Building, Children, Design, Furniture, Interior Design, Make Over, Project, Toddlers
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Charlie’s bedroom – Part 2 – The Plywood Wall

Lego Storage

Charlie’s room has ended up being a much larger project that originally planned (sorry Pete). The whole design process has been bubbling away in the background for a few months now and am so excited to finally share Part 2. (Part 1 here). This kid’s bedroom is all about the plywood!!

There are still plenty of pieces left to go in (carpets and single bed) but it’s the joinery that’s really transformed this room. So let’s get on with the pics shall we?

Before

Kid's Bedroom

After

Before | During

Built in shelving

After

I absolutely love it. It’s so mental to see an idea in your head executed so accurately. The guys from Leeds and London based Bare Joinery are mega. Give them a follow, because i’ve been bullying them to set up a proper Instagram account for months and i’m going to look like a right numpty if it’s tumbleweed.

The design is a perfect marriage of function and form. I’ve finally reclaimed the living room (and several other parts of the house) and have managed to get all of Charlie’s toys up here, with ample space to spare. The bits we don’t want him to access (pocket knives, nunchucks, darts, sewing kit, the usual….) are obviously stashed away in the top cabinets. With his favourite, more aesthetically pleasing toys out on display, they’ve turned a plain, birch wall into a myriad of colour.

Built in shelving

The hubby and I came to loggerheads over the cladding of the chimney breast. His concern was it was going to look too “industrial” and not child friendly if we did the whole thing. Whilst I just thought it was going to look odd and unfinished if we didn’t. I’m so glad I managed to convince him in the end. As soon as that last piece went up, BOOM, there’s the money shot. Especially with that horizontal cross grain, tying in with the doors.

Kid's Bedroom Design by Making Spaces

For now, Charlie’s toddler bed sits along the base cabinets and chimney breast with the bottom shelf being set a a bedside table height. Once he’s got his new single bed (due in November) with no footboard, it will make much more sense design wise.

Birch and white is a classic Scandi combo of which we have a fair bit around the house, so Charlie’s room actually feels much more in keeping with the rest of the upstairs.

Remember the birch ply staircase? Banister? Floorboards? Loft wardrobe? We sure do love our ply.

Bare Joinery Leeds

Holes were pre-cut in both cabinets so we could access the sockets underneath. One on the bedside shelf of course for a night time reading lamp.

Wall storage

Like me, Charlie absolutely loves having all of his toys in his room. And despite his bed now facing the opposite way, he’s not fallen out of bed yet. Well not that i’ve heard anyway. I wear earplugs.

Bedroom and Playroom

Playtime

Plywood Wall

I flippin love it. Keep going upstairs to check it out. And the best thing is, it will last him for ever. The shelves are tall and deep enough for school books, lever arch files and speakers for example.

And the storage cabinets will be perfect for teenage paraphernalia when the time comes.

Please note the game ‘AliBaba’ which is a complete rip-off of Buckaroo.

As part of Charlie’s room makeover we also got rid of the enormous f’ugly radiator. It was too big, the BTU output was about 4 times what the room needed and the thermostatic valve didn’t work.

Radiator before

So before getting the new carpets fitted I got my plumber to fit a new, prettier, less intrusive number from Bathroom Takeaway.

Bathroom Takeaway Column Radiator

I was very kindly gifted the Bern 300 x 1190mm double column radiator and thermostatic valve. Thanks guys!

Plywood Wall Storage

It’s much smaller and so more efficient for the central heating system too. It only took the plumber a couple of hours to sort (£70). It’s really not a big deal to update your radiators, but ideally you’d do it before you sort your flooring. So bear that in mind if you’re planning a room update.

I blatantly took too many photos, so apologies for the enormous post, but the attention to detail in the joinery is just amazing. Even down to the scribing around the skirting boards. This is the kind of stuff my dad really appreciates As do I.

Kid's Bedroom

So there you have it. I’d love to know what you think of everything so far with the new layout, radiator and joinery done. I really hope you like it. I will catch up on any comments/messages next Monday when i’m back at my desk. I’m off to Center Parcs this week and i’m leaving my laptop at home. No work allowed.

Have a tip top week everyone!

 

9 Comments

  1. Ah this is a great room ….. storage heaven!! It’s also a room that will grow with Charlie, excellent job.
    Enjoy Center Parcs! 🙂

  2. Oh wow, I love it! I am so into plywood lately. I’m planning to build a built in storage bench out of plywood soon. Gulp. I’ve never attempted anything like it before, so it might be a disaster. Where did you get the plywood from, or was it supplied by the joiners? I’ve been looking online but not sure how to tell whether it’s good quality or not.

    • Karen Knox says

      Thank you v much Ms D. Looks even better now we’ve got the new carpet in. Yay!

    • Karen Knox says

      Thanks very much Angela. The room actually feels bigger too despite having all of Charlie’s toys in there. It’s magic!

  3. I’m so behind on my blog reading but have been wanting to check out this post. Really love this plywood wall, it looks fantastic and balances the room out. And oh, so much storage!! Brilliant!

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