A dove and a moose walk into a bar. Just kidding — not a bar. That wouldn’t be kid-room appropriate. How about a dove and a moose walk onto a playground? Anyway, I’ll cut to the point: we finally scored a dresser for Clara’s big-girl room, complete with dovetailed joints. Hence the dove reference — classic craftsmanship.
We wanted a dresser for the playroom / big-girl room so Clara can move into it when she’s ready. That lets the eventual second child use Clara’s original dresser, which doubles nicely as the nursery changing table. It also means we won’t be undoing one room to redo another, which always feels counterproductive. And nine more drawers of storage in our house? Jackpot — especially since this space used to be a room full of clutter.
We found this score secondhand thanks to Craigslist — Sir Craig And His List, as I like to call it. For just $50 we became the proud owners of this nine-drawer dresser. How we found it: we searched “dresser” in our area a few times a week for about a month, and finally this one popped up.
Our non-negotiables were simple: from a non-smoking household (hard scent to remove), at least six drawers like Clara’s nursery dresser (nine is an added bonus), and a long, low profile rather than a tallboy. We figure a long dresser lets her reach drawers and dress herself more easily as she grows, instead of struggling with higher drawers she can’t access.
Once we got it into the room we tried different layouts with the daybed and the dresser. We liked the dresser placed just to the left of the door — it’s shallower than the daybed, which fits better on the back wall. That arrangement left the dresser neatly across from the daybed and improved traffic flow.
Here’s the other side of the room so you can get your bearings:
The dresser isn’t perfect — it has character and some wear — so we’re weighing whether to refinish it or paint it depending on how the room evolves. We don’t want to rush; our usual approach is “stick and move”: place a piece, live with it, and add rugs, window treatments, art, and a light fixture to see how everything works together. At some point it will become clear whether we want a deep wood finish, a moody navy, snowy white, or something else entirely. Whatever we pick, we’ll share the result.
So where does the moose come in? Remember the estate-sale ceramic animal lamp I spray-painted white? Yep — moose.
I promised a shot of him with his final lampshade, so here it is. The fabric-covered shade was part of a book project, so I waited to show it until the book released. We used leftover fabric from Clara’s monthly photo project to recover a shade we already had — and I used the reverse side of the fabric to tone it down a bit. I like using the backside of patterned fabric when I want a subtler look.
That gives you a good view of one wall coming together. I can’t wait to hang something above the dresser — hint: it won’t be traditional framed art. We’ll share photos as soon as it’s done. We’re traveling back from the West Coast today, but we’re hoping to tackle a long to-do list tomorrow and shoot updates as soon as we can.
For fun, here’s how the upholstered lampshade plays with the pillows and blanket on the daybed. It’s looking cozy, and I’m eager to introduce pops of navy, teal, and yellow soon.
Meanwhile, who’s the cutest fake sleeper you know? Does her name start with a C and end with -lara?
What are you searching for on Craigslist these days? Any favorite furniture sources or thrifting tips? Did anyone hit the thrift shops for a fun challenge recently? We loved seeing what everyone found and can’t wait to hear about your scores.