The last time I posted pictures of Kiran’s room he was still in what is now Jai’s Room.  We tried having Jai and Kiran share a room.  But that didn’t work out.  Kiran wanted his own space so we moved him upstairs to what used to be the third floor guest room. The only drawback to this arrangement is that there isn’t a bathroom on the third floor.  Our long term goal is to add a full bathroom and  a green house room which would open up to a small deck.  I blogged about a deck waaaaay back in 2010.  We are currently only using one third of the floor space available on the third floor.  The rest of the third floor overlooks the flat roof above Jai’s room.  Many old row houses here were build like a” layer cake” where each floor over the ground floor was set back to maximize light.  Anyway I regress….

To maximize the space we bought the Stora loft bed.  Under the bed we created a reading nook with an old bookshelf, a large cushion, lots of pillows and blankets.  We mounted a reading light and added a vintage lamp for a softer light. On a whim I decided to install unused curtain rods and hung old curtains around the bed to create a cozy living space underneath the loft.

We hung a curtain of string lights under the bed.  I love how string lights can turn even the most nondescript space into something magical.

Kiran was very excited to get his own desk after sharing an art table with Jai.  We built a desk with Ikea  Alex drawers and Lerberg metal trestle legs.  We mounted a light on the wall so that Kiran would have more desk space.

I think that it is important to decorate children’s rooms with beautiful and quality items. Kiran has one vintage wool kilim rug and a vintage flat-woven wool rug in his reading nook. These rugs are beautiful and very easy easy to spot clean.  Also as they are vintage and dyed using natural dyes they don’t emit any horrible chemicals like most new rugs. Kiran has several very low maintenance plants in his room.  He isn’t very good about watering them but I am hopeful that he will start watering them more regularly.

Kiran+ Jai love looking at photographs of themselves and us.  We’ve filled Kiran’s wall with photographs and art work that he had made over the years.

The narrow shelf next to the loft bed is small enough to fit an alarm clock, a book and a few knick-knacks.  The Ikea light is great for reading and small enough to fit in the tight space over the bed.

The Trones shoe boxes from Ikea (which I forgot to photograph) under the coat rack is the perfect storage space for Kiran’s shoes.  Now Kiran’s shoes have a place and his clothes and bags have a space off the floor.

Having a designated space for Kiran + Jai to put their things away eliminates me having to tell them what to do.  I am still working on having them put away their laundry.  I find that they are more likely to put things away when they see us doing it as opposed to us telling them what to do.

We often spend our evenings in this room.  Kiran will draw, assemble outfits or do his homework at the desk. Scott and I read with Jai in the reading nook before Jai goes to bed.

My long term goal for this room (I have many  goals for this house) is to push up the ceiling which was dropped by the previous owners.  I would like to build a small bookshelf over the loft bed and also give Kiran a little bit more space to sit up in bed as he is growing really fast.