Our Plans for Melanie and Finn’s Joint Bedroom Remodel

// This post was sponsored by National Gypsum as part of an Ambassador Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own. //

For a few months now, ever since he outgrew his crib, Melanie and Finn have been sharing a joint bedroom.

This is completely by necessity – it is literally the only other bedroom in the house.

Our Plans for Melanie and Finn's Joint Bedroom Remodel

The room is long and narrow with two small closets. There are also two windows which let in a lot of light.

We haven't really done anything remodeling-wise with the room except scrap the popcorn off the ceiling and put in wood floors.

But that's all about to change, y'all! I am SO excited to work with National Gypsum and get started on remodeling the kids's room FOR REAL.

Here's what I came up with:

Images Courtesy of: Lay Baby Lay // Apartment Therapy // @the.hectic.eclectic // Helén Pe // Daffodil Design // West Elm // @sydneygerten

Simple neutral colors with lots of colorful soft goods and toys for fun. I made some notes on what things we'll need in the room and also what we want.

Currently, the room is sporting floor-to-ceiling wood paneling (that was painted white).

There is no sound reduction at all – which, with young kids, is what we parents like to call A Problem.

Also, we're still in the process of planning a to add a huge extension along one side of our house (it would make the living room bigger and add a third bedroom).

Because that addition will effect how we remodel the kids's joint bedroom, we're going to need to consider a few things going forward.

Here's my thoughts:

Windows

Once the third bedroom is in, a window on one wall of the kids's room will go away. That means that I'll only have one (short) exterior wall left for windows.

Because of that, I need to decide if I want to add or enlarge the window(s) on that one wall.

Closets

The two closets currently in the room will be “flipped” around and made into much needed closets for the master bedroom.

We'll be adding a new walk-in closet to the room once the addition is built.

Door

The door to the room. I hate it. It's a pet peeve of mine when doors are located right on a wall next to a corner and open flat against the wall.

So much wasted square footage! If we can, I'd love to move the bedroom door over a few inches so we can run shelves along that one wall.

Outlets

The outlets in this house are ridiculous. There is one outlet per wall and each one is located in the middle of the wall.

Raise your hand if most of your plug-in stuff is located in the middle of your walls.

Oh, look – no one is raising their hand. That's because most of us live nearer the corners of our rooms.

Currently, we're running extension cords from the outlets to our plugged-in items and that? Is not safe for kids.

Plus, all those cords take up much needed space in our little house.

So, the outlets gotta go and I'm hoping to not only have my electrician husband move them, but also add more.

I'd like to see at least two outlets/USB ports on each wall.

My Plans:

Long before we started the remodel, I tore images from magazines and pinned the crap out of Pinterest for ideas and inspiration.

The Boy is super visual so I needed lots of images showing him exactly what I wanted (we've tried communicating via interpretive dance, alas, with no luck).

After years of collecting ideas, I think I've got a solid plan of attack.

Keep in mind that this isn't our forever home and I'll need to stay on top of resell value and the budget.

Here's a rundown of the design:

• Lots of white and wood furniture.
• Great sound reduction.
• Pops of color in the bedding,
• Toy storage.
• Book storage.
• Room for a trundle bed and full-sized bed (that will double as a guest bed).
• Option for a future walk-in closet.
• Spot for a dresser/changing table.
• Think coastal cottage but very clean and organized.

For the record, here's what the room looks like right now (full disclosure, I could have cleaned it up but y'all need to see what I'm really dealing with here).

Here's a post sharing even more before images of our home.

As far as what exactly we need to DO…. well, here's that exhaustive list:

• Frame out old closets.
• Move the bedroom door.
• Possibly move/replace windows and reframe old spaces.
• Add ceiling paneling.
• Add insulation.
• Install PURPLE SoundBreak XP drywall, mud, tape, and skimcoat.
• Paint walls.
• Install curtains.
• Add toy and bookshelf storage (including specialty storage for 12″ action figures, something for comic books, and some for stuffed animals).
• Add a gallery wall.
• Buy bedding for Finn.
• Add spot for a future TV (if needed) – possibly a built-in.
• New lighting fixture – probably a ceiling fan.
• Refinish antique “guest” bed in a fun color.
• Restore antique toy box and use for costumes.
• Move/add electrical outlets and switch to outlets/USB ports.
• Add ceiling and baseboard trim.
• Add trim around windows and doors.

Right now, the first thing I have to do is a MASSIVE purge of toys and books. Then, the room needs a good cleaning.

It's a lot of work but I'm SO excited to finally be able to give my kids a finished room with sound reduction.

Any of you tackling a remodel?

Have you heard of PURPLE SoundBreak XP drywall? OMG. This will the third room we've used it on and I LOVE IT.

I'm a bit of a drywall snob now that I've used them and have zero regrets.

That's because it's not just any old drywall – this stuff is IT.

It's high-performance and is moisture, mold, and mildew resistant (SO important here in hot and humid Texas).

Also, each product is specifically created to help provide additional solutions to the issues you may have or face in your home in the future.

Need extra tough walls for your rough and tumble kids? They've got something for that.

Worried about snoring sounds interrupting your sleep?

PURPLE SoundBreak XP drywall (and PURPLE SoundBreak XP Retrofit) were engineered to create a sound barrier between walls and reduce the noise in between rooms.

Barking dogs, loud TV, babies crying?

PURPLE's got ya covered. <<<see what I did there?

I'm so excited for this. I swear my kids can hear me microwaving popcorn and settling down on the couch to watch TV every night.

I'm delighted that PURPLE SoundBreak XP drywall is designed with a center layer of material that absorbs and dissipates noise.

That helps keep sound in (or out) of the rooms where it matters most – like my kids's room.

Did you know that gypsum is a natural mineral that is found in veins all over the world, including a sizable one that runs west to east in North America.

Nearly every factory for National Gypsum is located next to one of these quarries. Cool right?

You can find PURPLE drywall nationwide at independent dealers and several recognizable home renovation stores.

To find it near you, visit here.

There, you can also use the materials calculator to figure out how much drywall and supplies we're going to need for your project.

Plus, it will create a custom shopping list for you, so you know exactly what you need before you leave the house.

Tell me about your latest remodeling project in the comments!