…in his bedroom. Well, most of it. Below is Emma’s funny and heartfelt account of the makeover they created for their son’s room:
We moved into this three-storey 1876 house three years ago — clarification: it isn’t actually made of brownstone nor is it in New York City — we’re in Ontario, Canada. Over the past few years we’ve been restoring the building, converting what had been four separate apartments back into a single family home. This bedroom sits on the third floor and belongs to our five-year-old son, Angus. The ‘Before’ photos were taken when we first saw the property; at that time this room had been used as the living room by a medical student attending the nearby university.
After finishing essential rooms — like a working kitchen and a bathroom — we turned our attention to this space. Two goals guided us: (a) add closets, and (b) make the room so incredible that our son will want to stay home forever and look after us when we’re old and misplace our teeth. (We’ll reassess that plan when he’s sixteen and takes up the drums, or when he’s married and his partner demands a different sleeping arrangement.) The solution was a built-in bunk loft that my husband constructed while I stood nearby making helpful observations about alignment.
We aimed for a playful, campy beach-club vibe, so he built a cedar-shake roof to give the loft the feel of a miniature playhouse — or possibly a crab shack. It adds texture and a bit of whimsy to the space.
I’d been eager to try map wallpaper after seeing it online; in fact, I may have impulse-ordered it before we moved in. We’d heard wallpapering can test relationships, so we prepared with a bucket of paste and a few glasses of wine and tackled it late one night after the kids were asleep. The wall wasn’t large enough to show the whole globe, so the most nerve-racking task was choosing which regions to include — our son is bound to be delighted when he later discovers faraway places like New Zealand, Fiji and Alaska.
This room was an absolute joy to design and build. We hope you enjoy the transformation as much as we do! — Emma J.
Angus is a very fortunate child. With a thoughtful design like this, Emma has a great chance of keeping him happily at home for a long time. If you enjoyed this makeover, there are more photos and details available on her blog. Thanks for sharing, Emma!