As the saying goes, my oldest went from being a newborn to a “big girl” in the blink of an eye. Margaret stepped out of her comfort zone on multiple occasions this summer. She participated in theater camp and attended her first overnight summer camp, to name a few. Over the past year, it become increasingly clear that our now 8-year-old was ready for a bedroom upgrade. Enter Coley Home, who made all her bedroom wishes come true! Coley Home’s easy customizer tool allowed us to design a beautiful custom bed that perfectly pulled her new room together. We had such a great experience with Coley Home and today I’m excited to share more about how effortless it was to design (and assemble) her custom bed with only a 15-day turnaround!
Inspiration Behind the Custom Bed
When I started planning Margaret’s big girl room, I first looked to the heartbeat of the space – the floral print on the bolster, cornice, and drapes that started it all. From there I drew inspiration for her new custom bed.
But this floral print isn’t just any floral print, there’s a backstory. My grandmother Wanda (whom we always called Gaya) had a seemingly endless supply of treasures tucked away in her dressers and closets. One of her favorite finds was fabric. Any textile was fair game and it didn’t necessarily have to be fabric on a bolt. During a trip to Chicago decades ago, Gaya spotted beautiful floral sheets in the sale bin of Marshall Fields.
When we moved to our Florida house, I turned those sheets into an upholstered cornice and drapery for Margaret’s room. We lined them with blackout material. This helped provide insulation to keep the room cool and ensured that it gets nice and dark. I also had an oversized bolster pillow made from the sheets for her daybed, which she slept on at the time. And we painted the walls pink to coordinate.
But, our three-year-old little girl suddenly became an eight-year-old not as little girl who was very interested in getting a bigger bed and updating her room. This is where Coley Home came in.
Coley Home Custom Bed
Coley Home’s custom bed is known as their “Crown Bed” or “Bed-In-A-Box”. And let me just tell you, the entire process is genius! This specific custom bed caught my eye for many reasons, but the incredibly short turnaround estimate of 15 days was at the top of the list. Next up, the fact that the headboard and bedframe are made from foam that is covered with slipcovers. This allows you to seamlessly create a new custom bed at any point in time! The incredibly easy process of assembling the bed was the icing on the cake.
Coley Home Bed-In-A-Box
You’re probably thinking that a custom bed with an estimated 15-day turnaround can’t really be that customized. However, I was so impressed with the options! Coley Home’s Crown Bed has 7 headboard shapes to choose from, over 80 fabrics, and either a bed frame with wooden leg finishes or a matching bed skirt.
Creating a Custom Bed: The Process
I ordered some Coley Home samples to look through and to show Margaret so she could be a part of the process. When we first started talking about a room refresh, she was obsessed with using the soft mint color from her fabric. Then suddenly, she was all in on purple – purple walls, purple bed, purple rugs, you name it. But who could’ve predicted (she says with sarcasm) that an 8-year-old would change her mind! In the end, she decided to go with a shade of purple for her custom bed. But, she chose to leave the walls the same color of pink that they already were. We certainly didn’t complain about not having to repaint the room!
With more of a vision, we were ready to choose the headboard silhouette for her new bed. We landed on “The Henry”, which is a simple and classic headboard in “Casual Lavender”, a pretty shade of light purple. For just $30 extra you can add welting, so we went for it! It provided such a nice touch and really elevated the look. Lastly, we selected the coordinating bed skirt and finalized our order!
Assembling the Bed
While in theory I knew about the Coley Home custom Bed-In-A-Box, it was so neat to see it with my own eyes. We were all so excited when it showed up at our door! The headboard is 100% foam, which means it’s packed and tightly rolled up into an easy-to-transport box. It popped right open and we shimmied the slipcover over it. The headboard doesn’t actually attach to the bed frame, it just slips behind it against the wall. This was truly wonderful because it made assembling the bed shockingly easy!
Why We Love Coley Home’s Custom Bed
There really is so much we love about this custom bed. From a design standpoint, it looks wonderful in the room. It pulls in the purple from our sentimental and special fabric and feels like the fresh and tailored touch the room needed. And from a practical standpoint, how amazing is it that the slipcover is removable? Not only for any SOS moments of cleaning (that I hope we don’t encounter, though you never know) but also for flexibility. Since you can order the slipcovers and bed skirts separately, I can always change things up if she decides she can’t stand purple a few years from now. We could even use this bed in another room with a completely different decor scheme without having to purchase an entirely new bed!
Additional Big Girl Room Details
It was so fun helping Margaret design her new big girl room around this custom bed and our beloved floral print. Here are a few additional details of the items you see sprinkled around her new room.
Furniture
- Dresser: Margaret’s is the IKEA Hemnes dresser. However, this Amazon white dresser is very similar and affordable. We added these bow knobs.
- Chair: The glider we had in both girls’ nurseries fits perfectly into her reading nook. This custom glider chair from Coley Home looks great if you’re in the market for a new one!
- Desk: This is my mother’s desk from when she was growing up and the chair was a Craigslist find from when Curtis and I were first married and living in Dallas. We had them both repainted. This set of bamboo dining chairs would make a great option to update with paint!
- Rattan Table: This was a HomeSense find, but there are so many great textured side table options out there!
Accessories
- Bookshelves: We love how accessible these floating bookshelves make books. I also love that the books can, in a way, be art themselves. Another idea here would be to display your child’s own artwork!
- Lamp: Margaret and I thrifted this little one, but this pink lamp from Target is similar.
- Rug: This is a Stark Carpet remnant find I spotted in a local consignment store. We had it bound and it’s held up so well for over 4 years! This pink and white rug is similar.
- Bedding: I mixed in these fun pom-pom edged shams and duvet cover to tie in not just the pink and purple, but all of the colors in the main floral print. She has had these Euro shams from Pottery Barn Kids since she was two, and they keep managing to get new lives! They’re not available anymore, but these pink gingham shams are similar. And the white coverlet was such a deal! I love how it all looks together on top of her lavender custom bed!
Artwork
- Barbie Clothes Art: I shared a reel all about Margaret’s framed Barbie clothes, which were an estate sale find! I had them professionally framed, however now that Framebridge offers textile framing, you can recreate this look yourself!
- Tennis Racquets: How fun are these vintage racquets with woven hearts in the middle!? A local teenager created them and I found them at one of my favorite local stores, Driftwood Beach Home & Garden.
- Historical Portraits: These Evelyn Henson portraits above her custom bed make my heart so happy. Margaret loves reading about all types of history, but especially bright and courageous women like those in Evelyn’s portrait series. These are originals, but she also has prints of Amelia Earhart, Jane Goodall, and Frida Kahlo available.
- Family Portrait: Artist Amanda Ryan Tucker painted this sweet piece based on a picture of me and the girls from back when Catherine was a baby. Margaret asked if she could have it in her bedroom and how could I say no!
My Experience with Coley Home
We had a truly great experience with Coley Home and Margaret is over the moon with her new big girl room. The custom bed is perfect in this space and the light lavender color looks great. Plus, I love knowing that we can easily change the color any time we’d like!
If there’s anything about the new room that I didn’t cover, feel free to leave your question in a comment below. And if you’re looking for additional kids’ content, you might also want to check out how I display school work and art projects, my summer camp packing list, and the ultimate Disney World packing list!
