Elsie’s Kids’ Shared Bedroom Reveal

I’ve been a mom for three years now and we’ve lived in *three* houses, and so far, I’ve decorated FIVE kids rooms (really, it’s true!). By now I’ve learned a few things about how to throw together a joyful space that will look cute messy because it WILL be messy.

I have ZERO desire to train my 3- and 5-year-old to keep a perfectly tidy room at these ages. If I could Mary Poppins it, I would, but instead I am happy with my intentionally low expectations.

Real quick here are links to the previous rooms if you’re curious. Nova’s first nursery and update later on, Marigold’s nursery tour, Nova’s bedroom (this was the most difficult room to leave because we had just completed it when we decided to move) and their shared room at our previous home (this room was never fully decorated or complete, but the stars were fun!). Also, our first playroom.

We repurposed the beds, adding a matching one recently when our younger daughter outgrew her crib. These beds are excellent and have been so worth the splurge to me. I did use coupons though! 😉

The rails have to be purchased separately, but both our kids have really benefited from having them. We personally would not feel comfortable using twin-size beds without the rails because of a few accidents we experienced early on.

The other things we brought with us from previous spaces are the chandelier, which was from Nova’s nursery and also her dresser.

What we added in this home was the wallpaper, the fluffy rug (which is such a great rug for the price!) and we DIY-ed the new bookshelves and toy boxes (those will be full DIY posts coming to the blog soon!).

I found the wallpaper from a small shop called Loomwell. It’s great quality and was very easy to install. Our girls love it!

P.S. You can use the the code ABEAUTIFULMESS to take 15% off your order!

I’ve received a lot of questions about why our girls are sharing a room and whether they have the option of having their own rooms.

Yes, we have a designated room for each child. Not that I think that is essential, because I don’t. If we decided to grow our family in the future (no plans for that currently), we would definitely be looking at shared bedrooms.

My sister, Emma, and I shared a bedroom for most of our childhood and teen years, by choice, even though we had our own bedrooms starting in elementary school. We just liked sleeping together. I’m so thrilled our girls like sharing a room, too. When given the choice to share or have their own bedrooms, they enthusiastically wanted to share.

At some point that may change, and that’s no problem because as you’ve already seen I like redecorating kids’ rooms. Haha. This is another reason why I am holding off on renovating the kids’ bathrooms right now (see their mini bathroom refresh here).

I will probably remodel the girls’ bathrooms closer to their “big kid” years, but who knows! At the moment, it doesn’t feel worth it or necessary at all.

Books have always been a MAJOR part of our kids’ room decor. We swap our books often. We have a HUGE collection for fall, Halloween, Christmas, and Lunar New Year.

The rest of the year, we swap them frequently. Recently, I’ve been focusing on collecting books that teach diversity and also teach about the lives of historical figures, artists and musicians. Collecting children’s books is so incredibly satisfying and fulfilling.

Check out the DIY for these adorable bookshelves!

Book links: When Charley Met Emma, Hug Machine, David Bowie, Elton John, Dolly Parton, Clueless Picture Book, You Matter, Llama Llama Loves to Read, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Triangle.

Our children became big fans of the movie Coco this past year and ever since they’ve been obsessed with playing “the guitar” (I realize these are mostly ukuleles, but let’s let that slide, OK?) daily.

They have so much fun playing along to movies and songs. We’ll definitely be in the market for lessons soon.

P.S. I can’t wait to retire my diaper table piece, but it’s been well loved.

We used these ukulele holders to mount them to the wall. It’s one of my favorite displays and toy collections in our home!

Here’s a link to the daisy pillow.

I added a basket for each kid next to their toy box. This little vampire doll was a gift from Laura. Our family passionately watches Halloween movies year-round. If you ever catch me dazing off, there’s a good chance I’m planning Halloween costumes … hahaha.

Between the two beds we added this little rattan side table (similar here) and this gold lamp.

I recommend this sound machine all the time, but it REALLY is the best!

One last detail: We’ve been using this elephant hamper since Nova’s first nursery and we still love it SO much.

Thanks so much for following along! If I missed any links or sources, just ask me in the comments. We’re repurposing quite a bit and a lot of items in the room are from previous spaces. Hope you have a wonderful day! XX- Elsie

All sources linked: Curtains / Beds / Bed Rails / Chandelier / Dresser / Wallpaper / Daisy Pillow / Throw (Bedding is also from Target) / Baskets / Gold Lamp / Sound Machine / Elephant Hamper

P.S. Be sure to check out our Hidden Children’s Library tour and 50 Kids’ Room (and Nursery) Ideas for more inspiration!