Anna Europe's Profile

I'm getting old... seriously, who cares about styling their nightstand!?!?

I vote all-the-way-up... if you live in a small place. One foot of "airiness" on top of the kitchen cabinets is not going to make much of a difference in a cramped apartment. You can always use the top shelf/shelves for storing rarely-used items (not necessarily kitchen stuff), and it looks a lot neater than having boxes on top of half-height cabinets. Plus, there's the dust/grease issue.

That railing is too low for a toddler, even without the sofa.

Get a carpenter over and have the railing replaced/extended all the way to the ceiling.

Interesting--I like the cabinets. I think it would go well with wooden countertops.

I'd share the bedroom with the kid - a junior bed for him, a single for you, a dresser for his clothes, and your stuff in the closet. He's 2, and he's not going to want to hang out in his own room all alone for the next couple of years. (You can always rethink the layout when he's 5).

Split the living room into zones - play, work, eat, relax. Furniture-wise that means a desk, a sofa, and a dining table. Kids play on the floor so make sure there's room for that; skip the coffee table. Toys are going to end up all over the floor so go for a storage solution with lots of boxes so you can quickly scoop it all up at night. Oh, and use the walls as much as you can.

I hate:
Checkered floors. Ugh.
Orange.

I dislike:
Bad proportions and alignments.
Word art like eat/sleep/love - but 'poo' might just win me over.
Rooms that are too "busy".
A complete lack of continuity/coherence in a room.
Too much colour.
Collections of old clocks, typewriters, suitcases, antlers and whatever is trendy right now.
Books 'casually' disposed on every available surface.

Why would that plant even need a stand? Seems like a knock-over accident waiting to happen....

@LADesign,

I have a 5 year old who's perfectly comfortable and trustworthy around stairs. He's been taught how to walk on stairs, and he knows not to play on them... really, it's not some kind of rocket surgery you can't do without parental superpowers

@OP,

If you keep the stairwell as-is, perhaps you can put some nasty, stingy plants on the ledge to de-tempt your kiddos from playing on it.

@Artoak -- thanks, I was wondering how big/small a toddler bed was exactly. I'd think a child should be able to fit in a 160cm/63'' junior/toddler bed until 8-10 years of age, i.e. for 5-8 years after they outgrow a standard crib - 120cm/52''. (I notice the size of the Sniglar crib is a little big bigger in the US than in Europe - different regulations, probably).

My son was not even 2 before he'd figured out how to escape his crib (an Ikea Sniglar, i.e. regular size). I turned it into a toddler bed by simply removing the sides, keeping the slats-bottom and the mattress, and adding short legs (5 cm). That took like 5 minutes, and he used the bed for another year. We've since made him a junior bed (160x70cm) by the same concept - mattress on slats on short legs. Since it's low he's not going to hurt himself by rolling out, and he can get back up by himself. (Now that he's 5 it rarely happens anymore).