…in his bedroom. Well, most of it. Here’s Emma’s hilarious letter about the makeover they turned out for their son’s room:
We moved in to this three-storey 1876 “brownstone” (sidebar: it is neither made of brownstone nor located in New York City) three years ago – we’re in Ontario, Canada. We’ve been working our way through the house converting what was four separate apartments back into a single home. This bedroom is up on the third floor and it belongs to our 5-yr old son, Angus. The ‘Before’ photos were taken when we first looked at the house and, at the time, this bedroom was the living room of a medical student at the University nearby.
When we finally got our hands on it and finished some necessities in the rest of the house – like a working kitchen and toilet – we decided that (a) the room needed closets and (b) it should be out-of-the-park awesome so that he’ll never leave home and will look after us when we are old and can’t find our false teeth (sidebar #2: we will re-visit this plan when he is 16 and takes up the drums, or when he is married and his spouse doesn’t want to sleep on a bunk). Enter the built-in bunk bed loft, which my husband made while I helpfully pointed out where things didn’t line up.
We were going for a campy/beach club look and he added in the cedar shake roof to make it feel like a real playhouse… or maybe a crab shack…
I was dying to try this map wallpaper after seeing it online. In fact, I think I impulse-ordered it well before we had even moved in to the house. We had heard a few times that wallpapering is a real relationship tester, so we armed ourselves with a bucket of paste and few glasses of wine late one night once the kiddos were asleep. The wall wasn’t quite big enough for the whole earth, so the most nerve-wracking part was deciding which parts of the world to leave out (sidebar #3: our son is going to be floored when he discovers the existence of amazing places like ‘New Zealand’, ‘Fiji’ and ‘Alaska’).
This room was so much fun to do. Hope you guys like it! -Emma J.
Angus is a lucky guy, right? I think Emma has as good a shot as any of us at keeping her kid around forever. You can see more pics and learn more about the makeover right here on her blog. Thanks Emma!
That’s awesome! Thank you so much for sharing!!
Emma’s commentary made me laugh aloud on a bad day at the office….and I enjoyed the room as well.
Hope you are all enjoying your vacation!
That is just amazing. Well done.
Wow! That is definitely one of the most incredible kids rooms I have EVER seen!! The nook, the map, it’s all so good!
What an awesome room! The little roof over the bunk area? Amazing. Love everything about it, and the mom’s sense of humor. :)
Amazing! What a truly envious space!
Wow! I love this! So creative, and fun, I would love to do something like this one day.
oh. em. gee. SO CUTE! Also: hilarious that the whole map isn’t up there. I would be that kid who would totally not realize that there are whole countries/states missing! :D
xox
giedre
This room cool. I wish I could do something like this
LOVE it all! went over to her blog and pinned it- love the penants and the overall clean vintage look!
This room is brilliant!
Might I add that the name “Angus” is an excellent choice for a boy.
Adorable!! I love the little shingle roof and the hanging lights. What a creative kid’s room! I’m pretty jealous of Angus :)
That bedroom is so cute I’m about ready to move right in myself! :) They did a great job. It looks straight out of a magazine.
This makeover is unbelievable! Wow – such a vision. I wish I could “see” an end result like that. Great creativity!
LOVE THIS.I wish I was a kid with this room.
This is so awesome! Love the bunks, and the built-in bookshelves for them. And the way they worked with the quirky space. And also the writing, as other have said. Thanks for sharing this!
I love this! They did a great job incorporating the slanted wall.
Sherry, John, and Emma: Best kids bedroom ever! How lucky is he?!
A) that was hilarious and now I want to be friends with Emma.
B) once Emma and I are besties I want to go visit her and sleep in that awesome room!
Wow, I really love this one. It’s a nice change of pace from the chevron covered gray + other color schemes that seem to be all over the place lately. Not that those aren’t cute, but this is truly unique and lovely.
What a phenomenal makeover! If Angus moves, out let me know. I would happily sleep here. I adore the shake roof and the map.
And I nearly spit water out of my nose upon hearing poor Angus’s geographical education gap. I love your writing, Emma, thank you for the laugh this morning!
