Ok, it was definitely not the plan to do a make-over in the first weekend that we were back home from our holiday. Yet, most of the changes in-and- around my house are totally unplanned and spontaneous. And updating the boys’ room with this swap around is therefore no exception. With the new school year on our doorstep the timing could actually not have been better.

I landed the idea of changing ‘a few things around’ on the Friday evening which resulted in a full day’s work on Saturday. Luckily my hubby was on board. Because we soon realized that both beds did not fit through the door. So there was a lot (!) of unscrewing and re-screwing.
And have you ever tried moving a book case with all the books in it? Doesn’t work! Although the ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos might look good, the ‘in between’ was a total chaos.

Work with what you have

You might know by now how we feel about kids rooms. We feel that it is important to invest in a few key pieces and create an environment that kids can grow into, not out of. We also believe that to create a new vibe, you do not have to go furniture shopping. Just shop around in your own house and find what you need. You will discover that working with what you have, just in another environment, can look great!

It helps if you can work with a good base and color pallet to begin with. For this swap around I didn’t invested in any new items. You probably know the Oeuf NYC bunk bed from a long time ago. And my grandmothers cabinet and table have been with us for a long time as well. You might even recognize some golden oldies like the artwork, the collection of storage units and cute accessories in these pics from the archive.
The point is that we do not pull out our bank card every time we do a make over. We love re-using items and re-purposing furniture that we once fell in love with.

One new item

The result of a days hard work for this swap around is that we have two different looking rooms again that make more sense for the boys. The only new item is the Surf Sign we developed in collaboration with Zoe Rumeau. Her works of art are also not new to us, we have worked with her many times before, yet this wall art was created with growing kids like mine in mind. And it is the cherry on the cake.

Spontaneous one-day make overs are the best! We are ready to start the new school year with this new vibe upstairs.