In The Room With Us: The One They’ll Grow Into

How to turn the most awkward space in the house into a bunkroom-meets-beautiful-guest-suite for two small kids and a lot of toys.

Jul 02, 2025

If you're lucky, you get to decorate one of those kids’ rooms that practically does the job for you; The nice light, the logical layout, the generous square footage. This was not one of those rooms.

When we moved in we saw the potential but we didn’t quite have the vision - yet. It was blinded by the fact it was the biggest room in the house, yes, but also the darkest, weirdest-shaped and most spatially confusing. Awkard chimney breast placement? Yup. Inconveniently placed Amityville Horror-style micro-windows? But of course. Low-light, lack of storage or any obvious solution? Naturally.

Still, what it did present was a challenge, and I adore one of those. Clearly the potential to be the kind of room my two daughters could genuinely grow into, a shared space that works just as well for sleepovers and school work as it does for excellent sleep, please, cuddles, chaos, and everything in between. And on the rare occasion we host another entire family of guests - a bonus room they’d be happy to wake up in, too. (We’ll turf the girls out for that if the time comes).

The Concept: A Room That Lasts

I wanted something childlike but not childish. Timeless but not sterile. Playful, joyful, and most of all, practical. Therefore I felt it needed to be:

Inviting for kids, tolerable (at the very least) for adults.
Smart with storage, as it’s two girls with two wardrobes, in their mothers image…
Designed to avoid arguments (a lofty goal, but we live in hope).

And I have always had a hankering for a bunk room situation, so this would be it. Not just two beds stacked on top of each other, but a properly designed room within a room. Excplictly:

One top bunk, single-sized - the thrill-of-height option for whoever gets it.
One bottom bunk, double-sized - the thrill-of-the-large option for whoever gets it.
A central staircase, with an upstairs platform for playing, hiding, and housing the toys.
And a downstairs homework desk tucked neatly to the side, with secret storage and just enough surface space for deepy-focused-colouring-in.

The Palette: Muted yes, but not meh

The colour scheme is what I think this thing hinges on. I wanted something that wouldn’t scream “CHILDREN” at us all, or be done by the time they turn six. And it had to be green (why? It’s my favourite, and it’s a neutral, and its the accent hue of the entire rest of the house.) Farrow & Ball’s Green Smoke is a smoky, greyed-down green that can feel cosy or uplifting depending on the hour and the lighting. It grounds the room, especially paired with the scallop stripe wallpaper I agonised over before finally settling. Ours is a soft pinky tone that’s both cutely nostalgic and elegant all at once. Elegant in a kids room you ask? Why not. Together, they walk the perfect line between storybook and stylish.

The Details: Elevated and Intentionally so.

Elevated in a kids room you ask? Yes actually, because we all know where the devil lies (it’s in the details, reader. In case I didn’t make that clear). I had some ideas about hardware, and yes they were at an additional cost that wasn’t necessary (we did this on as much of a budget as it is possible to do - and believe me the carpenter we hired has regretted it ever since. We jumped at his quote - he’d never done a bunk room before. But I’m happy to report he’s now delighted and gets repeat bookings where he charges the correct amount….) BUT I digress. The devil lies in the cost of the details, and for me they absolutely make the whole room.

Brass detailing on the bunk bed railings adds a grown-up polish that still feels warm and whimsical. I used 13mm brass gallery rails.
Star Backplates behind the handles on the under-bed drawers and built in wardrobes to give a playful touch.
Hanging Heads for want of a better phrase. The stuffed toy offerings on the wall give me SO much joy. I’m not sure the kids have noticed them yet but I had them secured at least a year before we started on the room. Lol.
Consistent Raffia It’s the accent texture and it sort of gives a slightly colonial feel along with the muted lighting and the dark green. the lamp, the baskets, the shelving etc.
Wooden Dolls House to bring in both hours of entertainment and a whole load of character, (painted the roof and door green ofc).

It’s a space that invites play but promises peace. At least, aesthetically, anyway.

I say this room was designed to grow with my girls, but really, it’s growing with all of us.

If you’re renovating, decorating or just at the dreaming stage (hi, that’s where I live all the time), I’ve listed all the sources here so you can borrow the bits that work for you. I promise the bunk bed novelty does buy you some quiet, and is yet to wear off.

See you next time in this new Interiors section. more calm, more colour, fewer arguments (ideally).