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By "platform bed with under-bed dresser" did you mean Captain's bed? City Park
Those should be relatively easy to find and if you have a "nook" in the room just build the decorative frame out.
My first thought seeing that picture is that bed is going to be a pain in the rear to make/change sheets. Cute set up though.
I'm not going to let her sleep in it after I get it perfect. Seriously, though, you're probably right. My main goal is to make the room so inviting that she will sleep in it all night. I'm willing to endure PITA sheets for a chance to sleep in my own bed without hanging on for dear life. ;-)
There are company's making underbed drawers on wheels. Can't remember where is saw them, but they are out there (I'm talking about drawers with wood fronts that look like actual dresser drawers.
The picture you posted of the Princess room, does show the stairs that go with the bed. The stairs block the drawers when they are in place. The photo of the room shows the stairs neatly pushed to the end of the bed where they cannot be used, because when they are pushed to where they need to be for the kid to use them, they ruin the traffic flow of the room. So you have to picture the little kid moving these wooden steps all the time and imagine how long the drawer fronts are going to hold up, with the stairs constantly being pushed up against them. It's a great design in theory, but in a small room the stairs are going to use up any space saved by the otherwise space concious design of the bed.
It would be more practical to raise the bed to a height the kid can manage without steps, get rolling underbed storage, and put up a wall unit that includes overbed storage, like the one where they used a TV unit. Craigslist has quite a few floor to ceiling storage units available at any given time because so many people are going with flat screens and no longer want the huge units around them.
You can also create your own floor to ceiling cabinet area with cabinets from Home Depot or Lowes. Two tall cabinets on the sides, with a row of wall cabinets in the middle, would run $400 and up, depending on how wide you need all of these cabinets to be. You could certainly do some kind of curtain treatment beneath the center wall cabinets if you don't bring them down too low. If you REALLY want to maximize space, fill the middle section with cabinets that come down to only 2' above the bed. If your daughter is still VERY short, you can just use the cabinets as a headboard, leaving the upper 18" of the bed unused. When she is taller, you can always have her use the other end of the bed as the top, and put her feet under the cabinets.
You need a definite name change! You don't sound challenged in this area at all.
I started researching the underbed dressers and couldn't find anything that would be both functional and pretty. Most of the ones I saw either did not have actual tracks for the drawers or would somehow need to have a "built up" on the corners to make the ceiling-to-floor look. That would leave a little gap between the edge of the dresser and the built-out which I thought could be covered by making the canopy longer. I vetoed that idea because I don't want something long enough for her or her little brother to get tangled in. I want it to be pretty, but safety comes first.
Dh vetoed the cabinet idea because it would create an environment where we would constantly have to help her reach items in the cabinets or she would have to do it (again, too risky for my tastes). Maybe when she's a bit older that would work out better.
So far, I'm leaning toward a trundle bed (with drawers instead of an extra bed) so it's not so high and using a white canopy with a pretty bed crown to make it more stylish. I can always enclose the whole thing with a few sheets of drywall and crown moulding at the top and bottom. I am still playing around with ideas and really appreciate all the input given. It helps me think things through.
You haven't told us how old your daughter is or the dimensions of the room, so it's hard to suggest alternatives. But do keep in mind that it is possible to make a very attractive set of stairs leading to the bed and ultilize the area UNDER those stairs, for more storage. I don't know where the stairs need to be in order to comfortably get in and out of the bed but that would obviously affect the plan. Also, a ladder attached to one end or the other of the bed saves a lot of room. I hope you will come back and let us know what you did and show us the pics! Good luck.
Hi again, She will be 5 next week. I don't know the dimensions of the room. We close on Friday and I will be able to get an idea of how to do this other than on paper. I will post pics when I get something in place. Thanks again for all the great input.
I'm not going to let her sleep in it after I get it perfect. Seriously, though, you're probably right. My main goal is to make the room so inviting that she will sleep in it all night. I'm willing to endure PITA sheets for a chance to sleep in my own bed without hanging on for dear life. ;-)
While I love offering decorating tips, I have to say that the problem you are trying to resolve is best for the parenting fourm, not the decorating forum.
Parents will tell you that no amount of decorating will encourage your child to sleep in her own room.
You're approaching the problem all wrong, and setting yourself up for disappointment.
In the end, she'll have a beautiful bedroom to spend time in during the day, but she will still be in your bed at night.
