the girls' room

I shared a room with my sister, Leslie, until she left for college. It was the best thing about my childhood, and I think we are such good friends to this day because of it. I wanted that for my girls, too. For the past few years, Mabel and Oliver had been sharing a room in the basement. Now that Elliot is old enough to move downstairs with Oliver, it was time to put the girls together.

This same antique, marble-topped, cupboard sat between mine and Leslie's beds. It is my favorite piece of furniture, and I am so glad my girls get to use it.

The reading lights and bedding (except for the big white pillow cases that I made out of some old sheets) are from Ikea. The headboards are old crib parts, and the dream catchers are from pit stops between here and just about everywhere else.

This room is tiny, and it's in the basement (next door to the boys). Once we cleared out the old guest bed, I was starting to worry that two beds wouldn't fit!  But they did, and somehow, magically, the wall paper and trim make the ceiling feel about 10 feet tall.

Mabel and Stella have only slept in their new room for a few nights, but I can already see a difference in their relationship - a closeness that wasn't there before. There are five years between them, and hopefully those years won't matter much anymore.