(And please, never ever show my children this room. They think I’m a fabulous designer because I stuck some plane stickers on their wall.)
OMG that is awesome!
I have liked many Reader’s redesigns but never commented.This one is by far the best i have seen.
Lucky boy!…Emma off to your blog:)
~Chitra
I want to live here!
I LOVE this room and Emma’s funny comments. I can definitely relate to “helping” by pointing out where things don’t line up. :) This room turned out really great – I am a sucker for both bunk beds and built ins. Great re-design!
LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE it!
WOW! That is out of this world awesome! Lucky kid for having such creative parents. I have always wanted to convert my moms three unit apartment into a single family home, but I can’t imagine actually taking it on! Forget the wallpaper being a relationship tester, how about a big overhaul!
Great work and if the rest of the house looks anything like this room it must be a really wonderful home!
I have never laughed so hard reading about a 5 year old’s bedroom makeover! Emma, you are a hoot! The bed room looks awesome!!! So glad you were able to help your husband line it up just right. ;)
That is brilliant! Any child, young or old would love to sleep in there!
I love it! In addition to a child’s room, I think the basic design would also do well in a vacation home.
I REALLY like the loft setup. The map on the wall is a nice touch too! I don’t mean to be a debbier downer, but what will you do when your son is too big in both age and styling preference to appreciate and fit in his loft? Will you deconstruct the shack? Maybe create it into something more hip for a teenager? A really awesome post, keep up the good work!
:) Loved this! We have the same map in my son’s room, and he will be similarly floored by the existence of New Zealand and Fiji . . . most of Alaska made the cut! :)
This room is crazy gorgeous! I love the little roof detail, would love to recreate this (although I doubt that’ll ever happen!).
Hope you guys are enjoying your vacation, you earned some time off! xxx
Wow!!! This is my favourite kids bedroom redo ever!! Great job, Emma! Running over to follow your blog now so i can steal your ideas…. ;0) #WhootWhoot #FellowCanuck
Alaska aside, NEW ZEALAND?! WHY!! He’s gonna wanna know where Middle Earth is C’MON!! sadface…
But the room is ridiculously awesome minus the New Zealand snub. I’m definitely checking her blog out. Her writing totally tickles me and I feel like we could be friends. Minus the New Zealand snafoo.
Oh this was just so cool. And the wit!
Great choice on this feature!
Hope you’re enjoying your vacay!
Annie XO
The reader letter is absolutely GOLD, I’d read her writing even without awesome photos… I am pleased (as an Aussie) that we made the ‘cut’ so to speak :p
omg this looks awesome!!
Great room. And I was most excited to see a pendant from Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, where I live. (Not to be confused with the St. John’s, Newfoundland pendant they also have pinned on the wall!!!)
awesome room!
ps. I loved it when you guys listed your favorite part. Can we go back to that? :)
Sure! Mine’s that awesome shingled area/roof and, of course, John’s loving the map.
xo,
s
Love Emma’s tongue in cheek humour. So glad Australia was kept in! Yay!
Gotta love those Canadians :)
Loved this room, but especially enjoyed Emma’s hilarious writing style!!! She sounds like a fun person. Very creative and attractive room. Lucky kid!
I LOVE this room. So pretty. I’m obsessed with maps.
I love the beach hut in a room look. How cool is that! I once saw that map wallpaper put over the top of a wall that was first covered in magnetic paint so the whole wall became a bulletin board. Always thought that would be really cool.
I love this redo! And I love that she wants to trap her children into living with her forever. When all else fails and they still want to leave the nest, break their legs!
(OK, I’m seriously joking to all of you with 911 on speed dial.)
Best reader re-design ever!!!
Angus is a lucky guy. of course Emma has as good a shot as any of us at keeping her kid around forever. and best wishes to you all.
WHAT. New Zealand didn’t make the map cut. But…but…but…we’re awesome here. We have Elves and Hobbits and everyone here has a pet sheep. :(( Devastated!
Awesome room make over, shunning of New Zealand aside. *sniffle*
Wow, what a cool room! I want to live there! ;)