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Oh gosh, poor Lulu has been a true second child and been sleeping on the floor for the past six months. Don’t worry, I gave her a mattress, but she was living a very non-fancy life for most of this year.
You see, we’ve been renovating. We did our bathrooms, and our kitchen, and we also swapped my office with Lulu’s room. Our home has been chaos! We budgeted for the big stuff, like tiles, taps and tradies… but when it came to the girl’s rooms… we hadn’t thought much about what we’d do. Lulu’s one request was to have a desk, and with adding a desk, her original big bulky bed wouldn’t work. So I sold it and went shopping…
Because a new bed wasn’t part of my plan, I did a cheeky little option and used the American Express’ new Credit Card feature, Plan It™ Instalments. It’s like a lay-by, except you don’t have to wait for the goodies, with 0% p.a. interest and a fixed monthly fee. I was even able to choose how quickly I wanted to take to pay the purchase off {3, 6, 9 or 12 months}. So, with that I ordered Lulu’s new bed from Adairs, and waited for it to arrive.
Today I wanted to show off Lulu’s room, and celebrate that she is no longer sleeping on the floor. She has a room and a pretty one at that. Drumroll, please…
When I was a kid, my mum was totally into folk art and painted us pretty things for our rooms. She was talented, where I don’t have that skill… but I thought I’d try my hand at painting the girls a skate deck each for the entrance to their rooms.
Lulu’s new bed. I liked this one because as she grows we can turn it into a day bed, so we can hang out in her room with her friends and use it as a lounge. She loved that idea too. She’s a tween in the making!
New art by Peach and Pip, and Miss Jones.
I am in love with her palm tree wallpaper. I wasn’t in love with when I was putting it up. It was more challenging to do than I thought, but I didn’t read the instructions and put it up by myself… which didn’t make it any easier!
Lulu loves collecting small things, so I painted this shadow box that I bought from eBay white and popped some little bits in.
The desk! She loves sitting here and creating.
These pen holders are just cheap and cheerful ones from Kmart that I added some colour too. 
TIPS FOR DECORATING A KIDS ROOM ON A BUDGET:
✨ Choose a hero item. In our case it was the new rattan bed and the wallpaper. We let them be the stars of the room.
✨ Go cheaper on everything else. We kept as much old stuff as possible. Updating them with a lick of paint, or changing knobs and handles.
✨ Find art in different places. We’re art lovers so we make our own, or find it on the cheap. For this room I found printable art on Etsy that I printed at Officeworks. The rainbow print is a colouring in sheet from Castle and Things. And then I’m like a bowerbird. I collect tags and things, and use them on her art wall. The ice cream print is actually a greeting card that I framed.
✨ Play a long game. I try and pick decor choices that can be easily updated, or will stay with us for years, like the bed. Using American Express Plan It™, meant I was able to make this purchase straight away, paying it back over time, while knowing it is an item that will be with her years and years.
What do you think? Would you have liked this room when you were a kid?
