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Tommaso & Lorenzo's Bright Bedroom
Small Kids, Big Color Entry # 25


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Name: Tommaso & Lorenzo
Age: 4 & 5
Location: Milano, Italy

Color Inspiration: Well, we live in a very, very grey city, so we have a lot of color in our house to compensate for that. For the new boys’ room wanted a color that was bright and fun, but not too traditional...

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Inspiration Continued: Besides, the huge armoire that we inherited with the house was already green and a pain to re-paint... so we kind of went with that. Instead of downplaying the green, we choose a bolder shade, but painted only the two opposite walls of the room, so it wouldn’t clash or be too overbearing.

The rest of the furniture was then chosen in white/light wood to balance the color scheme. The bedding and pillows introduce more green shades, while he orange rug and boxes details bring some warmth to and otherwise cooler palette.?

Curtains for the beds, and the dark, detailed fabric attached to the underside of the top bed, besides adding some visual interest, make the sleeping area darker and cozy.

Tip For Using Color: Choose one bold color that you and your child like and go for it! Remember though: the bolder the color the stronger the impression, so it could be a wise idea to limit the space the color is given.

Also, neutrals like white and wood will help to balance a strong color.


Colors Used: We had the color mixed at the local color store, so I don’t know. But we’re in Italy and the brands would anyway be different, so I guess this doesn’t matter much.. :)


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Small Kids, Big Color 2009

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Comments (28)

Oh! Who is the manufacturer of those bunk beds? They're awesome!

posted by ashleylmarshall on November 5th 2009 at 10:37am
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Great room! Are those bunk beds from Ikea? Did you attach the storage underneath or did it come like that?

posted by mae25 on November 5th 2009 at 10:58am
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I love the curtains on the bunk beds -- great pattern and nice for privacy in a shared room. (Or for creating a "fort-like" feel.)

posted by mere1975 on November 5th 2009 at 11:18am
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If I'm not mistaken, the bunk beds are IKEA Kura loft beds with some other beds underneath. I'd be curious to know what, however, is used as the bed underneath and how it's attached.

posted by veganmomma on November 5th 2009 at 11:56am
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Hi and thanks for all the nice comments!
The beds are indeed kura beds from Ikea!

We covered the blue side of the panels with white-washed faux wood adhesive plastic sheets. The storage underneath is custom built, the drawers are on wheels and can be pulled around. This way we added a lot of storage and it's also very easy for the kids to keep their toys organized: one drawer for Lego, one for playmobil etc.

posted by ninananna on November 5th 2009 at 12:19pm
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Oh I almost forgot: the beds are attached to the storage units with screws. They are also attached to each other to insure extra stability.

posted by ninananna on November 5th 2009 at 12:21pm
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I have the same IKEA bed for my kid and I love how you did the drawers underneath, it is an amazing idea. I wish I had done the same!

posted by annayus on November 5th 2009 at 1:48pm
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Nice! we were looking at this bed for my daughter's room, but we didn't like the idea of one mattress being on the floor. this is a great solution.

If anyone finds any non-custom storage which would work under these beds, please let us all know!

posted by Kaz on November 5th 2009 at 2:07pm
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I love the beds as well. I have three little boys, this would work wonderfully! Thx for all the inspiration!

posted by Lizzykewl on November 5th 2009 at 4:11pm
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Awesome! I love everything in the room!

posted by ivpb74 on November 5th 2009 at 8:25pm
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Completely fantastic!

posted by KatieD on November 5th 2009 at 11:43pm
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Living in Italy, I can appreciate how much resourcefulness and creativity it takes to put something this refreshing together with the choices available here! Great room!

posted by mumus on November 6th 2009 at 2:54am
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bellisssssssimaaaaa!!! very very nice! le altre ti fanno un baffo! voto subito.

posted by bstevens on November 6th 2009 at 4:07am
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M-i-t-i-c-i!!!!!!! voglio anch'io una camera così!!!!!!!!!!

posted by aelf70 on November 6th 2009 at 4:22am
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Fantastica Nina!! Voto subito.
Gorgeous room, some lucky boys! :)

posted by nuriape on November 6th 2009 at 4:55am
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Great work Nina: and how ironic to use green in Milan...where there is none outside. Eppure: viva milano!

posted by barbara.agatha on November 6th 2009 at 5:37am
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Brava Nina!

posted by ChiaraP on November 6th 2009 at 5:56am
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Great room! Love the bunk beds, the storage space and the curtains.

posted by montrealcc on November 6th 2009 at 7:30am
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Just awesome!

posted by montrealcc on November 6th 2009 at 8:00am
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Great solution and great colors.

posted by etabetaCC on November 6th 2009 at 8:12am
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Great room and very creative mum! complimenti davvero...

posted by giorgiamail on November 6th 2009 at 11:02am
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wow. i love this room. it's so fresh!

posted by simplist on November 6th 2009 at 11:30am
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one question-who sleeps in the top bunks?

posted by simplist on November 6th 2009 at 11:32am
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@ simplist - no-one for now!!
We hope that when our younger boy Francesco, who's only 1 year old now (and sleeps in another room) will move on to a "real" bed, then at least on of them will be old and bold enough to move to the top bed! :)

posted by ninananna on November 6th 2009 at 2:47pm
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thats great! if i'd ever have that many kids in a room, this is how i'd like it to look. I have saved these images!

posted by simplist on November 7th 2009 at 7:53pm
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so nice, congratulations

posted by irvin on November 16th 2009 at 3:55am
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Nina!!
Fantastica! Veramente bella. Un sacco di idee semplici ed eleganti.
Quando faremo la casa ti ingaggio :)
Un bacio

posted by malaparte on November 18th 2009 at 4:18pm
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I have that same IKEA bed too, used as bunkbeds (can be flipped & used as a single bed http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10123996 I didn't like the mattress being on the floor either so I bought these $20 slats from IKEA http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10123996

posted by heathashli on November 19th 2009 at 1:14am
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