We moved to New York with four suitcases and a two small boxes. Our favorite clothes, the children’s most beloved toys, teddy bears and books, jackets and a few pair of shoes. That was it. Everything else, our Danish design furniture, our books and art, a lot of clothes and boxes and boxes of stuff that I no longer remember what is, was left behind in the attic of our old apartment.

For a long time, we kept our decor in our Brooklyn apartment to a minimum and I guess in many ways, we still do. But as we’ve slowly realized that we won’t be moving back to Europe any time soon, we have felt the urge to settle in a bit more, surround ourselves with a few furnitures and lot of green plants. All things that we truly love and which make all the rooms in our apartment functional and places we enjoy to hang out.

One of the rooms I’ve wanted to redo for a long time, is my two oldest daughters’ shared bedroom. To transform it from the messy playroom it had turned into, to a calm and simple space where children can play and be creative without letting the decor and stacks and stacks of toys take over. A practical room, that is easy to keep tidy, safe for my one-year-old to enter and still cool enough for a nine year old to want to hang with friends.

To free up as much floor space as possible, it was important to me, to get my daughters a bunkbed. Turns out though, that well made wooden bunk beds in a simple design is not that easy to find in the US. In the end, we went for this one from Oeuf that we all really love, and we’re now  building the rest of the room around their new bed.

picture via Oeuf

I’m normally not a big user of Pinterest, mostly because of the time I know it will take if I really commit, but I’ve used it as a great source of inspiration for our calm and creative children’s room and every time I spend 10 minutes looking for new inspiration I add at least a few amazing ideas to my to-do list.  To make space for creative thoughts and play, I decided to stick to a subtle color palette and since our apartment is a rental, and we therefore won’t be doing any major paint jobs, colors will mainly be added in little accents like pillows, rugs and posters. A curtain to create a little secret hideout in the lower bunkbed and a cozy nook where my oldest can hang with her friends.

I will of course share the final room with you as soon as it’s done. Until then, here’s a small outtake of my inspiration, favorite pieces and good ideas.

IDEAS // I love the idea of a big piece of printed fabric used as a wall decoration instead of putting up wallpaper // little shelf for tiny things // My oldest daughter really wishes for an area to hang with her friends // love  green plants in a children’s spaces. Pictures via Pinterest.

STUFF // Rug // Mirror // Tiger pillow // Round shelf //  Apple pillow // Bunkbed // Wall pouch //  Unicorn head // Quilt // Print