventually, after Baby #3 is out of our room, we may move this back to the purple wall, just to give more walking space at the end of the bed. We’ll see.
Baby Equipment
By Kid #3 and with limited space, you downgrade to the fewest baby equipment items necessary. We have a little travel baby swing that we used for #1 & #2, but I don’t even think we’re going to bother this time around. Instead, these are our two must-have items for the newborn stage:
The Arms Reach Co-Sleeper Mini pictured will eventually be pulled right up against my side of the bed for easy late-night feedings the first several weeks or so. At some point – probably once I pass the zombie-like I-can’t-handle-more-than-rolling-over-and-popping-baby-on-my-boob-and-half-falling-asleep-again stage – I’ll put the co-sleeper back against the wall. I love this co-sleeper though. I can store diapers and wipes and changes of clothes in the pockets and in the mesh compartment underneath. Depending on baby’s size, the co-sleeper will probably last the first 4-6 months. At which point I’ll be forced to move them into the kids room full time.
I first got an original Fisher-Price Rock N Play when my daughter was born in 2011. And it was awesome. However, since then, the Rock n Plays have gotten more awesome, adding vibrating and self-rocking features. For Baby #3, I decided to upgrade to this version, which vibrates: Fisher-Price Rock N Play Sleeper, Rainforest Friends. This will hopefully replace a bouncer and swing, and give me an easy and portable place to put baby down anywhere around the house.
Purple Wall/Closet
Just like we did in the kids’ room, KP and I decided to give our room a splash of color. Again, when did we paint only one wall instead of the whole room? Because this wall was the easiest to access. And moving the bed or dressers seemed way too much work. 🙂 Back in the corner of the room, we have a small closet. No, we can’t fit a lot of hanging clothes in there. Luckily, here in Southern California, we don’t have drastic weather changes, so we don’t have to switch out seasonal wardrobes often. If it doesn’t fit in our closet and we don’t want to store it in the garage – it gets donated or trashed – or sent to ThredUp! :).
Behind the closet door, I hung some hooks that we hang our towels or robes, or whatever we want to. Basically, it was a blank space that I decided to put to some use. Because when you’re limited on space, why not make the most out of every inch, right?
Curtains
Just like in the kids’ room, I decided to make my own custom curtains for the parents’ room. Aaand, just like the kids’ room, I didn’t measure first and lowballed the yardage needed in hopes of cutting costs. See those dark seams along the bottom of every panel that are very obvious in the sunlight glow? Yeah, that’s where I had to piece together the extra material I had to buy more of. Sigh…my curtain re-do project ended up being way more trouble than it should have. But they are all done now, so I’m just not going to think about it anymore. 🙂
Here’s the fabric I bought on Fabric.com.
Ready!
I call this picture “Am I Done Yet?” lol. I’m only 38 weeks this week, however, I am already super prepared to go into labor at. any. moment. Come on Baby #3!
I even have my list of essential oils to possibly use during labor this time around. And all the oils ready and waiting along with the diffuser. Right on my dresser. Ready. As am I.
By the way – do you like the Essential Oils for Labor printabale list I made? Check it out! You can download it for free too! 🙂
Other Items Pictured:
InnoGear Essential Oil Diffuser
See HERE for links to the oils I bought on Amazon.
Thanks for visiting and I hope you feel inspired and got some ideas how to make your own small space work!
To see more rooms in our house – you can either go back to my 700 sq. ft. Family of 5 Home Tour MAIN PAGE or click any of the links below:
– The “Everything Room”: Entering, Living, Working
– 3 Small Kids in a Small Kids Room
– No Master Bedroom for the Parent’s Room
– A Not So Fine Dining Room & Kid’s Play”room”
– The Little Kitchen and Laundry Area That Could
– “Hurry Up I Have to Pee” One Bathroom House