daloislane's Profile

I was just at Ikea today and was thinking of this exact post. I would suggest just taking a walk through Ikea to start with - there are a lot of ideas just in those mocked up rooms. I would also suggest going vertical and using multipurpose furniture as much as possible. We have two kids in an apartment and what we've had to do to survive comfortably is to 1) Make incredibly efficient use of closets 2) purge all adult stuff that we don't really use as much as possible 3) purge regularly and accept the fact that if we someday have another kid we'll have to re-buy some stuff 4) "hide" toys in the living space. I have an expedit with those cheap black bins masquerading as our entertainment center. It holds most of our kids' toys but you'd never know it if you didn't live here. 5) get lots of fresh air and find reasons to leave the house every day so you don't get too claustophobic or stir-crazy 6) accept the fact that your kids are going to have to figure out how to deal with less-than-ideal surroundings in terms of sleeping in total quiet.
In the end, we love our small space and have talked ourselves out of moving a few times mostly due to the fact that we like our urban area and can handle living with less. Our boys are very good friends and I think part of this has to do with their close proximity.
It's a tough situation but you can do it - and with your head held high!

I completely agree with you, Carrie! I've had some similar experiences to your Dora-Candyland one. I have young boys and I am totally a toy-snob. My boys just respond better to the more simple toys that don't make noise/are not character-driven. They SO love their wooden trains (non-Thomas, mind you) and duplos. My older son was recently invited to his first birthday party for a little girl and I found myself completely flustered at the toy store. That "pink aisle" totally terrifies me because it just so blatantly screams of marketing ploys. Is it just me or is it worse for little girls? (I suppose that's a different discussion...)

Love it! My boys' bedroom is this exact same color scheme. That apple green is one of my favorite paint colors out there. So cheerful! A perfect place to start each day.

Oh - and southerndisposition: what a cute blog! You are hilarious!

Fold-up Thomas the Train tent. Hate it as I hate all Thomas stuff. We live in a small apartment and it literally takes up all the space between my sons' beds. Thankfully it folds flat and stores well in the closet. They love it so much I decided to just go with it. These are the things that create those magical childhood memories...

We've had our malm since long before our boys (4 & 2) and as stated above, I've bumped my shins a time or two but neither child has ever had any problems with it. In fact, I LOVE having this bed with young kids because it is so low to the ground, there is no worry about them hurting themselves falling a long distance. This bed, even with the sharp corners, seems WAY safer than a traditional adult bed which is much higher off the ground.

That Baby Bjorn toilet-top trainer is the greatest invention on earth for potty training. It has a great fit on the toilet, almost like a seal, and it feels incredibly secure for cautious kids. We started with the bigger bjorn potty chair, which is awesome too, since my son had a hard time climbing onto the toilet.
Our younger son has chosen to just go straight to the toilet-top trainer seat and I am happy with that since emptying out those little potty-pots is, well, grosser than diapers I personally think.

I LOVE this.

I just finished my very first furniture painting project: an old oak bookcase that was mine from when I was a kid. It was a bit of a stressful project since I didn't know what I was doing, but in the end, it turned out alright and I am SO glad I did it. I say paint the furniture. If you use primer and a good quality paint, you will love the results! You can look on my profile to get to my blog if you want to see the before and after of the bookcase.

When I was 4, we moved into a new house. I desperately wanted a pink bedroom. My parents would only let me choose between light blue and light yellow. I hated both so I went with the lesser of what I considered the two evils: the yellow. I hated it for 8 long years. I still hate that color. Ironically, at that point, my parents moved me out of that room and into a different room and then painted it pink for my little sisters. What color did they paint my new room? Gray. Uhh...thanks? Gray may be cool now but it really wasn't in 1991. Maybe I was ahead of my time.
I hate painting as much as the next person, but I will always let my kids pick out their room's paint color - just maybe not the exact shade. Kids need to feel like they have power of some aspects of their lives - it gives them confidence - and paint color, in my opinion, is a much better way of expressing individualism than, say, dying hair hot pink or something (no, I never did that - maybe I should have...).