If you ask Emilia what she’s most looking forward to about moving to New York, she’ll tell you that there are five things that she’s most looking forward to: ‘the lady statue,’ ‘having an elevator,’ ‘new friends,’ ‘the toy store with the Ferris Wheel,’ and ‘new bedroom.’ What’s the thing that she most most looks forward to? ‘The lady statue, if my new bedroom was inside it, but it’s not, so the Ferris Wheel, and also my new bedroom.’ (The ‘lady statue’ is, by the way, the Statue of Liberty, because ‘why do they call it a statue of LIBERTY of liberty, Mommy, when it’s a statue of a LADY?’)

Needless to say, if there were a Ferris Wheel in her new bedroom, that would be a hands-down win. Sadly, IKEA (who, awesomely sponsored this room, which you can see on my Share Space page) doesn’t sell Ferris Wheels, and even if they did, I’m pretty sure that the assembly would be far beyond my skill level. So we’re just going to have to make do with ladders and bright colors and maybe a swing chair. And a bunk bed. A really awesome bunk bed:

She wanted the STORA loft bed, but as I explained to her, *she’s five*, and maybe she can have that when she’s old enough to sleep seven feet off the ground, which is to say, when she’s six. Don’t interrogate me on the math there. ANYWAY. The compromise was this: the NORDDAL bunkbed with BARNSLIG DUR fancy bedding and bonus features like BRYNE princess netting and a brother enclosure (BARNSLIG DJUR curtain) around bottom bunk. (Don’t laugh at the caps. Swedish is spoken in all caps, or so I am given to understand.)

Which is more awesome, the top or the bottom? I DEFY YOU TO ANSWER THAT. And that’s the magic: the key to an effective two-kid, bunkbed-dependent shared-bedroom set-up is making all options maximally awesome, such that both the top bunk dweller and the lower bunk dweller believe that they’ve gotten the better of the deal. And putting together such a room in a loft space is in many respects easy for effecting such a set-up: there’s height and scale and the whole can easily be made to feel treehouse-y and playground-y:

Photo from loft, above, showing bird’s eye view of bed and also the MONGSTAD mirror (which maybe you can see better in the first picture above; there’s another one below, because mirrors are AWESOME) and HAMPEN rugs and BARNSLIG throw cushions, huzzah! It’s a small space, but with a little IKEA-inspired cleverness it becomes a hideaway and playspace and imagination nook. You sleep there, you hide there, you curl up with your Eloise At The Plaza books there. (And you can accomplish it on a budget of about $950! No, really, I counted.)

So it is that Emilia and Jasper will have a bedroom that doubles as a play area, if not an adventure playground, and the open concept grown-up spaces of the loft will remain the open concept grown-up spaces. You know, for grown-ups.

Shown: grown-up. Also, another MONGSTAD mirror, and some candles.

I should say, mostly grown-up. I’m staking my claim to the sleeping loft. Mama wants to sleep in a treehouse, too.

Emilia, of course, hasn’t seen any of this yet. She’ll see it next week, when she and Jasper and Kyle and the cats finally arrive, and I welcome them home to their new, playgroundtastic home.

And it really will feel like home. And that, my friends, is awesome.

(Emilia’s new bedroom design has been sponsored by IKEA Share Space, which is a space made by and for people like you, and also Emilia. You don’t have to be an interior designer – or a five year old with strong opinions about slides as furniture – just a lover of design. As IKEA says, ‘it’s a place where you can admire rooms you like and save them. You can even select IKEA products to save to your wishlist. Get started by adding your own home, or just take a look through others. So come back as often as you’d like to inspire and be inspired!’

Which is to say: IKEA sponsored this article, as it did the other one that was all about, you know, IKEA, but the designs and opinions are my own. I hope that’s obvious. I am MAD PROUD of Emilia’s room design.)