These are the types of websites you should be looking at instead of bedroom furniture websites:
While I love offering decorating tips, I have to say that the problem you are trying to resolve is best for the parenting fourm, not the decorating forum.
Parents will tell you that no amount of decorating will encourage your child to sleep in her own room.
You're approaching the problem all wrong, and setting yourself up for disappointment.
In the end, she'll have a beautiful bedroom to spend time in during the day, but she will still be in your bed at night.
These are the types of websites you should be looking at instead of bedroom furniture websites:
Thanks for the advice. I think both she and her brother (2 yrs.) have been quite the troopers. They've endured being separated from their dad after he took a job out-of-state for six months, a cross-country move, from a house to an apartment, and will go through another move next week to our new house. Although the children and I have been reunited with Dh since late April, she still cries some mornings when he leaves for work (mainly because he could only fly back home every 3-4 weeks during the time we lived apart to sell our home and she had to say goodbye at the door). During the last two months of showings, we slept on an air mattress because all the furniture was moved to storage so the hardwood floors could be redone. I know none of this is the end of the world and we are fortunate that he had a job and had another job to go to, a place to live and the ability to make this move for the betterment of our family. Our children were awesome throughout the process and have brought many smiles and much laughter as we shared in "family time" via Webcam.
I understand that she is coping the best she can and will not have the maturity to "man up" right now. Having their own rooms is a huge deal since they were sharing a room before and now they don't have to go "gender neutral." I'm sure she will transition to her own room once we're settled into a routine again. It's been a long time coming, but we're almost there.
I’m a family bed advocate and as an initial matter, I must report that the hubby and I limited out “festivities” to other rooms of the house or times when our 3 sons were in their own beds. If you are the “spontaneous” type, this would be a problem, but we were fine with it.
My husband was a state trooper and one week out of every month he worked nightshift. I was uncomfortable being the only adult in the house with young children spread out in different bedrooms. I worried that if there was a fire or break in I couldn’t get to all of them in time. As babies they slept in a crib full time. But once they were about 3, when they could understand my rule that they had to sleep in their own rooms whenever I told them to do so, they began to sleep in my room
The eldest stopped the practice before the youngest started, so there were never more than 2 of them in my room at once. They got tucked in to my bed to begin with (they alternated which side they started in every night) and as hubby or I went to bed, we removed the kid on our side and put him on the floor. They alternated which side they slept in every night because the preferred spot was my husband’s side. This was because I often came to bed way before hubby, so the one on his side got to sleep with me for a while, and if hubby was on night shift the kid on his side got to stay in bed all night. They each decided around age 8-9, that they were ready to sleep full time in their own beds.
Before I had kids I thought people that let their kids sleep in the master bedroom were nuts, especially if the kid was older than a toddler. But the family bed practice provided bonding time with my sons that simply cannot happen when the family is all active in the house. They often revealed their concerns to me while we were in bed waiting to fall asleep. Without the TV or siblings vying for their attention, they were able to tell me what was on their minds.
Of course, for about ten years I had a sleeping bag and pillow on either side of my bed and we had to walk carefully when we got up in the middle of the night. I missed them when they left but the huge space I gained on either side of my bed was HEAVEN!
So there were some disadvantages of the practice but I wouldn’t trade the intimacy of that time with them for the world. They are all grown men in the U.S. Marines. They all plan to let their own kids sleep in the master bedroom with them because they agree it is one of the main reasons they have always felt so loved.
I'd rep you more if I could. Thanks for the awesome post! I do not mind when the little ones want to sleep with me. If it helps them feel safe and connected right now, that's great. As their mom, I want them to know they are safe and "sheltered" and they very much feel that. Today, it started storming and both of them climbed into the oversized chair with me and we cuddled until the storm passed. They felt protected and I felt good that they know they can always come to me.
I have a younger sister (she was born when I was in college) and she slept with me when she visited on weekends and during the Summer. She's a mom now, herself. She told me the other day how much she appreciates everything I've done for her and just knowing (without a doubt) that she would always be safe and protected with me helped her so much. Aw, grab the Kleenex! ;-)
All the best and thanks to your "boys" for serving our country. Notwithstanding the war, I appreciate all the men and women who stand up for our country.
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Seriously, though, you're probably right. My main goal is to make the room so inviting that she will sleep in it all night. I'm willing to endure PITA sheets for a chance to sleep in my own bed without hanging on for dear life. ;-)
